FIU Press Release
MIAMI (Jan. 6, 2017) – The Panthers placed first in 14 events and swept the top three spots in 10 of them during the 15-event FIU Sprint Invitational on Friday afternoon from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center.
Posting 955 points, FIU took first, 382.5 points ahead of second-place Binghamton. Rounding out the field were American (342), Adelphi (190), Scranton (183.5), Keiser (117.5), the College of Staten Island (79) and Cazenovia College (59.5).
Of the 14 first-place results, Letizia Bertelli accounted for five of them. The native of Cremona, Italy, swam the third leg of the 200 Medley Relay as she and Skye Carey, Taylor Grabenhorst and Jennifer Deist took first with a 1:45.62. Bertelli also claimed the top spot in the 50 Fly with a time of 25.65. FIU swept that event as Deist (26.05) and Jennifer Alfani (26.35) took second and third, respectively.
Bertelli won her third event of the day, scoring a 53.08 in the 100 Free. It was once again an event swept by the Panthers as Berta Triola (53.71) finished second and Deist (54.19) placed third. In the 100 Fly, Bertelli claimed first with a time of 57.60, followed by teammates Deist (58.21) and Megan Bowen (59.50). Bertelli recorded her fifth win of the day, swimming the lead leg of the 200 Free Relay. Along with Ally Mayhew, Marie Lauridsen and Deist, the team registered a time of 1:37.11 for the victory.
Carey and Grabenhorst, who each were a part of first-place relay teams, also picked up individual victories. Carey took first in the 100 IM with a time of 1:00.05 ahead of Grabenhorst (second - 1:00.10) and Carita Luukkanen (third - 1:00.39). Grabenhorst registered her second victory of the day with 30.72 in the 50 Breast as FIU swept another event with Luukkanen (30.92) in second and Chase Harris (31.36) in third.
In the 200 Free, the Panthers took the top three spots as Triola recorded the meet’s top time of 1:54.52 followed by Bertelli (1:55.44) and Lauridsen (1:58.44).
Luukkanen placed first in the 100 Back (59.34) and Bowen had the fastest time in the 400 Free (4:01.79).
FIU took first, second, and third in both the 50 Free and the 50 Back. Naomi Ruele posted the fastest time in the 50 Free (23.81) followed by Bowen (24.61) and Kyna Pereira (24.80). Alfani took the top spot in the 50 Back (26.93) followed by Carey (26.99) and Luukkanen (27.57).
During the diving portion of the meet, FIU placed in the top three in both the 1-meter and 3-meter programs. In the 1-meter, Brittany Haskell posted a career-best score of 301.65 to win the event. Rebecca Quesnel finished second with a 287.95 followed by Brook Bouchard, who scored a 255.70. Both scores by Haskell and Quesnel were NCAA Zone B Qualifying marks.
Laura Coronado scored a career-best 274.30 in the 3-meter for the first-place finish. Haskell claimed second (265.05) and Bouchard placed third (261.60).
The Panthers will host the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Saturday, Jan. 28. The meet will begin at 12:00 p.m. from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center.
