Rice University
Conference USA Championships
Owls Secure Second at C-USA Championships
3/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
By Tess Elmore
Led by senior Brittany Massengale's individual title in the mile, the Rice swim team broke a grand total of six school records and earned two automatic with seven provisional qualifications to match last year's second place finish at the 2008 Conference USA Swimming & Diving Championships Saturday evening across town at the University of Houston Recreation & Wellness Center.
In total, the Owls amassed 635 points to finish in second place behind 2008 champion SMU with 926 points. East Carolina held on for third place with 518 points while meet host Houston was fourth with 431. Marshall was fifth with 365.
Massengale earned the team's only individual title with a career-best time of 16:17.73 in the mile Saturday during the fourth and final day of the completion to head up the Rice Owl distance contingency. With this time, she also secured her place in the NCAA swim meet in this event. Prior to the Saturday finals, Brittany contributed to the Owl effort in three other events. As the leadoff for the Owls 800 free relay team, she not only set a new school record with a time of 1:45.74 for her leg, but also helped the relay team that included Zelnick, Miller, and Hyde to a new school relay record of 7:21.75. In so doing, Massengale earned another automatic qualification for herself and helped the relay to a provisional qualifying mark.
Already a provisional qualifier in the 500, Brittany chalked up another B cut with her time of 4:48.38 in the 500 which earned her a close second to SMU's Jennifer Blackman. In her fourth and final event, the 400 free relay, Rice notched a second place for the Owls with a time of 3:23.19, the third-fastest mark in school history. But nothing has been less of a one man show than the Owls' showing at this meet. The Rice Owls, in an immense team effort, scored points across the board.
"We had a great meet from start to finish," head coach Seth Huston stated simply. "Our performance is just a tribute to the real team work the team put in. Everyone looks at swimming as an individual sport but the individuals don't swim well unless the teammates around them are supporting them. We had that all year."
Nowhere was this teamwork more obvious than in the relays. Aside from the 800 and 400 free relay teams mentioned above, the 200 free, 200 medley, and 400 medley teams experience a high level of success. In the 200 medley relay, the very first event of this four day swimming marathon, the dynamic team of Wo, Zelnick, Craig, and Gu rocketed to a first place win and a provisional qualification with a time of 1:43.29. From here, the momentum continued to build. With Miller in place of Wo, this same relay team rolled in second place finish with a provisional qualifying time of 1:31.57 in the 200 freestyle relay and with a time of 3:47.52, the 400 medley relay team of Hyde, Zelnick, Craig and Miller put in a great showing for another second place finish.
All in all the Rice relays earned one first place finish, four second place finishes, and two provisional qualifications for the NCAA meet. In the individual freestyle events, Rice had thirteen top eight placements. In the sprints, junior Carlyann Miller was Rice's top finisher taking home a 3rd in the 50, a 6th place in the 100, and a 5th place in the 200. Both her 50 free time of 22.96 and her 100 free time of 50.46 earned her provisional qualifications. Also in the 50, Pam Zelnick picked up a 6th place finish with a time of 23.51 after a career best time of 23.41 in the prelims. Diane Gu earned a pair of 8th place finishes in both the 50 and the 100 free.
The Blue and Gray was particularly strong in the distance free events. Behind Massengale in the 500 free, junior Caitlin Warner came in 5th with a personal best time of 4:56.88 and freshman Sarah Korellis came in 8th just six seconds later. In the mile, Rice walked away with four of the top eight places. Massengale finished first almost thirty seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Warner and freshman Karen Gerken tallied up a 3rd and 4th for the Owls with nearly identical times of 17:03.36 and 17:03.39, respectively. Korellis was not far behind with a 6th place finish and a time of 17:10.79.
Three Rice breaststrokers went home with medals. Pam Zelnick placed 5th with a time of 1:05.91 and Allison Lemay placed 7th with a time of 1:07.77. Freshman Ashton Ackerman worked for her time of 2:06.91 and a 6th place finish in the 200 breaststroke.
In backstroke, Skylar Craig set a new school record, earned a provisional qualifying mark, and took home a fourth place finish in the 100 backstroke. Her teammates Keri Hyde and Diane Wo accompanied her to the finals. With a time of 56.34, Hyde placed 5th. Angela Wo placed 8th with a time of 57.10. Craig also made a good showing in butterfly, recording a season best of 55.34 in the 100 fly to earn yet another provisional qualifying mark. Wo not only earned came in 8th in the 100 but raced hard to a 4th place in finish in the 200 fly on the last day of competition. Ackerman made another appearance on the medal podium with a 6th place finish in this event. Freshman Kait Chura represented Rice in the IMs with a 7th place finish in the 400 and a 8th place finish in the 200.
In every event save the diving events, Rice took home at least one medal. In total, the team took home an impressive 33 top eight finishes.
In the words of Brittany Massengale: "This is a great team, and they are going to continue to do great things. They are young and have so much potential I wish I had four more years with these girls. Just look at them. It is going to be awesome."
Rice heads today to the Last Chance Meet in Austin. The NCAA Championships are scheduled for March 20-22 in Columbus, Ohio.
Rice Finishes at Conference Championship Meets
Southwest Conference
Year Place Points
1983 8th 117
1984 8th 58
1985 8th 157
1986 7th 212
1987 7th 231
1988 7th 214
1989 7th 229
1990 7th 247
1991 7th 277
1992 4th 413
1993 5th 350
1994 5th 349.5
1995 4th 424.5
1996 4th 381
Western Athletic
Year Place Points
1997 5th 381
1998 5th 275
1999 3rd 401
2000 3rd 582.5
2001 3rd 481.5
2002 3rd 541
2003 3rd 506.5
2004 4th 551
2005 4th 476
Conference USA
Year Place Points
2006 4th 540.5
2007 2nd 653.5
2008 2nd 635
Players Mentioned
