LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Nov. 20, 2016) – The FIU swimming and diving team wrapped up competition at the 2016 Louisville Invitational, finishing second (1,588 points) behind host-institution Louisville (2,309 points) from the Ralph Wright Natatorium.
The third and final day saw FIU swimmers post five more NCAA B standard qualifying times. Over the span of the three-day invitational, the Panthers recorded a total of 16. FIU also set a school record on Sunday (400 Free Relay); the third school record set over the weekend.
"This was a fun weekend," Head Coach
Randy Horner said. "This team has a great competitive attitude and competed hard all three days. The 400 Free Relay capped off the meet, setting a school record."
The team of
Letizia Bertelli,
Naomi Ruele,
Marie Lauridsen and
Jennifer Deist set the school record in the 400 Free Relay with a time of 3:17.60. Bertelli's lead-off time of 49.32 was 0:02 second's off of the school record held by Ruele (49.30 at the Conference USA Championships – 2/27/16). The team's result was good for a second-place finish.
In the 100 Free, Ruele and Bertelli registered NCAA B standard qualifying times in both the prelims and the finals. In the finals, Ruele placed third with a time of 49.47 followed by Bertelli, who placed fourth with a time of 49.79.
Skye Carey finished third in the 200 Backstroke with a time of 1:57.84 in the finals.
Karin Tomeckova, who finished ninth after winning the B finals with time of 1:56.46. Both results were good for the NCAA B standard cut.
Kyna Pereira set the meet record in the 1650 Free posting a time of 16:26.04. The native of Umkomaas, South Africa, placed first in swimming's longest distance with the NCAA B standard qualifying time. Her time was less than two seconds off of the school record which Pereira set during last year's C-USA Championships (16:24.36).
In diving,
Rebecca Quesnel took the top spot in the platform program with a 270.05. The score gave the Burlington, Ontario, native her third Zone B Qualifying mark of the weekend.
The Panthers will next host Georgia Southern on Thursday, Dec. 15. The dual meet from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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/.
