MIAMI (Jan. 26, 2019) - FIU dominated FGCU this afternoon, out scoring the Eagles 198-102. The Panthers captured 13 of 16 events, including a sweep from the diving board.
"This was a dominate win over a good team," said head coach
Randy Horner. "I am very proud of out their performance."
The Panthers came off the blocks strong, winning the 200 medley relay. The team of senior
Naomi Ruele, junior
Carita Luukkanen, sophomore
Sara Gyertyanffy and sophomore
Helga Fodor tapped in at 1:45.71, edging out the Eagles by a second.
Sophomore Stephanie Hussey went on to take the 1000 freestyle. Junior Berta Triola followed with a win in the 200 freestyle when she touched in at 1:57.09. Teammate, junior Megan Bowen, touched at 1:57.17 for the second place finish.
The Panthers were victorious in the 100 backstroke after Ruele clocked in at 56.2. The fifth-straight victory came from Luukkanen when she completed the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.77, followed by another Hussey victory in the 100 butterfly (2:04.88).
Florida Gulf Coast went on to capture the 50 and 100 freestyle but the FIU answered back with a Holly Shepherd victory in the 200 backstroke the freshman touched in at 2:05.89. Later, Lukkanen dominated in the 200 breaststroke (2:20.49) and Hussey pick up her third individual victory of the afternoon in the 500 freestyle (5:04.89).
Gyertyanffy recorded a second place finish in the 100 butterfly (57.27) but outperformed FGCU in the 200 individual medley when she tapped in at 2:06.36 to secure the 11th victory of the day.
The team of Fodor, Hussey, Bowen and Ruele closed out the day in the pool with a win in the 400 freestyle relay besting the Eagles by .19 of a second.
From the diving board, first through fifth place were all captured by the Panthers in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Freshman Maha Gouda won from the 1-meter (299.17) and Sophomore Rachel Foord was victorious from the 3-meter (288.00).
"This is a great way to send off our seniors. The weather conditions were bad, but the team kept their energy up and competed well today," Horner said.
After todays win, the Panthers and the Eagles are 11-2 all-time. For full meet results click here.
UP NEXT
The Panthers will travel to Boca Raton, Florida to face, C-USA foe FAU, in a dual-meet. Action is set to begin at 11 a.m on Feb. 2.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following on Twitter (@FIUSwimDive), Facebook @FIUSwimmingandDiving) and on Instagram (@FIU_Swim_Dive). General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.
