In the second of three installments of Florida International University’s Dual-a-Palooza, the Rice Owls and FIU Panthers came out on top. The meet features four teams (FIU, Rice, FAU, Miami-Fla) that compete simultaneously in three separate sessions. Scoring is in a straight head-to-head dual meet format.
Rice vs. Miami-Fla
In one of the two dual meets yesterday morning, Rice beat the #28 ranked Miami-Fla 110-92. The Owls took event wins in six of the eleven contested races.
Yesterday’s stand out, Alicia Caldwell, had another strong performance, taking first in the 200 free (1:50.33) and second in the 100 free (51.73). She also anchored the first place finishing 200 medley relay- which had the same line up as yesterday’s 400 medley relay: Shelly Patton, Marie-Claire Schillinger, Kiley Beall and Caldwell.
A pair of freshmen Owls, Sydney Franzen and Hanna Huston went 1-2 in the 500 free, touching in 4:58.35 and 4:58.52-respectively. These times top the C-USA season best times. Franzen also finished 4th in the 200 free .
The 400 IM was another strong event for the Owls, who took all top three places: Kaitlyn Swinney (4:25.80), Hanna Huston (4:28.82), and Anniina Ala-Seppala (4:34.18).
The Owls and Hurricanes split the relays on the day, wiht the Owls taking the medley relays and the Hurricanes taking the 200 free. The team of Ksenia Yuskova, Julie Suarez, Rebeka Repman, and Angela Algee touched a full second before the Owls “A” team in 1:35.40. Algee swept the butterfly events, taking the 50 in (25.52) and the 200 in (2:03.33).
FIU vs. FAU
Hosts FIU took their second win of the weekend over FAU, finishing with team scores of 138-62. During this session, the FIU Panthers took event wins in 9 of the 11 contested events for a dominating win.
Some of FIU’s stand out performances included
- Kyna Pereira– 1st in the 200 back (2:03.47)
- Pereira & Jessica Piper tied for first in the 200 free (1:53.38)
- Naomi Ruele-1st in the 100 free (52.48), which was good for a C-USA season-best
- Jessica Chadwick- 1st in the 500 free (5:02.76)
- Letizia Bertelli– 1st in the 50 fly (25.66)
For FAU, junior Laura Conoscenti was the first individual event winner of the session, touching at 2:06.62 in the 200 fly for a personal best time. She also competed in the 400 IM, touching in 4:42.44, which was good for a 5th place finish.
The four teams faced off again a few hours later in the 3rd and final session of the Dual-a-Palooza
