BOCA RATON, Fla. (Feb. 6, 2016) – The FIU swimming and diving team (8-5) claimed seven first-place finishes en route to a 115-71 win over Conference USA foe Florida Atlantic on Saturday afternoon from the FAU Aquatic Center.
The victory marked the second of the season for the Panthers over the Owls. FIU defeated FAU, 138-62, earlier in the year.
In all, FIU claimed top finishes by five different individuals and two different relay teams.
After a 200 Medley Relay first-place finish by junior
Jennifer Alfani, freshman
Nicole Hunnewell, junior
Jennifer Deist and sophomore
Naomi Ruele (1:46.69), sophomore
Kyna Pereira claimed the top time in the 200 Free with a 1:51.05.
Freshman
Ilaria Manzella notched the Panthers' best result in the 400 IM with a second-place finish (4:40. 84). Sophomore
Letizia Bertelli finished first in the 50 Free posting a 24.07. Deist registered a 56.96 in the 100 Fly (first place), while Bertelli notched FIU's best result in the 100 Free (52.44 – second place).
The Panthers took the top three spots in the 500 Free led by senior
Jessica Piper, who registered a personal-best 5:02.44. Pereira's 5:04.13 was good for second followed by sophomore
Skye Carey's result of 5:06.75.
Ruele took the top spot in the 100 Back with a time of 56.11 and sophomore
Chase Harris posted a 1:07.45 to lead the Panthers in the 100 Breast (second).
FIU closed the afternoon with a first-place finish in the 200 Free Relay as the team of Alfani, Bertelli, Deist and Pereira posted a time of 1:37.17.
The diving portion of the meet will take place next week.
The Panthers will head to the C-USA Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta, Ga. The conference championships begin Feb. 24 and run through Feb. 27.
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/.
