MIAMI (Jan. 3, 2022) – Swimming and Diving hosted the FIU Sprint Invite on Tuesday morning, finishing in first place with 1,555 points.
 
The Panthers put in a dominant performance in the 50-yard sprint competitions, earning six of the possible eight finals spots in the knockout competition and taking home two wins. Sophomore Jessica Shpilko won the butterfly (25.17) with fellow sophomore Christie Chue winning the breaststroke (28.85).
 
FIU was also great in the traditional races winning all six events and taking the top three spots in four. Chue and freshman Harliai Curthoys-Davies led the way with two wins each.
 
On the dive side, graduate student Maha Gouda once again swept both the 1-meter (281.10) and the 3-meter (296.30) competitions.
 
The meet started with the first round of the 50-yard sprint races. In this format the top eight in the first round advance to the second round, the top four in the second round advance to the semifinals and the top two move on to the finals for a head-to-head race.
 
In the first round, the Panthers qualified 19 swimmers out of a possible 32 into the second round and held the top time in all four races.
 
The invite shifted back to a traditional format and the Panthers kept on winning.
 
Curthoys-Davies took first in the 200-free (26.53) with Chue taking second (26.92) and freshman Ana Luiza Daisson finishing third (27.43).
 
In the 100-individual medley it was Chue (58.32) who finished first with freshman Nicole Frank taking second and senior Lamija Medosevic placing third. FIU also took fourth, fifth and sixth with newcomer Ingrid Huszar (1:01.48) placing sixth.
 
Curthoys-Davies picked up her second win of the day, winning the 100-free with a 51.70. Medosevic (52.55) earned a second-place finish and Chue (52.87) finished third.
 
Freshman Gia Pergolini won the 100-back with a 58.77, followed by sophomore Anelis Roque (59.24) in second and sophomore Jordan Browning (59.54) in third.
 
The Panthers took the top two spots in the 100-fly with Shpilko winning the race with a 58.61 and senior Mia Zahab taking second with a 58.84.
 
In the 100-breast, Chue won the race with a 1:05.14, Huzar (1:05.87) finished in second and senior Delaine Goll (1:05.89) took third.

FIU was great in the second round of 50-yard sprints earning 11 of 16 semifinal spots, winning two of four races and sweeping the 50-fly.
 
The semifinals would see six Panthers advance to the final round with Medosevic competing in the 50-back and 50-free, Chue and Huszar moving on in the 50-breast and senior Kelsie Campbell and Shpilko taking the final sports in the 50-fly.
 
The Panthers would go on to win two championship rounds as Chue took the 50-breast with a 28.85 and Shpilko coming out on top in the 50-fly with a 25.17.
 
UP NEXT
FIU is back will be back in the pool on Wednesday, January 18 when they head to Fort Meyers for a dual meet with Florida Gulf Coast University.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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