COLUMBIA, Mo. (Nov. 23, 2013) – The FIU Swimming and Diving team wrapped up the third and final day of the Mizzou Invite on Saturday, as the Panthers swam to a strong finish in the 12-teams competition. FIU finished ahead of teams from the Big Ten and Pac 12 conferences, while Arkansas won the event overall.

"This was a truly rewarding week of competition," said head coach Randy Horner. "We swam solid times, but more importantly, learned the importance of team spirit. We competed with some top programs and have a lot to be proud of this weekend."

In the 200 backstroke, FIU had a one and three finish, with junior Johanna Gustafsdottir earning the overall title, posting a finals time of 1:55.74, a team-high for the Panthers this season. Senior Sonia Perez earned a third place finish, posting a finals time of 1:57.35, a personal best for her by .33 seconds. Freshman Maddie Rapp earned a personal-best time of 2:05.23 in the preliminaries while senior Valeriia Popova also earned a career-high mark of 2:06.06. Sophomore Becky Wilde, who improved her career-mark by over a second in the prelims, came back and swam it in 2:04.37 in the finals for a new high. Freshman Anna Jonsson posted her best mark in the 200 backstroke at 2:12.82. 

FIU's 400 freestyle relay team of Perez, freshman Jennifer Alfani, junior Klara Andersson and Gustafsdottir was strong, posting a time of 3:22.99, which ranks second in school history. Perez's leadoff time of 51.26 is a career-high for her in the 100 freestyle. Meanwhile, senior Sabrina Beaupre set a new record for FIU in platform diving, being the first Panther to participate in it. Her best score came in the prelims, earning a mark of 231.90.

Over in the 100 freestyle, freshman Jenny Deist bested her career-high in both the prelims with a mark of 51.65 seconds. Alfani also earned a career-high time of 51.22 seconds in the finals. Andersson was FIU's top finisher on the day in the event, earning a time of 51.18. Freshman Therese Nord's finals time of 52.57 was a personal best, while junior Nadia Farrugia upped her career-best mark to 52.72.

Junior Danielle Meara led the way for the Panthers in the 200 breaststroke prelims, earning a finals time mark of 2:19.55.

Senior Melissa Moreno earned the best time of her career in the 200 butterfly, posting a time of 2:03.53 in the finals. Sophomore Sarah Smith earned a time of 2:07.59, a career-best for her as well.

FIU next returns to action Dec. 14-17 at the Nova Invitational.

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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 U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.