Florida International Piles On To Lead After Three Nights of Conference USA Championships
Florida International used its impressive to depth to pile on the points after three full nights of racing at the 2017 Conference USA Championships from Atlanta. It was not all FIU though, as Rice also had a hot night with two wins and a conference meet record on the night as they moved into second place ahead of Marshall.
The Rice Owls got off to a quick start on Friday night with a 1-2 finish in the 400 IM. Kaitlyn Swinney of Rice won the race going away with a 4:15.82 ahead of her teammate Rylee Linhardt at 4:18.28. Linhardt had to hold off the 200 IM champion in Caroline Wanner of Marshall at 4:19.03.
Event 8 Women 400 Yard IM ========================================================================= Meet Record: R 4:11.83 2/20/2015 Johanna Gustafsdottir, FIU 4:05.37 A NCAA Automatic 4:12.11 IV15 Invited to 2015 NCAA 4:19.39 B NCAA Consideration Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === A - Final === 1 Swinney, Kaitly JR Rice 4:20.68 4:15.82 B 20 r:+0.73 27.78 59.33 (31.55) 1:32.02 (32.69) 2:03.68 (31.66) 2:40.35 (36.67) 3:17.38 (37.03) 3:47.05 (29.67) 4:15.82 (28.77) 2 Linhardt, Rylee FR Rice 4:22.68 4:18.28 B 17 r:+0.77 28.95 1:00.48 (31.53) 1:32.22 (31.74) 2:03.67 (31.45) 2:40.96 (37.29) 3:20.09 (39.13) 3:49.15 (29.06) 4:18.28 (29.13) 3 Wanner, Carolin SO Marshall 4:23.27 4:19.03 B 16 r:+0.71 27.19 58.73 (31.54) 1:31.63 (32.90) 2:03.83 (32.20) 2:40.53 (36.70) 3:18.31 (37.78) 3:48.98 (30.67) 4:19.03 (30.05) 4 Lockyer, Emma JR Marshall 4:21.13 4:21.80 15 r:+0.73 27.45 58.96 (31.51) 1:32.22 (33.26) 2:04.86 (32.64) 2:42.41 (37.55) 3:20.19 (37.78) 3:51.27 (31.08) 4:21.80 (30.53) 5 Therien, Claire FR Rice 4:23.78 4:22.87 14 r:+0.71 27.94 59.67 (31.73) 1:33.51 (33.84) 2:07.49 (33.98) 2:45.08 (37.59) 3:24.33 (39.25) 3:54.10 (29.77) 4:22.87 (28.77) 6 Huston, Hanna SO Rice 4:22.87 4:23.15 13 r:+0.74 28.04 59.33 (31.29) 1:34.42 (35.09) 2:08.71 (34.29) 2:46.13 (37.42) 3:24.50 (38.37) 3:54.65 (30.15) 4:23.15 (28.50) 7 Schaffer, Maddi SO Marshall 4:26.23 4:26.07 12 r:+0.68 27.71 59.50 (31.79) 1:33.25 (33.75) 2:06.69 (33.44) 2:44.54 (37.85) 3:23.56 (39.02) 3:55.38 (31.82) 4:26.07 (30.69) 8 Petit, Emilie SO Old Dominion 4:24.48 4:28.06 11 r:+0.74 27.35 59.20 (31.85) 1:32.68 (33.48) 2:06.58 (33.90) 2:44.46 (37.88) 3:23.51 (39.05) 3:56.68 (33.17) 4:28.06 (31.38)
Florida International picked up right where they left off with a 1-2 finish of their own in the 100 fly. Senior Jenny Deist led from start to finish and won with a 53.02 ahead of her junior teammate Letizia Bertelli at 53.38. Marshall’s Chloe Parsemain closed well for a 53.62 good for third.
Event 9 Women 100 Yard Butterfly ========================================================================= Meet Record: R 51.98 2/20/2015 Casey Clark, Rice 51.56 A NCAA Automatic 52.79 IV15 Invited to 2015 NCAA 54.49 B NCAA Consideration Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === A - Final === 1 Deist, Jenny SR FIU 53.30 53.02 B 20 r:+0.70 24.47 53.02 (28.55) 2 Bertelli, Letiz JR FIU 53.95 53.38 B 17 r:+0.69 24.61 53.38 (28.77) 3 Parsemain, Chlo SR Marshall 54.41 53.62 B 16 r:+0.65 24.83 53.62 (28.79) 4 Beall, Kiley JR Rice 54.75 53.73 B 15 r:+0.66 25.48 53.73 (28.25) 5 Ragsdale, Shelb SR Rice 54.35 54.28 B 14 r:+0.73 25.45 54.28 (28.83) 6 Cornelissen, Mi North Texas 54.35 54.59 13 r:+0.73 25.82 54.59 (28.77) 7 Mavrova, Gloriy JR Marshall 54.75 54.65 12 r:+0.69 25.13 54.65 (29.52) 8 Mayhew, Ally JR FIU 55.00 55.44 11 r:+0.77 25.12 55.44 (30.32)
The Golden Panthers did not slow down as they had half of the A-finalists swimming in blue and gold in the 200 free. Junior Kyna Pereira had her second win of the meet with a 1:46.16. Her teammate and classmate, Skye Carey, finished second with a 1:46.71 for their second straight 1-2 finish of the night. They added on more points with Megan Bowen finishing in third with the only last 50 split under 27 with a final time of 1:47.69.
