WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Nov. 18, 2021) – FIU swim & dive had an impressive showing on Day One of the Purdue Invitational as six Panthers posted personal bests to power the Blue & Gold to a third-place overall standing with 180 total points.

"Today was a very good day for the team," said Head Coach Randy Horner. "We had some very good swims, including some lifetime bests and some of our best times at the Purdue Invitational. The ladies came out and competed very well against some big programs. I feel like we represented very well and put up some of the best mid-season times we've ever posted in the program. Both relays were faster than we've ever been at a mid-season invitational. Pretty happy with day one and looking forward to day two with a lot more events coming up tomorrow"

FIU tallied more points than Power 5 program Purdue (Big Ten) and sits behind only first-place Northwestern (Big Ten) and second-place Louisville (ACC).

STANDINGS AFTER DAY ONE
1. Northwestern University - 262
2. Louisville - 230
3. FIU - 180
4. Purdue - 147
5. Missouri State - 119
6. McKendree - 56
7. Illinois State - 29
8. Indiana State - 1

For the full Day One meet results, click here.

Along with the personal bests, FIU also saw three NCAA B Standard times.

Stephanie Hussey swam a B Standard and lifetime best in the 50-yard freestyle, with a time of 22.73 in the leadoff leg of the 200 free relay. Hussey also recorded a B Standard time of 1:58.96 in the 200 IM prelims.

On the 3-meter boards, Mandy Song and Maha Gouda placed second and third, respectively, with NCAA Dive Zone qualifying scores of 352.85 and 338.85. Raquel Mason tallied a personal best of 255.90 to come in 11th overall.

FIU started off the finals session on a solid note when the group of Hussey, Elinah Phillip, Kelsie Campbell, and Lamija Medosevic posted a time of 1:30.28 to take third place in the 200 free relay A Final. In the B Final, Sara Gyertyanffy, Julia Miranda, Helga Fodor, and Kasia Kolodziej grabbed second-place with a mark of 1:32.55.

Mia Zahab won the 500 free B Final with a personal-best time of 4:55.72, while Ryan Flynn also posted a personal-best (4:59.92) to take sixth-place in the heat.

Hussey and Christie Chue placed fifth and seventh in the 200-yard IM A Final, with times of 1:59.03 and 2:01.23, respectively. In the B Final, Gyertyanffy grabbed third with a lifetime best mark of 2:00.59, while Miranda took fifth (2:02.83).

FIU saw Phillip swim an NCAA B standard time of 22.57 in the 50 free, as the former Olympian took fifth in the A Final. Kelsie Campbell recorded a lifetime best of 22.83 to win the B Final, while Medosevic finished the B Final in sixth with a mark of 23.42.

The Panthers capped things off with a third-place finish in the 400 medley relay A final, as Michaela Trnkova, Chue, Miranda, and Hussey posted a collective time of 3:37.11. Campbell, Delaine Goll, Kolodziej, and Medosevic collected a third-place finish in the B Final with a time of 3:41.31.

UP NEXT
The Blue & Gold jump back into action on Friday, Nov. 19, for Day Two of the Purdue Invitational. Prelims are set to begin at 10 a.m. ET, with Finals scheduled for 6 p.m.

FOLLOW LIVE
Live meet results can be found here, while dive results can be found here. For the complete Purdue Invitational Meet Central, click here.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following on Twitter (@FIUSwimDive), Facebook @FIUSwimmingandDiving) and on Instagram (@FIUSwimDive). General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.