2024 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Dates: Thursday, February 22 – Sunday, February 25
- Location: Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr McMillion Natatorium, Dallas, TX
- Defending Champions: Houston (7x) – now in Big 12
- Live Results
- Live Video
- Championship Central
- Day 1 Results|Day 1 Recap
- Day 2 Results
TEAM SCORES THRU DAY 2
- FIU – 290.5
- SMU – 250
- Rice – 185
- East Carolina – 179
- North Texas – 143.5
- FAU – 128
- Tulane – 117
The 2nd day of the 2024 AAC Championships saw FIU continue to lead in team scoring, though SMU is hanging in close. In fact, SMU may well be in the lead right now if it weren’t for their getting DQ’d on the 200 free relay at the end of the session.
In the 200 free relay, it was East Carolina that ended up coming out on top. ECU clocked a 1:30.81, Seeing Carlie Clements (23.22), Mikayla Durkin (22.66), Laura Kellberg (22.35), and Heidi Bruining (22.58) team up to make it happen. SMU would end up getting disqualified, though their relay clocked a 1:29.33, which would have won the race by a huge margin and set a new AAC record. The results don’t specify what the disqualification was for, but in a 200 free relay, it’s most likely it was an early takeoff. That and a 15-meter violation are really the only two things you would see a 200 free relay get disqualified for at a meet of this caliber. For the record, Rice also finished ahead of East Carolina with a 1:30.64, but was also DQ’d, again, presumably for an early takeoff.
Rice’s Imogen Meers won the women’s 50 free tonight, clocking a 22.23. Meers was just off the AAC record of 22.19, which has stood since 2017.
FIU’s Christie Chue took the 200 IM in 1:57.21. She was in a tight race halfway through, having split 25.53 on fly and 30.05 on back, for a 55.58 on the opening 100. Thanks to a 34.05 breast split, Chue had pulled firmly into the lead, then a 27.58 free split sealed the deal, putting her into the finish well over a second ahead of runner-up Arielle Hayon (1:58.55).
Rice was dominant in the 500 free tonight, going 1-2-3, and doing so comfortably. Junior Amelia Kane would win the race in 4:43.70, followed by sophomore Ella Dyson in 4:44.00, and fifth year Shannon Campbell in 4:45.84. The trio was locked in a close race throughout, seeing all 3 flip in 1:53-something at the 200 mark. They would actually be packed even closer at the 300 turn, after which point Kane began to pull away from Campbell.
There was another AAC record that fell tonight, matching the record that fell on night 1. Once again, the record came in the day’s diving event. It was East Carolina’s Frida Zuniga who won 3-meter diving tonight, racking up a final score of 352.80, setting a new record for the meet.
