DALLAS, Texas – The FIU swimming & diving carries their first place position after three full day of action at the AAC Championships in Dallas, within striking distance of a conference championship heading into the final day.
On the night, the Panthers secured a total of six medals on Saturday including two golds and four bronze holding a nearly 70-point lead in first.
FIU began the night in the 400-IM as
Nicole Frank Rodriguez repeated as the champion with a time of 4:12.18, a personal best for the sophomore. The Uruguayan swimmer earned her second gold of the championships and her third medal overall.
Ellie Maradyn notched her first medal of the championships, placing third in the 400-IM (4:16.40).
In the 100-breaststroke,
Christie Chue won the event for the second year in a row with a time of 59.25. Chue has earned four golds in the past three days, winning in the 200 medley relay, 200 free relay, and 200 IM.
Senior
Delaine Goll took home third in the 100-breaststroke with a recorded time of 1:00.94.
The swimming event was closed out in the 400-medley relay as the Panthers took third (3:36.45) with the team of Chue,
Harliai Curthoys-Davies,
Oumy Diop, and
Jessica Shpilko.
In the platform event,
Paige Burrell and
Ruska Lehtonen earned final spots with Burrell taking home third, securing a personal best on the platforms (241.20). Lehtonen placed fifth for a score of 222.45.
FULL SCORES AFTER DAY THREE
1st - FIU (523.5)
2nd - SMU (454)
3rd - Rice (388)
4th - East Carolina (316)
5th - Florida Atlantic (279)
6th - Tulane (242)
7th - North Texas (234.5)
UP NEXT
The Panthers look to earn their first AAC Championship on the final day on Sunday. Swimming prelims are set to begin at 11:30 a.m. and finals begin at 6 p.m.. Both can be streamed on ESPN+
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.
