Miami v. FIU
- Coral Gables, Florida
- Saturday, September 29, 2018
- Full Results
- Score: Miami 165, FIU 133
Press Releases
Courtesy of FIU Athletics
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (Sept. 29, 2018) – The FIU swimming and diving team fell to Miami on Saturday, as the Panthers dropped their season opener to the Hurricanes at Norman Whitten Pool.
For full meet results, click here.
The Panthers won five of 16 events on Saturday, taking the 200-yard medley relay, 1000-yard freestyle, 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard breaststroke and 500-yard freestyle.
Stephanie Hussey led the way for FIU in the pool, taking two events to open her sophomore campaign. Hussey won the 500 and 1000-yard freestyles with times of 5:04.57 and 10:29.37 respectively. Junior Carita Luukkanen also posted a stellar day in the water, earning two victories in the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard breaststroke.
Freshman Chloe Hampson began her Panther career with a bang, after winning the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:06.43 in the event. Hussey was not far behind her Panther teammate in the event as she earned a time of 2:06.44 to place second overall.
The Panthers saw success on the diving platform as well, with three FIU divers earning NCAA qualifying marks. Maha Gouda qualified for the 1 and 3 meter after scores of 288.30 and 306.23 respectively, while Rachel Foord and Brooke Bouchard qualified for the 1 meter with marks of 286.05 and 270.23
“We simply got beat by the better team today,” head coach Randy Horner said. “We had a lot of bright spots and many performances to build on. Stephanie Hussey really stood out today swimming the 1000 free, 200 Fly, 500 free and 400 Free Relay. A gutty performance and collected wins in the 1000 and 500. Other swims that stood out were freshman Chloe Hampson, winning her first college race in the 200 Fly and Carita Luukkanen who wins the 200 breast.”
The meet on Saturday marked the third year in a row that the Panthers have opened up their season against the Hurricanes. Last season, the Panthers took first-place in nine of the 16 events and they opened the season with a lopsided 164.5-115.5 victory over Miami.
The Panthers closed out the 2017-2018 season 8-4 overall and took home their fourth-straight C-USA Championship title.
UP NEXT
FIU will open the home slate at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center next weekend as the Panthers host the TYR Fall Classic on Oct. 5-6.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following @FIU_swim_dive’s Instagram and @FIUSwimmingAndDiving on Facebook and on Twitter @FIUSwimDive. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.
Courtesy of Miami Athletics
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s swimming & diving team captured its first dual meet victory of the season Saturday morning, topping crosstown foe FIU, 165-133, at the Whitten University Center Pool.
The Hurricanes showed some resiliency after FIU captured the meet’s first event, the 200 medley relay, and faced an early deficit when the Panthers took two of the top-three finishes in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
Miami (1-1) reeled off three straight top finishes in the next three events and, coupled with another strong showing from redshirt sophomore diver Alicia Blagg, topped the Panthers to defend their home water.
“They showed a lot of heart. I’m very proud of them,” head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said. “We talk a lot about our pool being a special place, and I think they embraced that. They owned that. I know FIU was missing some of their important swimmers as well. I think it was great. Both teams had to step up and I’m proud of our team.”
Blagg picked up her third and fourth wins of the season, capturing both springboard events for the second straight day. Blagg, who won the 1-meter and 3-meter Friday against Florida, took top finishes in the 1-meter (340.28) and 3-meter (329.93) against the Panthers.
Trailing on the scoreboard early, Miami swept the top-three finishes in the 200-yard freestyle, with sophomore Sydney Knapp (1:52.87), sophomore Carmen San Nicolas Martinez (1:53.28) and freshman Maria Artigas Fernandez(1:53.73) helping Miami cut into the deficit.
Senior tri-captain Roxanne Yu (56.41) and sophomore Alaina Skellett (57.43) teamed up to take the top-two finishes in the 100-yard backstroke, while freshman Zorry Mason (1:03.91) kept the momentum rolling with the second win of her collegiate career, this one in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Senior tri-captain Katie Sickinger (2:09.50) added points for Miami in the 200-yard butterfly and scored points in two other events as well.
“One of the key things in this meet was our second-, third- and fourth-place finishes,” Kershaw said. You look at someone like Katie Sickinger – the places that she got were critical to the final outcome of this meet. Certainly nothing to take away from the winners, but after not getting the win in the medley relay, we could not have made that back up had we not had the seconds, thirds and fourths.”
Freshman Coco Hull (24.25) earned her first collegiate win with the top showing in the 50-yard freestyle, while San Nicolas Martinez (52.92) and Artigas Fernandez (53.18) posted the top-two times in the 100-yard freestyle, as Miami started to pull away.
Two more wins from Mason, coming in the 100-yard butterfly (55.55) and 200-yard IM (2:02.75) helped set the Hurricanes up for a big finish. Miami’s top entry in the 400-yard freestyle relay, comprised of Artigas Fernandez, San Nicolas Martinez, Hull and Knapp, took the top finish in the event with a time of 3:30.63.
The Hurricanes return to the pool for two weeks of training before heading out to Dallas, Texas for the SMU Classic from Oct. 12-13.
“I’m really, really happy. The way we’re finishing the races, that’s what we set out to do at the beginning of the season,” Kershaw said. “We haven’t really introduced any of our speed- or power-type work. That’s coming. I’m really excited.”