COLUMBIA, Mo. (Nov. 22, 2013) – The FIU women's swimming and diving team was back in action on Friday, with senior Sonia Perez having a highlight reel night again. The Spain native notched a program-record and Conference USA record in the 400 IM, and also cracked a top five time in the nation.

Perez posted a mark of 4:10.99 in the 400 IM in the preliminaries, which was just shy of her personal best and the school record. Even though that time was an NCAA B-cut, she still had more work to do in the finals. There, she succeeded and posted a mark of 4:09.59, which not only was her career-best, but an FIU record. Perez also bests the C-USA record by nearly six and a half seconds. Her time currently ranks third in the country and will most certainly qualify her for the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. in March.

"Today was a great team effort," said head coach Randy Horner. "We had lots of best times that were largely due to the team spirit the ladies showed tonight. Sonia posted a time that is over two seconds under what qualified for the NCAA's last season. She can punch her ticket to Minneapolis."

Additionally in the 400 IM finals, senior Sarah D'Antoni and sophomore Sarah Smith each posted personal best times.

Freshman Jennifer Alfani had a strong night in the 100 backstroke, posting FIU's top time this season so far, a mark of 56.19 seconds. Meanwhile, over in the 200 freestyle, junior Nadia Farrugia posted a personal best of 1:50.91.

In the relay events, the Panthers earned a top three finish in the 800 freestyle, as junior Johanna Gustafsdottir, Perez, Farrugia and junior Courtney VanderScaaf earned a time of 7:21.20. Over in the 200 medley relay, FIU's team of Gustafsdottir, Andersson, Alfani and freshan Jenny Deist earned a mark of 1:42.76.

Additionally, FIU moved up one spot in the team standings for the Invite, sitting in fourth place with one day to go.

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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/