ATLANTA, Georgia (Feb. 27, 2019) - The FIU swimming and diving team entered the McAuley Aquatic Center with a fierce attitude. Prepared to take on tough competition, on day one of the Conference USA Championships.

FIU picked up a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay and second in the 800 medley, which puts them in a tie for first place with the Rice Owls, knotted at 74 points.

"Tonight, was a good night," head coach Randy Horner said. "We got things started off right, it is always nice to start out with a victory, get on the podium in the 200 medley relay. We weren't number one in that, so the girls really stepped up."

Senior Naomi Ruele led things off for the Panthers in the medley relay and clocked in at her best time of 24.44. Followed by sophomore Sara Gyertyanffy, sophomore Stephanie Hussey and freshman Helga Fodor. The Panthers tapped in at 1:38.35 to capture the first win of the tournament.

The 800 freestyle relay was led by junior Megan Bowen, followed by Hussey, Fodor, and junior Berta Triola. The dominate squad touched at 7:17.34 for the number two spot in the event. 

"Even in the free relay, the girl really battled hard. It wasn't the result we were looking for but everything doesn't always go your way so we will bounce back. Which is something we talked about before the meet. Sometimes you must be resilient, come back and stay hungry. We are looking to have a great race tomorrow," said Horner.  

Click here for full results.

UP NEXT
The Panthers take day two of the conference championship on Thursday, Feb. 28. Preliminaries slated for 10:30 a.m., finals at 6 p.m. 
 
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To keep up with all the action at the conference tournament click here. 
The Live Stream will be available for all events Thursday-Saturday on ESPN+

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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.
 
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