MIAMI (Oct. 13, 2016) – The FIU swimming and diving team travels to Houston, Texas, to take part in this year's Dual-A-Palooza hosted by Rice, Oct. 14-15. The two-day meet will feature FIU, Rice, Tulane and Denver.
The Panthers, ranked No. 33 by Collegeswimming.com this week, will get things started versus the Tulane Green Wave on Friday at 5:00 p.m. ET from the Rice Aquatics Center. FIU and Tulane will square off in a 12-event dual meet, beginning with 400 Medley Relay. Friday will mark the first meeting between the two schools since the 2010-11 season when the Panthers fell to the Green Wave, 176-118, on Nov. 13, 2010, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
On Saturday, FIU will face host-institution Rice at 11:00 a.m. followed by the team's final dual of the weekend, versus Denver at 4:00 p.m. During last season's Dual-A-Palooza in Miami, FIU defeated Rice, 133-90, and held a 318-point advantage over the Owls to claim the Panthers' second-straight C-USA title during 2016 conference championships. Denver, a former conference foe of the Panthers (Sun Belt Conference) has not faced FIU since the 2012 SBC Championship with the Pioneers claiming the conference title and FIU finishing fourth.
The Panthers are coming off a strong performance at the University of Miami two weeks ago, collecting four first-, five second-, and five third-place finishes. Continuing where she left off last season, junior
Kyna Pereira dominated both the 500 and 1000 Free, taking the top spot in both events by two and eight seconds, respectively. Freshman
Taylor Grabenhorst made the most of her first collegiate, winning the 200 Breast (2:23.08), while finishing second in the 100 Breast (1:06.00) and the 200 IM (2:10.50).
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUSwimDive) and become a fan on Facebook (
Facebook.com/FIUSwimmingAndDiving) for all the latest Swimming and Diving news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (
Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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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/.