Event 11 Women 200 Yard Freestyle ========================================================================= Meet Record: R 1:44.62 2/17/2012 Nina Rangelova, S M U-NT 1:43.82 A NCAA Automatic 1:45.94 IV15 Invited to 2015 NCAA 1:47.99 B NCAA Consideration Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === A - Final === 1 Pereira, Kyna JR FIU 1:48.03 1:46.16 B 20 r:+0.79 25.00 51.75 (26.75) 1:19.00 (27.25) 1:46.16 (27.16) 2 Carey, Skye JR FIU 1:47.51 1:46.71 B 17 r:+0.73 25.85 52.82 (26.97) 1:19.47 (26.65) 1:46.71 (27.24) 3 Bowen, Megan FR FIU 1:49.02 1:47.69 B 16 r:+0.70 25.56 53.46 (27.90) 1:21.04 (27.58) 1:47.69 (26.65) 4 Caldwell, Alici JR Rice 1:49.11 1:47.79 B 15 r:+0.72 25.06 51.96 (26.90) 1:19.34 (27.38) 1:47.79 (28.45) 5 Bendziewicz, Ca FR Marshall 1:48.46 1:47.87 B 14 r:+0.69 25.08 52.24 (27.16) 1:19.83 (27.59) 1:47.87 (28.04) 6 Triola, Berta FR FIU 1:48.74 1:47.88 B 13 r:+0.75 25.78 53.29 (27.51) 1:20.49 (27.20) 1:47.88 (27.39) 7 Morris, Isabell JR North Texas 1:48.93 1:49.28 12 r:+0.71 25.32 52.71 (27.39) 1:20.88 (28.17) 1:49.28 (28.40) 8 Rhodes, Lauren JR Rice 1:50.28 1:50.75 11 r:+0.71 26.18 54.31 (28.13) 1:22.63 (28.32) 1:50.75 (28.12)
The only meet record to fall on the day went in the 100 breast. Marie-Claire Schillinger of Rice went a 1:00.13 this morning and backed it up with a 1:00.34 tonight. Schillinger broke East Carolina’s Megan Sellers’ 1:00.42 from 2014, but could not quite get under the minute barrier. She got pressure from Carita Luukkanen of Florida International as the freshman was second at 1:00.74. Old Dominion got some valuable points with sophomore Ashley Brem placing third with a 1:01.37.
Event 12 Women 100 Yard Breaststroke ========================================================================= Meet Record: R 1:00.42 2/28/2014 Megan Sellers, East Caro 59.04 A NCAA Automatic 1:00.68 IV15 Invited to 2015 NCAA 1:02.49 B NCAA Consideration Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === A - Final === 1 Schillinger, Ma SO Rice 1:00.13 1:00.34RIV15 20 r:+0.65 28.12 1:00.34 (32.22) 2 Luukkanen, Cari FR FIU 1:01.35 1:00.74 B 17 r:+0.68 28.46 1:00.74 (32.28) 3 Brem, Ashley SO Old Dominion 1:02.16 1:01.37 B 16 r:+0.59 29.34 1:01.37 (32.03) 4 Grabenhorst, Ta FR FIU 1:02.52 1:02.05 B 15 r:+0.68 29.30 1:02.05 (32.75) 5 Vaisse, Sarah JR North Texas 1:02.28 1:02.12 B 14 r:+0.73 28.76 1:02.12 (33.36) 6 Ragsdale, Shelb SR Rice 1:02.22 1:02.22 B 13 r:+0.75 29.46 1:02.22 (32.76) 7 Kitching, Claud JR North Texas 1:02.61 1:02.56 12 r:+0.72 29.43 1:02.56 (33.13) 8 Roper, Hannah SR F A U 1:03.51 1:03.77 11 r:+0.61 29.35 1:03.77 (34.42)
Naomi Ruele may have been upset in the 50 free, but she rebounded today with a win in the 100 back. The FIU sophomore had a dominating performance with a 52.87 for the win, just off of Therese Svendsen’s 52.31 meet record from 2012 of SMU. Old Dominion senior Colleen Vandepoel finished in second with a 53.92 as she held off Alicia Caldwell of Rice at 54.03.
