ATLANTA, Georgia (Feb. 25, 2021) - The FIU women's swimming and diving team began the Conference USA Championships with a solid performance on Thursday, as the Panthers racked up a total of 248 points on Day One of the league meet in Atlanta, Georgia.
 
FIU sits in second overall behind Rice (272) by a slim margin of only 24 points, followed in the standings by FAU (133), Marshall (133), North Texas (129), and ODU (74), respectively.
 
"We had a solid day today," said Head Coach Randy Horner. "One of our goals was to win both relays and we got that done. We fell short in some events today but Day One isn't our best day. We expect to be much stronger in the events tomorrow. It's going to be a fun week and [a seventh title] isn't going to be easy, but we are up for the challenge."
 
The Panthers won three of six events on the day and hauled in a total of six medals.
 
For full Day One meet results, click here.
 
The relay team of Jasmine Nocentini, Elinah Phillip, Kelsie Campbell, and Julia Miranda cracked things open with a win for FIU in the 200 freestyle, as the group posted a time of 1:30.56 to claim gold at the podium.
 
Stephanie Hussey took silver in the 500 freestyle to follow, logging a time of 4:51.44. Ellie Maradyn rounded out the A Final in eighth place with a mark of 5:04.20, followed by Sophie Hampson in the B Final (5:02.76; 13th). Maradyn also recorded a personal-best time of 4:57.91 in the event prelims.
 
A total of three Panthers garnered points in the 200 individual medley, led by Eriana Temperino in seventh place with a time of 2:03.87. Michaela Trnkova swam a lifetime-best mark of 2:02.26 to lead the B Final, followed by Delaine Goll who finished second in the heat with a mark of 2:04.10.
 
FIU came narrowly close to winning the 50 freestyle, but settled for a silver medal from Elinah Phillip, who posted a time of 23.01 in the event. Lamija Medosevic (23.36; 6th), Helga Fodor (23.51; 11th), and Kasia Kolodziej (23.72; 12th) all drew points in the event as well, with Kolodziej's time standing as a personal-best. Delaney Biro recorded a lifetime-best time of 23.89 to lead the C Final heat.
 
Nocentini also posted an NCAA B cut time of 22.28 in the 50 freestyle prelims.
 
The Panther divers continued to dominate the boards, as Maha Gouda seized gold in the 3-meter with a mark of 344.00, followed closely by Mandy Song who posted a 341.10 to take silver. Rachel Foord (321.30; 4th), Alexa Lemus Hernandez (254.80; 7th), and Haley Bujeda (228.35; 14th) all logged points for FIU in the event. Bujeda also recorded a lifetime best in the 3-meter after scoring 228.35 in the prelims.
 
FIU finished the evening strong with another Panther relay gold, as the group of Miranda, Sara Gyertyanffy, Campbell, and Nocentini swam a mark of 3:37.51 to own the podium.
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers continue with Day Two of the C-USA Championships on Friday, with prelims beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET, and finals beginning at 6 p.m. Friday's events will include the 200 medley relay, 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 1-meter dive, and the 800 freestyle relay.

For a full schedule of events, click here.

FOLLOW LIVE
The C-USA Championships will be streamed live each day on CUSA-TV. Stream links, live stats, results, psych sheets, and more can all be found at C-USA Championship Central.

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.