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FIU Cruising to Conference USA Title After Day 3

After tallying 11 more medals on Friday evening, FIU extended its lead heading into the final day of competition at the Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships. Rice moved back into second place, reaching the podium five times, while Marshall sits close behind, earning three medals on Friday.

Team Standings (After Day Three)
1. FIU (641)
2. Rice (501)
3. Marshall (471)
4. North Texas (280)
5. Old Dominion (209)
6. Florida Atlantic (156)

Rice made an early opening statement in the third day of competition, snagging first and second in the first final of the evening, the 400-yd individual medley. Kaitlyn Swinney claimed gold with a time of 4:15.82, nearly three seconds ahead of her teammate, Rylee Lindhart who finished at 4:18.28. Marshall's Caroline Wanner rounded out the medals with a third-place time of 4:19.03.

The overall meet leaders had a response, however, taking gold and silver in the 100-yd butterfly event courtesy of strong swims from senior Jenny Deist and junior Letizia Bertelli. Shortly after, the Panthers stretched their lead even further with a clean sweep in the 200-yd freestyle. Kyna Pereira continued her dominant championship run with yet another gold medal, while Skye Carey and Megan Bowens rounded out the FIU trio.

Marie-Claire Schillinger provided the highlight of the day for Rice, securing gold in the 100-yd breaststroke. In prelims, the sophomore etched her name into the C-USA Record Book with a meet-record time of 1:00.13 and cruised in the finals with a winning time of 1:00.34.

In the 100-yd backstroke event, FIU secured yet another gold medal, with Old Dominion and Rice rounding out the top three. Naomi Ruele (52.87) beat out Old Dominion's Colleen Vandepoel (53.92) and Rice's Alicia Caldwell (53.89) for another FIU first-place finish.

For the second straight day, Florida Atlantic's Victoria Moretti led the way in the diving competition. The freshman refused to be intimidated by her first collegiate championship and stood atop the podium with a score of 296.55 in the 1M diving competition. Rebecca Quesnel and Brittany Haskel added strong second and third performances on the boards for the Panthers.

The FIU 400-yd medley relay team of Ruele, Carita Luukkanen, Deist and Bertelli wrapped up the third day of competition with another gold-medal performance.

Heading into the final day of the championship event, the standings are as follows: FIU (641 points), Rice (501 points), Marshall (471 points), North Texas (280 points), Old Dominion (209 points), and Florida Atlantic (156 points).

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