KNOXVILLE, Tenn.  (Feb. 19, 2015) – With 256 team points, the FIU swimming and diving team sits alone in first place through day two of the Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships. The Panthers lead Western Kentucky (235) and Rice (203.5), who round out the top three. Two days of action remain in the Championships.

Highlighting the day for FIU were senior Johanna Gustafsdottir and freshman Letizia Bertelli, who each won individual conference titles. For the second-straight year, Gustafsdottir earned the C-USA title in the 200 IM, besting her previous school record that she set at last year's Championships, as she earned a mark of 1:57.33. Gustafsdottir's time is also a C-USA Championship record as well. Bertelli posted a finals mark of 22.94 seconds to earn the conference title in the 50 freestyle. Bertelli's 50 freestyle time in the prelims broke the school record.

"Today our team stepped up to the challenge," said Head Coach Randy Horner. "We have never had a lead in a conference meet before.  We have two days left and Western and Rice will be battling us the whole way.  We just need to keep doing what we are doing take it one session at a time."

FIU was dominant from start to finish in the 200 IM. In the prelims, freshman Silvia Scalia topped her previous career-high mark, touching the wall in 2:00.38 and moving her third into the school record books. Freshman Chase Harris also moved into the top 10 for FIU's all-time marks, as she earned a mark of 2:06.37 to put her 10^th fastest in the program's history. Then in the finals,  Gustafsdottir, Scalia and freshman Karin Tomeckova tallied a whopping 53 points as they earned a one-two-three finish respectively. Scalia improved her career-high mark from the prelims as she finished in 1:59.58 while Tomeckova also improved her personal-best checking in at 1:59.50. Sophomore Jessica Chadwick and junior Becky Wilde also earned points for FIU.

FIU also dominated the 50 freestyle event and started strong in the morning prelims as Bertelli, sophomore Jennifer Alfani and sophomore Jennifer Deist each bested the previous school record set by Klara Andersson in 2013. Bertelli, who now owns the school record, posted a mark of 22.90 seconds, which is an NCAA B standard. Alfani clocked in at 23.00 seconds while Deist posted a mark of 23.14 seconds. Freshman Paulina Zelazna bested her previous career-high mark clocking in at 23.46 seconds, which jumped her to the seventh fastest time in school history. In the finals, Bertelli and Deist earned a one-three finish to pick up another 36 points for FIU. Deist improved on her prelim time from the morning, touching the wall in 23.03 seconds. Alfani tied for a fourth place finish to earn another 14.5 points for the Panthers.

"Winning the IM and 50 (freestyle) was great tonight," said Horner. "Sweeping the podium in the IM and taking 1-3-4 in the 50 were the type of dominant performances you need to have a shot to win. "

Freshman Kyna Pereira was FIU's top finisher in the 500 freestyle prelims, as she posted a morning mark of 4:49.44, which at that time stood as the second fastest time in school history.
Senior Courtney VanderSchaaf also had a strong morning in the prelims, as her mark of 4:55.45 was a career-high for her and she jumped to sixth in school record books for fastest 500 freestyle time. Freshman Skye Carey also cracked FIU's top 10 all-time list, posting a mark of 4:57.46 to move into eighth. Then in the finals, Pereira broke her old school record set in the prelims by touching the wall in 4:48.49 to earn 15 FIU points.

Another school record was set, this time in the 200 freestyle relay. Alfani, Bertelli, Tomeckova and Deist posted a time of 1:31.72 to upend the record set by FIU's relay team at last year's C-
USA Championships. The group earned a third place finish and picked up 32 points.

Sophomore Lilly Kaufmann stepped up big for FIU in the three-meter dive on Thursday, as she picked up 16 points with a third place finish, logging a score of 268.85.

Prelim action will start back up at 10:30 ET on Friday.

Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUSwimDive), Instagram (FIU_SWIM_DIVE) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSwimmingAndDiving) for all the latest Swimming and Diving news.

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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/.