INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (March 18, 2017) – On Saturday, March 18, history was made in FIU swimming and diving as junior Rebecca Quesnel placed third in the finals of the platform program at this year's NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. With the third-place finish, Quesnel becomes the program's first-ever First-Team All-American, following a score 302.35.
 
Quesnel became the first Panther to reach an NCAA final after posting a score of 290.95 (fourth-best during the prelims). Quesnel's third-place finish gave the Panthers 16 points and a 32^nd-place overall finish in this year's championship.
 
The 302.35 is the second-best score of the Burlington, Ontario, native's career. She posted a school-record 325.35 versus Florida Atlantic back on Feb. 2.
 
Quesnel, who was the program's first-ever diver to qualify for the NCAAs last season, returned to the pinnacle of collegiate swimming and diving in 2017, posting a score of 525.05 (10 dives over both the prelims and the finals) to finish second in this year's Zone B Diving Platform Finals in Auburn, Alabama.
 
Quesnel's historic performance capped off a historic appearance for FIU in this year's NCAA Championships.
 
In all, six Panthers competed in six events during this year's NCAA Championships.
 
Also competing on the day for the Panthers was Letizia Bertelli, who placed 40^th in the 100 Free with a time of 48.88. She also teamed up with Naomi Ruele, Jennifer Deist and Marie Lauridsen to place 24^th in the 400 Free Relay with a time of 3:17.52.
 
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUSwimDive) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSwimmingAndDiving) for all the latest Swimming and Diving news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).

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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.