KEY LARGO, Fla. (Jan. 3, 2014) – The FIU swimming and diving team earned a second place finish to open 2014 at the Orange Bowl Classic on Friday in Key Largo, Fla. FIU scored 99 points to finish second out of six teams, as Michigan took first place. The Panthers will host the FIU Invite on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Biscayne Bay Campus Aquatic Center.
"I'm pretty happy with the team today," said head coach
Randy Horner. "The Orange Bowl culminated a seven day training camp in Key Largo and they are tired, but still raced though. I'm happy to place second behind Michigan, they are a top program."
Earning a third place finish in the 200 medley relay to kick off the meet were junior
Johanna Gustafsdottir, junior
Klara Andersson, freshman
Jennifer Alfani and freshman
Jennifer Deist, as they earned a mark of 2:00.32 to earn points for FIU. Also in the relay events, junior
Courtney Vander Schaaf joined Andersson, Alfani and Deist in the 200 freestyle
relay, as the group posted a time of 1:50.69 to earn a third place finish.
Senior Sonia Perez earned three top three finishes on the day. Perez first earned third place in the 400 freestyle, posting a time of 4:26.92. The senior also finished third in the 100 backstroke, earning a mark of 1:06.16. Perez capped off her day with another third place spot in 200 IM, finishing at 2:20.71.
Senior
Sarah D'Antoni also earned a top three finish for the Panthers on the day, as she clocked in at 1:05.26, to earn second place in the event.
Saturday's FIU Invite will include FAU, Ramapo, FIT, Eastern Michigan, FIU, Duquesne, New Mexico, Coe College, Old Dominion and Grand Valley State. Start time of the meet is slated for 1 p.m. with an 11 a.m. warm up.
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