Event 13 Women 100 Yard Backstroke ========================================================================= Meet Record: R 52.31 2/17/2012 Therese Svendsen, S M U-NT 51.51 A NCAA Automatic 52.97 IV15 Invited to 2015 NCAA 55.09 B NCAA Consideration Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === A - Final === 1 Ruele, Naomi SO FIU 53.37 52.87 IV15 20 r:+0.72 25.85 52.87 (27.02) 2 Vandepoel, Coll SR Old Dominion 54.14 53.92 B 17 r:+0.62 25.97 53.92 (27.95) 3 Caldwell, Alici JR Rice 53.89 54.03 B 16 r:+0.57 26.25 54.03 (27.78) 4 Rowe, Sirena FR Marshall 53.67 54.11 B 15 r:+0.76 26.58 54.11 (27.53) 5 Beall, Kiley JR Rice 55.09 54.31 B 14 r:+0.54 26.86 54.31 (27.45) 6 Ingram, Carin JR Marshall 54.92 54.65 B 13 r:+1.84 26.37 54.65 (28.28) 7 Alfani, Jenny SR FIU 55.22 54.85 B 12 r:+0.59 25.95 54.85 (28.90) 8 Litver, Julie JR Rice 55.80 56.16 11 r:+0.70 27.16 56.16 (29.00)
FIU finished off the night with a dominating 400 medley relay performance. Ruele (53.87), Luukkanen (1:00.70), Deist (52.76) and Bertelli (48.60) won with a 3:35.93. Rice gave everything FIU could handle through three legs as Caldwell (54.52), Schillinger (1:00.10), Kiley Beall (53.78) and Lauren Rhodes (50.08) swam a 3:38.48 to finish second. Marshall ended up finishing third with a 3:42.59.
Event 14 Women 400 Yard Medley Relay ================================================================================== Meet Record: R 3:32.77 2/16/2012 Southern Methodist University, S M U-NT T Svendsen, E Donadon, G Konicke, N Rangelova 3:33.89 A NCAA Automatic 3:35.31 B NCAA Consideration School Seed Finals Points ================================================================================== 1 FIU 3:40.59 3:35.93 40 1) Ruele, Naomi SO 2) r:0.11 Luukkanen, Carita FR 3) r:0.06 Deist, Jenny SR 4) r:0.26 Bertelli, Letizia JR r:+0.66 26.32 53.87 (53.87) 1:22.11 (28.24) 1:54.57 (1:00.70) 2:18.29 (23.72) 2:47.33 (52.76) 3:10.25 (22.92) 3:35.93 (48.60) 2 Rice 3:41.26 3:38.48 34 1) Caldwell, Alicia JR 2) r:0.29 Schillinger, Maaire SO 3) r:1.78 Beall, Kiley JR 4) r:0.11 Rhodes, Lauren JR r:+0.61 26.47 54.52 (54.52) 1:22.34 (27.82) 1:54.62 (1:00.10) 2:19.67 (25.05) 2:48.40 (53.78) 3:11.95 (23.55) 3:38.48 (50.08) 3 Marshall 3:45.31 3:42.59 32 1) Ingram, Carin JR 2) r:0.41 Bendziewicz, Carine FR 3) r:0.26 Parsemain, Chloe SR 4) r:0.26 Mavrova, Gloriya JR r:+0.77 26.60 54.64 (54.64) 1:23.51 (28.87) 1:57.39 (1:02.75) 2:22.59 (25.20) 2:52.38 (54.99) 3:15.87 (23.49) 3:42.59 (50.21) 4 North Texas 3:43.78 3:43.33 30 1) Sienczyk, Jowita FR 2) r:0.10 Vaisse, Sarah JR 3) r:0.31 Cornelissen, Mikaela 4) r:0.35 Morris, Isabelle JR r:+0.67 26.61 54.81 (54.81) 1:24.41 (29.60) 1:57.42 (1:02.61) 2:23.69 (26.27) 2:51.96 (54.54) 3:16.56 (24.60) 3:43.33 (51.37) 5 Old Dominion 3:46.99 3:43.75 28 1) Vandepoel, Colleen SR 2) r:0.27 Brem, Ashley SO 3) r:0.28 Petit, Emilie SO 4) r:-0.02 Sjoberg, Sofie JR r:+0.93 26.11 53.91 (53.91) 1:22.70 (28.79) 1:56.09 (1:02.18) 2:21.98 (25.89) 2:53.16 (57.07) 3:16.83 (23.67) 3:43.75 (50.59) 6 F A U 3:55.63 3:54.22 26 1) Reuter, Megan JR 2) r:0.11 Roper, Hannah SR 3) r:0.13 Firman, Kyleigh JR 4) r:0.10 Mark, Devon FR r:+0.65 28.92 59.98 (59.98) 1:29.43 (29.45) 2:04.30 (1:04.32) 2:31.07 (26.77) 3:02.16 (57.86) 3:27.05 (24.89) 3:54.22 (52.06)
With one day to go, Florida International looks prime to win its third straight Conference USA crown as they hold a 140 point lead over second place Rice. The meet will conclude tomorrow with prelims beginning at 10:30 EST and finals at 6 EST.
Team Standings:
- Florida International, 641
- Rice, 501
- Marshall, 471
- North Texas, 280
- Old Dominion, 209
- Florida Atlantic, 156
2017 Conference USA Championships Day 3 Finals – Results