COLUMBIA, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2014) – Through one day of the Mizzou Invite hosted by Missouri Tigers, the FIU swimming and diving team has made great strides heading into the second day. The day was highlighted by freshman
Silvia Scalia, who broke the school record with her leadoff 100 backstroke time in the 400 medley relay. Her leadoff split time clocked in at 53.3 seconds, besting the previous mark by
Johnanna Gustafsdottir. FIU's relay squad posted a time of 3:43.10 in that event, which ranks second in the history of the program.
"We had a solid day today," said head coach
Randy Horner. "We gained a lot of experience for our freshmen and had some best times that were good to see mid season. Our depth is what excites me most about today. All of our relays were solid from A to D and that shows our programs growth."
Scalia's 100 backstroke time in the leadoff is just 0.1 second off the time that was invited to the NCAA Championships last season. The Panthers have 182.3 points through the first day, which puts them in second place overall.
In the 50 freestyle event, sophomore
Jennifer Alfani topped her previous career-best by a tenth of a second, finishing the event in 23.31, which ranks second in school history. Freshman
Paulina Zelazna was FIU's third-best finisher in the event, finishing behind senior
Klara Andersson, who swam the 50 free in 23.54 seconds. Zelazna's time of 23.80 in the prelims ranks her seventh in school history.
Freshman
Brittney Fant was FIU's top long distance freestyle swimmer for the day. In the morning session, she swam the 500 freestyle prelims in 4:55.39, a top time for her that ranks fourth in school history.
In the 100 butterfly, junior
Valerie Inghels was FIU's top swimmer, earning a mark of 55.12 seconds, which is the second-fastest time in school history behind
Marina Ribi's time of 54.78 seconds.
Leading the way for the Panthers in the 200 IM was senior
Johanna Gustafsdottir, whose 1:59.67 finals time was good for a third-place finish in the event. Junior
Karin Tomeckova cracked the top five, earning a finals time of 2:00.91, a top time for her that ranks third-fastest in program history. Scalia was also strong topping her previous top time by over four seconds, earning a mark of 2:02.30 that ranks fourth in school history.
FIU 200 freestyle relay team of Scalia, Tomeckova, freshman
Ally Mayhew and Gustafsdottir finished just shy of the school record, posting a time of 1:33.46.
FIU is back in action on Friday, set to compete in the 400 IM, 200 freestlye, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, and the 800 freestyle relay.
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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 FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU 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 54,000 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/.
