FIU picked up a victory against Rice at the Dual-A-Palooza today in Houston.
FIU Press Release
HOUSTON, Texas (Oct. 15, 2016) – Trailing by 19 points heading into the final two events, the FIU swimming and diving team out-scored Rice, 29-4, to earn a 104-98 victory over the Owls during Saturday’s first session at Dual-A-Palooza at the Rice Competition Pool.
With the Owls holding a 94-75 lead after nine events, FIU collected 13 points in the 200 Free Relay. The team of Jennifer Alfani, Jennifer Deist, Ally Mayhew and Naomi Ruele took the top spot with a time of 1:34.78 to earn 11 points for FIU. The Panthers added two more points with a third-place finish by Alexa Bryant, Marie Lauridsen, Megan Bowen and Kyna Pereira with the third-best time of the day (1:36.64) to pull FIU within 10, 98-88.
For the second-straight day, the Panthers swept the diving program as Brittany Haskell (250.15), Brooke Bouchard (235.10) and Rebecca Quesnel (233.45) took the top three spots in the 1-meter program. The 16 points pushed FIU past Rice for the six-point win.
FIU took an early lead in the 200 Medley Relay, 11-6. Alfani, Taylor Grabenhorst, Letizia Bertelli and Ruele placed first with a time of 1:43.82. The Panthers added 10 more points in the 500 Free to take a 21-5 advantage after two events. Pereira won the event, sporting the top time of 4:54.88.
Rice responded winning the next two events (200 Fly and 100 Free), taking a 42-32 lead. FIU out-scored Rice, 12-7 in the 200 Back as Skye Carey (2:01.15) took the top spot and Tomeckova (2:04.45) placed third. The Owls extended their lead, 63-49, following the 100 Breast, but FIU took both the 50 Fly and the 200 Free to cut the Rice lead to 78-72. Bertelli placed first in the 50 Fly with a time of 25.27 while Pereira (1:51.02 – first), Carey (1:53.21 – third) and Bowen (1:54.14) each registered points in the 200 Free.
The Owls extended their lead to 19 points following the 400 IM before FIU won the dual, scoring 29 points in the final two events.
The Panthers will take on Denver at 4:00 p.m. to wrap up this year’s Dual-A-Palooza.
