Records fall Friday night at the Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships as FIU increased its lead over the field by picking up numerous podium places. The Panthers have 517 points heading into Saturday's final day, while WKU is in second with 444 points and Rice in third with 412.5.
FIU senior Johanna Gustafsdottir continued her record-breaking ways in the night's opening event, the 400-yard individual medley. The veteran set a new top mark in C-USA Championships by taking the gold at 4:11.83, beating out North Texas senior Krista Rossum (4:20.81) and Marshall freshman Nele Albers, all NCAA B cut times.
The next record fell when Rice senior Casey Clark stepped up to compete in the 100-butterfly. In a competitive field that held six NCAA B cut times, Clark touched the wall first at 51.98 for her first individual gold of the championships. WKU swept the other two podium positions as Haley Black (53.70) placed second and Hannah Musser (53.76) was third.
FIU scooped another individual victory in the highly competitive 100-yard backstroke, a race where every swimmer in the finals heat produced a B qualifying cut. Freshman Silvia Scalia earned the win with a time of 52.58, while teammate Karin Tomeckova (53.54) joined Scalia on the podium with a third-place finish. Rice freshman Alicia Caldwell (53.54) took the silver.
In one of the tightest races of the evening, WKU senior Claire Conlon snatched a victory in the 100-breastroke. The veteran surged to an NCAA B mark of 1:00.77, a close .06 of a second ahead of silver medalist Rachel Moody of Rice. Old Dominion sophomore Julia Vido (1:02.44) also registered a B cut time to receive the bronze.
The Hilltoppers then closed out Friday night by recording the best time in the 400-medley relay. Sophomore Nadine Laemmler, Freshman Hannah Musser and junior Michelle Craddock teamed up with Conlon to register a 3:37.18, while an FIU (3:38.04) ensemble was second and North Texas (3:43.28) got third. Rice originally finished with the top time, but a disqualification was determined after the event.
Florida Atlantic junior Agi Bucz notched the Owls' lone win on day three in the 200-free. Bucz beat out WKU duo Susan Marquess (1:47.71, NCAA B) and Craddock (1:48.10) for the gold, hitting the wall first at 1:45.58, an NCAA B cut time.
Old Dominion stud Rachel Eckert continued her dominance on the diving board as she took top honors in the one-meter diving. Eckert again cruised to victory as she beat the next-closest competitor by 40 points with a score of 292.90. Lily Kaufmann (253.10) of the leading Panthers was second and Alexa Elkins (246.20) was third.
In the men's invitational, WKU will enter the final day of action tomorrow with a slight lead over Old Dominion, with the Hilltoppers tallying 589.5 points through three days of competition. The Monarchs are right on their heels at 588 points and Florida Atlantic is in third with 443.5.
Sophomore Fabian Schwingenschlogl of WKU established a record of his own in the 100-yard breaststroke as he picked up the gold with a time of 52.43, NCAA B qualifying mark. Teammate TJ Bland (53.02) followed him for the silver and Old Dominion sophomore Jacob Zeidler placed third.
WKU again took home the gold in the 400-yard individual medley as junior Chris Goodman touched the wall first at 3:53.65. The Monarchs picked up the second-place points through senior Carter Watson (3:54.53), finishing before Hilltopper junior Aymeric Le Corno (3:57.20).
The final event of the evening, the 400-medley relay, went in the way of Old Dominion. The Monarchs team of sophomores Anton Mikaelsson and Jacob Zeidler joined juniors Reed Mathews and Vitor Sa to post a time of 3:13.77. WKU's relay team (3:14.47) earned runners-up honors.
Florida International
Following a stellar day three, the FIU swimming and diving team has a first place lead of 74 points heading into the final day of the Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships. The Panthers have 517 points through three days leading Western Kentucky (444) and Rice (412.5), who round out the top three.
“We needed to have a solid day today and that’s exactly what we got,” said Head Coach Randy Horner. “We are in a good spot to make a run at winning our first conference championship tomorrow.”
Senior Johanna Gustafsdottir won her second C-USA title this week, improving her career-best time in the 400 IM by clocking in at 4:11.83. Gustafsdottir now brings her conference championship first place medal count to 11 in her four-year career, which includes individual and relay titles. Freshman Silvia Scalia was FIU’s other C-USA champion on the day, as she posted a school-record time of 52.58 in the 100 backstroke to pick up 20 points for FIU.
Scalia kept rewriting the 100 backstroke record books, as she earned a mark of 52.97 in the preliminaries, which was then broken again in the finals, to improve her previous school record that she set at the Mizzou Invite. Freshman Jennifer Alfani improved her career-best mark by nearly two seconds, as she timed in at 53.96 in the prelims. Along with Scalia picking up the victory in the finals of the 100 back, junior Karin Tomeckova earned a spot on the podium, as she finished in third place with a career-best time of 53.34 seconds, which still stands in second behind Scalia in FIU’s records. Alfani was also strong in the finals, picking up 14 points for the Panthers.
