ATLANTA – FIU won its fourth straight Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championship Saturday evening after finishing the four-day event at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center setting a new C-USA record with 1031 points. FIU claimed 14 first-place finishes and registered 45 all-conference honors during the 2018 C-USA Swimming and Diving Championships.
"It feels great to win our fourth championship," FIU Head Coach
Randy Horner said. "It was a great team effort. Probably our best final day at the team championship that we've ever had as a team. I couldn't be more proud of the ladies. It was well deserved. Across the board, it was a 100 percent group effort."
The Panthers swept the C-USA Swimming and Diving Awards voted on by the league's coaches. Junior
Naomi Ruele was named C-USA Swimmer of the Meet and senior Becca Quesnel was named C-USA Diver of the Meet. Head Coach
Randy Horner was voted C-USA Swimming Coach of the Year –his fourth straight award.
Rio Ramirez was named the C-USA Diving Coach of the Year.
Ruele won one more individual gold medal in the 100 Freestyle and added another gold medal as part of the 400 Freestyle Relay Saturday. For the meet, Ruele collected individual gold medals in the 50 Free, 100 Free and 100 Backstroke and helped her squad to wins in the 400 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay, 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay. She set a school record in the 50 Free with a time of 22.11 in the event.
FIU finished 250 points ahead of second-place Rice (781). The 1031 points FIU scored topped the 1000 points that Rice scored in the 2014 C-USA Championships – the last time someone other than FIU won the team title. Marshall (513), North Texas (442), Florida Atlantic (319) and Old Dominion (315) rounded out the team standings.
Four more wins on the final day of competition sealed the win for the Panthers. FIU won 14 of the 21 events over four days. On Saturday, Ruele gave the Panthers their first win of the day taking the 100 Free in 48.67 followed by teammate senior
Letizia Bertelli (49.11).
Senior
Skye Carey turned in her top time this season in the 200 Backstroke with a 1:56.31 to take gold. For the third straight day, FIU divers swept the top five spots – this time in platform diving. Quesnel scored 251.35 to take gold, followed by silver medalist freshman
Rachel Foord (237.75) and bronze winner sophomore
Brooke Bouchard (220.20). Senior
Laura Coronado (209.75) and sophomore Britanny Haskell (194.65) placed fourth and fifth respectively.
FIU capped off the evening winning the 400 Free Relay with Bertelli, Carey, sophomore
Megan Bowen and Ruele posting a 3:16.96.
Junior
Oceane Peretti opened Saturday with a second-place finish in the 1650 Free for the Panthers with a time of 16:22.97, her best of the season. Freshman
Stephanie Hussey followed with a second-place finish in the 200 Fly as she posted a 1:59.27 in the pool.
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