NORFOLK, Va. (June 21, 2017) – The College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) has selected
Letizia Bertelli,
Jennifer Deist and
Rebecca Quesnel among a record 997 swimmers and divers for its Scholar All-America team. The selections recognize students that have achieved a grade point average of 3.50 or higher and have participated in their respective NCAA/NAIA/NJCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
Bertelli, who posted a 3.81 GPA in international business, made her first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championships, competing in five events (50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay and 400 Medley Relay). An all-conference swimmer, Bertelli claimed three individual medals (two gold and one silver) and four relay medals (three gold) at this year's C-USA Championships. She set the school and C-USA record in the 100 Free (48.32) during the 400 Free Relay time trail at the C-USA Championships. Her 48.32 was the 25
th-fastest time in the nation and qualified FIU's relay teams for the NCAAs. Bertelli set personal bests in the 50 Free (22.34) and 100 Fly (53.38) at the C-USA Championships. Named the C-USA Swimmer of the Week (Jan. 3), Bertelli claimed 31 top-three finishes in 2016-17. She was also named to this year's C-USA All-Academic Team.
Deist, who recorded a 3.59 GPA in communications, was one of a program-record six Panthers who competed in this year's NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. Deist won two gold medals at the Conference USA Championships, anchoring both the 200 Free and 200 Medley Relays. She was part of the school-record-setting team in the 200 Free (1:30.70) with
Naomi Ruele, Bertelli and
Jennifer Alfani. The native of Edwardsville, Illinois, also set the team's season-best time (1:40.60) in the 200 Medley Relay (Ruele,
Chase Harris and Bertelli) at the C-USA Championships. Registering six top-three finishes on the year, Deist set a personal-best in the 50 Free (22.88) at the C-USA Championships (2/25) – also the third-fastest of the season for FIU. Her time in the 50 Free was an NCAA B qualifying mark. Deist recorded a season-best 54.69 in the finals of the 100 Fly and had the second-fastest time on the team in the 200 Fly and a personal-best, posting a 2:02:34 during the C-USA Championships.
Quesnel, who posted a 3.69 GPA in criminal justice, became FIU swimming and diving's first-ever First-Team All-American with a third-place finish in the platform program at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Indianapolis. Quesnel, who became the first Panther to reach an NCAA final after posting a score of 290.95 (fourth-best during the prelims), scored a 302.35 in the finals for a spot on the medal podium. The 302.35 is the second-best score of Quesnel's career. A six-time C-USA Diver of the Week honoree this season, Quesnel posted a school-record 325.35 versus Florida Atlantic back on Feb. 2. She posted 12 first-place results, including a gold-medal performance in the platform program at the C-USA Championship, and had a total of 21 top-three finishes. Quesnel, who was the program's first-ever diver to qualify for the NCAAs last season, posted 15 Zone B Diving qualifying scores in 2016-17.
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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 eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
About FIU:
Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute. FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