In addition to Gustafsdottir’s career-best 400 IM time in the finals, junior Becky Wilde also chipped in for the Panthers, to earn points with a time of 4:23.89. Senior Jean Madison contributed as well, tallying a finals mark of 4:31.07 to put points on the board.
In the 100 butterfly preliminaries, junior Valerie Inghels touched the wall in 53.88 seconds, which broke the school record that was set by Marina Ribi at the 2013 Sun Belt Championships (54.78). Freshman Letizia Bertelli bested her previous career mark by earning a time of 54.39 seconds in the prelims, as she also passed Ribi and moved into the No. 2 spot temporarily in the Panther record books. Sophomore Jennifer Deist posted a time of 55.03 seconds in the preliminary round which also was a career-high for her and moved her into fourth all-time at FIU. The Panthers did not disappoint in the finals, as Inghels and Bertelli tied in the event to earn 13.5 points each. Bertelli improved her time from the prelims with a finals mark of 54.13. Deist also improved on her time as well, finishing at 54.06 seconds which then put her in second in the FIU record books.
Freshman Skye Carey posted a new career-high in the 200 freestyle preliminaries, earning a mark of 1:48.27, which did sit as the second-quickest time in school history. Freshman Brittany Fant improved her top time in the event as well, posting a time of 1:49.10 which then ranked fourth in the FIU annals. Freshman Kyna Pereira clocked in at 1:49.14, which sits sixth in the record books while freshman Paulina Zelazna temporarily slid into seventh all-time with a preliminary time of 1:50.85. In the finals of the 200 freestyle, FIU put together a strong effort, earning the four, six and nine placements which tallied them 37 points with those three spots. Carey improved her career-best time by .09 seconds in the final to change her No. 2 spot time in the record books. Fant also showed improvement, posting a time of 1:48.72. Zelazna bested her time as well from the prelims, clocking in at 1:49 flat as she slid in to the sixth fastest time ever at FIU.
The Panthers strung together a very strong performance in the 100 breaststroke, grabbing three of the top seven spots and four of the top nine. In the preliminaries of the event, Madison put up a career-best time of 1:04.05 to move up to fifth in the school record books. Sophomore Jessica Chadwick came up big in the finals, breaking her old school record that she set at the 2013 Sun Belt Championships by touching the wall in 1:02.80. Andersson finished two spots behind Chadwick to earn 13 points for FIU, while Madison finished right behind Andersson for 12 points. Freshman Chase Harris earned a new personal best time in the B finals of 1:03.80 to pick up eight points and move into fourth place in FIU’s all-time records.
The Panthers came up huge in the relay event. Scalia, Chadwick, Inghels and Gustafsdotitr clocked a 400 medley relay time of 3:38.04 to set the school record and earn a second place standing. The relay team picked up a big 34 points for the Panthers with the finish.
Sophomore Lilly Kaufmann once again led the diving corps in the one-meter diving on Thursday night, posting a finals score of 253.10 to earn an impressive second place finish. Freshman Natalia Coronado also gave the Panthers points, earning a mark of 214.00 in the event.
Prelim action for the final day on Saturday begins at 10:30 a.m.
Western Kentucky
After three days of action at the Conference USA Championship and Men’s Invitational, the WKU swimming and diving men’s squad moved to first place while the women hold at second place.
The Hilltoppers edged Old Dominion with 589.5 points, as ODU is just behind at 588 points. The Lady Toppers have 444, trailing leader FIU by 73 points. Saturday is the final day of the competition with prelims at 9:30 a.m. CT followed by the final at 5 p.m. CT in the University of Tennessee’s Allan Jones Aquatics Center. For a complete schedule, visit ConferenceUSA.com. Live results will be available via ConferenceUSA.com once the events begin.
The men’s team made major moves in day three’s events with eight podium visits. Leading off the day was Chris Goodman winning the 400 IM in 3:53.65 while Aymeric Le Corno finished third after hitting the wall in 3:57.20. Fabian Schwingenschlogl and Tj Bland went 1-2 in the 100 breast with Schwingenschlogl going in 52.43 and Bland in 53.02. Zach Batus also got a win after scoring 313.90 points in the three-meter board.
The Hilltoppers largest point total came from the 100 fly, as a WKU notched third through eighth place in the finals, led by John Smith’s 49.26. In the 200 free, John Myhre tabbed third in 1:38.28. Myhre along with Bland, Schwingenschlogl and Jesse Musser finished the night in second in the 400 medley relay (3:14.47).
Three school records were set on the women’s side, including Susan Marquess and Michelle Craddock breaking the 200 free time. Marquess’ name will go in the records after finishing second in 1:47.71 while Craddock took third in 1:48.10. The previous record was 1:48.11 set by Brandi Carey in November 2001.
Claire Conlon broke her own record in the 100 breast, finishing first at 1:00.77 while the 400 medley relay of Nadine Laemmler, Conlon, Hannah Musser and Craddock also tabbed a gold medal with a new school record of 3:37.18.
Haley Black and H. Musser made podium trips after the 100 fly with Black hitting the wall in 53.70 for second and H. Musser in 53.76 for third.
