After three swimming events, one relay, and 3-meter diving, Florida International University is holding on to a small lead over Rice University at the 2020 Conference USA Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. FIU was lead by freshman Jasmine Nocentini, who doubled by winning the 50 freestyle and leading off the winning 200 freestyle relay team. FIU leads Rice 337-292.5 and are followed by Florida Atlantic University in third (169), then a close race for fourth between Old Dominion University (127), Marshall University (119.5) and University of North Texas (119).
Conference USA Championships: 500 Freestyle
Rice University led the way in the 500 freestyle with five of eight A finalists. Rice was led by top seeded junior Ellery Parish, who took the Conference USA championship in 4:48.19. Parish was closely followed by FIU junior Stephanie Hussey in second (4:49.78), and a tie for third between Rice senior Claire Therien and FAU sophomore Spence Atkins (4:51.46). Rounding out the championship final were Old Dominion seinor Jacklyn VandePoel (4:53.44), and a trio of Rice teammates including senior Sarah Nowaski (4:55.30), freshmen Shannon Campbell (4:55.76) and Virginie Qian (4:56.80). Old Dominion sophomore Jacqueline Tinneny took the B final in 4:54.32, and Bryanna Vasquez of University of North Texas took the C in 5:00.88.
Conference USA Championships: 200 Individual Medley
Rice again represented well in an A final, with half of the eight finalists belonging to Rice. The Owls took their second event of the night with sophomore Marta Cano Minarro winning with a sub two-minute swim of 1:59.92, earning an NCAA Division I ‘B’ cut by 0.02 seconds. She was followed by Marshall senior Catherine Bendziewicz in second (2:00.47), FIU senior Taylor Grabenhorst in third (2:00.61), Rice juniors Nicole Limberg (2:01.33), Hannah Sumbera (2:02.63) and Brittany Bui (2:02.81), FIU freshman Delanie Goll (2:02.82), and Old Dominion freshman Tara Enneking (2:03.92). Florida International junior Sara Gyertyanffy took the B final in 2:03.10, and Old Dominion freshman Summer Sampson took the C in 2:05.95.
Conference USA Championships: 50 Freestyle
Three swimmers, led by two FIU freshmen, earned NCAA ‘B’ cuts in the 50 freestyle. Jasmine Nocentini took the sprint in 22.23 seconds and was joined under the B cut threshold of 22.76 by Rice senior Kate Nezelek in second (22.45) and fellow classmate and teammate Lamija Medosevic in third (22.70). Rounding out the championship final were Marshall junior Darby Coles in fourth (22.83), Rice freshman Sini Koivu in fifth (22.96), FIU sophomore Paloma Sanchez in sixth (23.24), Marshall senior Hannah Robins in seventh (23.35), and Rice sophomore Becca Evans in eighth (23.36). FIU sophomore Helga Fodor took the B final in 23.22 and senior teammate Annie Barral took the C in 23.72.
Conference USA Championships: 3-Meter Diving
Florida International dominated 3-meter diving with the top five finishers in the event. Leading the way was freshman Mandy Song who won with a score of 363.05 and was followed by teammates Maha Gouda in second (344.10), Rachel Foord in third (317.90), Britanny Haskell in fourth (285.10) and Brooke Bouchard in fifth (284.00). The remaining finalists included Florida Atlantic junior Malvina Catalano Gonzaga in sixth (282.90), sophomore teammate Taylor Downs in seventh (275.70), and Meghan Miller of University of North Texas in eighth (254.70). Florida Atlantic freshman Alicia Mora Herencia took the B with a score of 307.80, which would have been good for fourth.
Conference USA Championships: 200 Freestyle Relay
Freshman Jasmine Nocentini earned her second gold of the evening as she led off Florida International’s winning relay in 22.70. She was followed into the water by Helga Fodor (22.38), Lamija Medosevic (22.54), and Paloma Sanchez (22.61), who combined with Nocentini for a winning time of 1:30.23. Florida International was followed by Kate Nezelek (22.61), Becca Evans (22.84), Marta Cano Minarro (22.76), and Harper Gillentine (22.90) of Rice who took second with a 1:31.11. Marshall took third in 1:31.94, Florida Atlantic placed fourth (1:33.59) and Old Dominion edged University of North Texas for fifth (1:34.75 to 1:34.81).
The 2020 Conference USA Championships will continue Friday, February 28th with swimming prelims at 10:30am ET and diving prelims at 12pm ET. Finals commence at 6pm ET and can be streamed here.