Rice University
C-USA Championships
Owls Move Up To Third At C-USA Championships
2/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 25, 2006
HOUSTON -- The sophomore tandem of Jennifer Hill and Amy Halsey both posted second-place finishes in their respective events and the Rice 200-freestyle relay team also claimed a second place to help the Owls' swim team make a big scoring push on the third day of competition at the Conference USA Swimming & Diving Championships Friday evening across town at the University of Houston Recreation Center Natatorium.
The Owls moved up from fourth to third place in the team standings with 372.5 points through day three of the four-day championship meet. SMU is in first place with a total of 570 points while host Houston is in second (374). East Carolina is a close fourth (362) while Tulane (284.5) and Marshall (164) round-out the six team field after 14 of the championship's 21 events.
Rice began the day with a second place in the 200-free relay with a season-best time of 1:32.94 and built from there. The Owls' foursome of senior Laura Healey and freshmen Diane Gu, Skylar Craig and Carlyann Miller provisionally qualified for the NCAA championships next month Athens, Ga., with the second-fastest time in school history.
The sprint relay's success sparked six Owls scoring in the next event, the 400-individual medley. Hill led the charge with a second place on the strength of a career-best 4:24.35. Sophomore Brittany Massengale stepped out of the distance freestyle races and tied for fourth with a time of 4:26.94 while Amy Halsey was sixth (4:29.66). Sophomore Caitlin Warner was 10th (4:31.88) and junior Kirstin Doyle-Cooney scored for the team with a 14th place (4:43.42).
Halsey came back later in the meet and led another Owl run with a second place in the 100-backstroke. The sophomore from Katy swam a 56.12 in the evening finals but she was three one-hundredths of a second off the school record with a 55.98 in the morning prelims. Craig took fourth (57.60) and Healey was fifth (57.78) for a total of three in the championship final. Freshman Keri Hyde won the consolation final (58.07) and freshman Anna Dogger scored with a 16th.
Craig nearly matched her fourth in the 100-back with a top-five in the 100-butterfly (55.37). Natalie Kirchhoff won the 100-fly's consolation finals (57.57) and Hyde was right behind to take 11th. Senior Meghan Brown scored for the Owls with a 15th at her first and last C-USA meet.
Other Rice finalists included Miller with an eight in the 200-free (1:52.36) and Andrea Hurn with a seventh in the 100-breaststroke (1:07.05). The Blue and Gray had two other winners of the consolation finals of those same events with in the Hain 200-free and Hannah Blakeley in the 100-breaststroke.
The 2006 C-USA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship concludes with morning and evening sessions on Saturday. Results will be posted daily on www.RiceOwls.com.
2006 C-USA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships
Team Scores (through third day of four-day meet)
SMU 570
Houston 374
Rice 372.5
East Carolina 362
Tulane 284.5
Marshall 164
Players Mentioned
