MIAMI (Jan. 28, 2017) – In a tightly-contested dual meet, the FIU women's swimming and diving team (9-3) fell to the No. 34-ranked Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, 152-148, on Saturday afternoon from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center. The Panthers could not overcome a 15-point deficit heading into the meet's final event, falling to the Eagles by four points.
After FGCU jumped out to a 13-4 lead flowing the 200 Medley Relay, the Panthers took a 20-16 lead as
Kyna Pereira (10:18.49),
Rachel Whitaker (10:34.06) and
Oceane Peretti (10:36.14) took the top three spots in the 1000 Free. First-place finishes by
Megan Bowen in the 200 Free (1:51.94) and
Skye Carey in the 100 Back (56.98) helped FIU extend its lead to 44-30.
FGCU cut into the Panthers' lead following the 100 Breast, 51-42, and regained the lead after the 200 Fly, 57-55.
Megan Bowen notched FIU's top time in the 100 Breast (1:05.68) to finish second and
Jennifer Deist placed third in the 200 Fly with Panthers' top time (2:04.76).
Both squads exchanged the lead over the next two events.
Naomi Ruele posted a 23.81 in the 50 Free to finish first.
Letizia Bertelli also finished third in the 50 Free to give FIU a 67-64 lead after seven events. FGCU took a 77-73 lead following the 100 Free. Bowen led the Panthers with a time of 51.75 (second place).
Despite a first-place finish by Carey (2:04.59) in the 100 Back, the Eagles maintained an 86-83 lead heading into the 200 Breast. FIU responded as
Carita Luukkanen (2:22.15) and
Taylor Grabenhorst (2:23.11) finished one-two in the 200 Breast, giving the Panthers a 96-92 lead. FIU outscored FGCU 13-6 in the 500 Free to take a 109-98 lead as Pereira registered her second first-place finish of the meet (5:01.66) followed by
Berta Triola's third-place result (5:09.54) and
Chase Harris' fifth-place finish (5:09.90).
FGCU cut the FIU lead to 114-112 in the 100 Fly and retook the lead 124-121 following the 200 IM. Bertelli took the top spot for FIU in the 100 Fly (56.42 – third) and Bowen had the Panthers' fastest time in the 200 IM (2:06.09 - second).
The Eagles extended their lead, 137-125, outscoring the Panthers 13-4 in the 400 Free Relay.
Although,
Brittany Haskell (262.73) and
Rebecca Quesnel (259.05) placed first and second, respectively, in the 3-meter, FGCU increased its lead to 148-133.
Quesnel won the 1-meter program followed by Haskell (second) and
Laura Coronado (fourth) but a third- and fifth-place finish by FGCU divers Ashely Wright and Miki Buening proved to be the difference as the Panthers fell, 152-148. Both Quesnel (292.95) and Haskell (284.63) registered NCAA Zone B qualifying marks in the 1-meter program.
The Panthers will close out the 2016-17 regular season with their final dual meet of the year. FIU will host Conference USA foe Florida Atlantic beginning with the diving portion of the meet on Thursday, Feb. 2, from Miami-Dade College (1 p.m.) and concluding with the swimming events on Saturday, Feb. 4, from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center (noon).
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/.
