Competition heated up on the second day of the Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships, with FIU pushing its tally to 256 points to hold the lead. WKU is on the Panthers' heels at 235, followed by two-time defending champion Rice in third with 203.5 points.
FIU senior Johanna Gustafsdottir broke the first record of the meet by besting her time from last year in the 200-yard individual melody with a top mark of 1:57.33. The Panthers dominated the event as freshman Silvia Scalia (1:59.58) and junior Karin Tomeckova (1:59.90) followed her in second and third, respectively.
Medals continued to roll in for FIU as freshman Letizia Bertelli sprinted out to win the 50-freestyle at 22.94. Teammate Jenny Deist joined Bertelli on the podium to claim the third-place prize at 23.03, while Florida Atlantic junior Agi Bucz placed second at 22.95.
The night's action began with WKU taking two out of three podium spots in the 500-yard freestyle. Senior Susan Marquess picked up the gold in thrilling finish as her 4:44.05 finish bested Rice senior Erin Flanigan by just .40 of a second. Junior Michelle Craddock was the other Hilltopper to place as she scooped the bronze medal at 4:48.27.
The Hilltoppers then closed out Thursday night by recording the best time in the 200-freestyle relay. Freshmen Logan Graumann and Hannah Musser teamed up with junior Michelle Craddock and senior Susan Marquess to register a 1:30.69, a narrow .02 of a second before Rice. FIU followed up the two for the bronze (1:31.72).
Old Dominion stud Rachel Eckert jumped out to a commanding lead in the three-meter dive, earning the victory with a score of 336.50. Florida Atlantic's Kiley Kuether (277.25) received the silver medal and FIU's Lily Kaufmann (268.85) grabbed third.
In the men's invitational, Old Dominion took sole possession of first place after tallying 284 points through the first two nights. WKU (265.5) and Florida Atlantic (252.5) are both following close behind in second and third, respectively.
Sophomore Cody Reul racked up a quick 20 points for the Hilltoppers by taking the 500-yard freestyle at 4:24.33. Freshman Bennet Bean (4.26.28) of Florida Atlantic received runners-up honors and senior Bernardo Figueiredo (4:27.43) of Old Dominion earned the bronze.
WKU again took home the gold as sophomore Fabian Schwingenschlogl touched the wall first in the 200-yard individual medley at 1:45.41. The leading Monarchs filled out the rest of the podium as sophomore Anton Mikaelsson (1:48.15) finished second and junior Reed Mathews (1:49.10) was third.
The final event of the evening, the 200-freestyle relay, went in the way of Florida Atlantic in dramatic fashion. With the teams coming down the stretch, the Owl squad of junior Matthieu Burtez, senior Torbjorn Persson, freshman John Brennock and sophomore John Nolte notched a win at 1:20.15, narrowly ahead of WKU (1:20.99).
Competition will start back up at 10:30 a.m. ET tomorrow, followed by finals at 6 p.m. ET.
Western Kentucky
A trio of school records fell in WKU swim and dive’s second day at the Conference USA Championships and Men’s Invitational, as both the men and women hold second place after Thursday’s events in Knoxville, Tenn.
The men improved from its third-place spot in the opening day with 265.5 points, as Old Dominion is in first with 284 points. On the women’s side, FIU separated itself with a score of 256 points while WKU trails with 235. Behind the Lady Toppers is Rice with 203.5 points.
After setting a school record in day one of the competition, Susan Marquess did it again on Thursday, winning the 500 free in 4:44.05. Also making it to the podium in the event is Michelle Craddock, taking third in 4:48.27. In the men’s event, Cody Reul took the top spot in 4:24.33.
Fabian Schwingenschlogl broke his own record in the 200 IM, setting a new time of 1:45.41 in his win. Following him was Jesse Musser in fifth at 1:50.21 and Connor Dwyer in sixth at 1:51.07. For the women, Nadine Laemmler finished fourth (2:00.08) while Hannah Musser took sixth (2:01.72).
The other school record came in the women’s 200 free relay with the crew of Logan Graumann, Craddock, Marquess and Musser going 1:30.69. The men’s crew of Schwingenschlogl, John Myhre, Brennan Elsas and John Smith hit the wall second in 1:20.99.
In the day’s 50 free, Myhre made another podium visit after finishing third in 20.39 followed by John Smith tying for sixth in 20.67. Logan Graumann was the top finisher for the Lady Toppers after stopping the clock in 23.07 for seventh.
