MIAMI (July 25, 2017) – FIU track and field standout Gabrielle Rains' "summer season" continues to be a tremendous success. The Sherwood Park, Alberta, native placed third, and took home the bronze medal, in the discus at the Pan-Am U20 Track and Field Championships on July 22, in Trujillo, Peru.
 
Rains posted a throw of 53.06m to reach the medal stand. Her performance in Peru fell just short of breaking her Canadian U20 and FIU record of 53.10m that she set on March 18 at the Hurricane Invitational, a record stood for more than 31 years. Her record-setting throw is currently tied for the 19^th-best U20 throw in the world this year, the second-best mark in Conference USA, and the 42^nd-best in NCAA Division I during the 2017 campaign.  
 
Rains, who will be a sophomore in the fall, has already had a successful summer. On July 6, she won the Canadian U20 Track and Field Championship discus title at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility in Ottawa, Ontario. Rains set a new championships U20 record with her toss of 51.60m en route to the gold medal.
 
Following the Pan-Am Championships, and before returning to Miami, Rains will take part in the 2017 Canada Summer Games at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, August 3-4.
 
During her freshman season at FIU, Rains enjoyed a banner season. She took second-place at the Conference USA Championships in El Paso, Texas, with a throw of 50.95m, and advanced to the NCAA Division I East Region Prelims in Lexington, Kentucky.
 
Fans are encouraged to follow the team on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUTrackXC) for all the latest FIU Track and Cross Country news.
 
Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).

##### 

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 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 56,000 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/.