MIAMI — Tahis Ibáñez, Halli Williams and Annie Reichner each won sprints as BYU women’s swimming posted 518 points and finished second at the FIU Sprint Invite at Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center on Wednesday.
"We had a solid meet," said BYU head coach Shari Skabelund. "Everyone found a way to stay alive in the dwindling heats. It was a perfect opportunity to give feedback to each athlete and watch them improve as the day went on."
Host Florida International scored a winning 636 points but competed divers while BYU did not. The Cougars finished over 200 points ahead of third-place South Dakota. Ibáñez and Williams led BYU with 40 points a-piece while Reichner scored 37.
Ibáñez entered the meet as the 13 seed in the women’s 50 fly with an entry time of 26.79. By meet’s end, Ibáñez had improved her time through each round of 50 fly competition and defeated FIU’s Oumy Diop in the final with a personal best 25.66. The sophomore from Rexburg, Idaho won three of four races on the day and finished second in the opening round of the 50 fly.
Williams held the top seed in the women’s 50 free and showed it with a dominant performance on the way to winning in the final. The junior from Houston, Texas finished second in the first round of the 50 free at 24.08 then made steady improvements while winning each ensuing round. Williams clocked 23.53 to win the 50 free final over Emily Kahn of South Dakota.
Reichner delivered the Cougars’ third win of the day in the 50 back. After finishing second in the first three rounds, Reichner sliced 0.4 seconds off her quarterfinal time to win the event at 26.83, narrowly edging FIU’s Diana Santamaria at 26.84.
Victoria Schrieber, Addison Richards and Kara Martinson each scored over 30 points to further bolster BYU.
Schrieber competed in four events and won the 200 free at 1:55.00 on her way to 33 points for the meet. The sophomore from Brighton, Michigan also cut over two seconds off her entry time to take sixth in the 100 back.
Richards scored 31 points as she reached the 50 breast semifinal with a personal best 30.78 and took third in the 100 breast at 1:06.84. Martinson competed in four events with her best finishes coming in the 100 and 200 free. The freshman from Weddington, North Carolina went runner-up in the 200 free at 1:55.01 and took sixth in the 100 free at 54.26.
Rachel Ballard, Mackenzie Lung and Daniela Flores Bautista garnered a combined 72 points for the Cougars as well.
BYU women’s swimming next competes in a tri-meet on the road versus Denver and Wyoming Jan. 12-13 in Denver, Colorado. BYU women’s diving will compete Jan. 12-13 as well but at UCLA’s Bruin Diving Invitational in Los Angeles, California.