Swimming: Owls Off To Strong Start At Texas Invitational
12/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Scholl finished sixth in the 500-yard freestyle with a lifetime best and conditional NCAA qualifying time of 4:48.83, while Williams finished 11th in the 200 individual medley with a career best and NCAA conditional qualifying time of 2:03.35. Senior Jada Sanders clocked 2:04.24 in the 200 IM to place 15th.
Sophomore Mandy Mularz recorded the second-fastest time in Rice history in the 50 free during the morning preliminaries at 23.28, also an NCAA conditional qualifying time. Mularz took 10th in the event in the evening finals. Katie Hermann recorded the fifth-fastest time in school history in the event at 23.75, and senior Kim Maher recorded her personal best with a 24.14.
The 200 freestyle relay team of Mularz, Hermann, Maher and junior Rachel Armstrong just missed eclipsing their own school record with a 1:33.98, good enough for fifth in the event. The same quartet set the Rice mark at the Western Athletic Conference Championships in February with a 1:33.05.
Stanford, ranked No. 4 nationally, holds the overall team lead with 177 points, while Rice is ninth with 56. But, all eight teams ahead of the Owls are ranked among the top 15 teams in the nation.
The action continues Saturday and Sunday in Austin. The prelims will be held at 10 a.m., followed by 6 p.m. finals on Saturday. On Sunday, prelims will begin at 9:30 a.m., with finals at 3 p.m.