Rice University
Texas A&M
Swimmers Fall In Dual Meet To Texas A&M
12/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Dec. 2, 2006
COLLEGE STATION -- Freshman Erin Mattson won the 200-yard butterfly with a season-best time of 2:05.21 and she was a member of Rice's winning 200-freestyle relay team, but fifth-ranked Texas A&M claimed a 151-101 dual meet victory over the Owls Saturday afternoon at home in College Station.
Mattson led from start to finish for her victory in the 200-fly. Not only was her winning time the Owls' best mark of the year, it is actually Rice's best in two years dating back to when Urska Ros set the school record in the event at the Western Athletic Conference Championships in the spring of 2005. The Rice rookie from Highland, Ill., came back later in the meet and swam a strong third leg of 200-free relay. The Owl foursome of Carlyann Miller, Skylar Craig, Mattson and Diane Gu teamed to post a winning time of 1:38.10.
Texas A&M showed why it is the fifth-ranked team in the country, winning a total of 12 of the meet's 14 events in convincing form. Junior distance specialist Brittany Massengale notched a pair of second place finishes in the 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle events. Freshman Pam Zelnick was second in the 200-breaststroke and she showed some versatility by taking second in her collegiate debut in the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:09.32, the Owls' second-fastest time in the event this season.
Freshmen Justine Lin and Megan Land both tallied second place finishes in the 200-backstroke and 100-butterfly, respectively. Sophomore Carlyann Miller led a 2-3-4 Rice finish with a second in the 100-free.
The dual meet was the Owls' last before heading into the semester break. The Rice swimmers next compete at Florida Atlantic University the first week of January, 2007.
Players Mentioned
