Rice University
Phill Hansel Cougar Classic Invitational
Rice Swimmers Finish Fourth At U.H. Invitational Meet
11/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Nov. 20, 2010
HOUSTON - Junior Alex O'Brien placed fourth in the mile then came back with another top eight finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, while sophomore Stephanie Wei took fifth in the 200-backstroke, to pace the Rice swimmers on the final day of competition at the Phill Hansel Invitational Saturday night across town at the University of Houston Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.
As a team the Owls finished in fourth place in the final team standings of the three-day meet that featured 19 different swim events. LSU, the No. 22-ranked team in the country, won the meet with 1,117.5 points. Defending Conference USA champion SMU (ranked No. 18 nationally) was second with 875.5. Meet host Houston was third (562 pts.), followed by Rice (468), Tulane (360) and New Mexico (311).
O'Brien swam a steady 16:58.53 to finish fourth in the rugged 1,650-yard freestyle in her first time to race at the distance this season. The freshman duo of Emily Crowder (17:35.22) and Quincy Christian (17:35.47) were 11th and 12th, respectively, in their first mile at the Division I level.
O'Brien later returned to score big for the team with an eighth place in the 200-yard breaststroke. The St. Paul, Minn., native reached the event's championship final after a season-best 2:22.13 in the morning prelims. Senior Ashten Ackerman was 12th in the event with a 2:25.37.
Rice placed three in the top nine of the 200-backstroke. Wei continued her strong showing over the weekend with a season-best 2:02.24 to take fifth among a field of 30 entrants. Senior Kait Chura was eighth (2:03.96) and made the championship final after a season-best 2:02.63 in the prelims. The Owls' eye-opening performance was true freshman Michelle Gean`s career-best 2:02.10 to win the consolation final (ninth overall).
Junior Shelby Bottoms has seen a lot of action lately in the 200-butterfly and the experience has paid off. She posted a season-best 2:04.57 to take 10th in the 200-fly. Ackerman meanwhile was solid with a 2:08.45 in the race, which she swam no more than 15 minutes after the conclusion of her 200-breaststroke.
Seven different Owls tallied new season-best marks Saturday in the 100-freestyle. Freshman Chelsea Fong went 51.79 to take 12th overall and log the Blue & Gray's top 100-free of the young season.
The meet closed with a dramatic 400-freestyle relay and the Owls continued the recent trend. The foursome of Wei, Bottoms, Fong and freshman Karina Wlostowska placed fifth with a season-best 3:27.58.
"After a decent morning (of prelims) we came back in the evening and had our best session," said Rice head coach Seth Huston. "We swam really well. Alex had a great mile. Michelle had her best 200-backstroke in the morning, and then dropped two seconds off it two win that B-final. That was exciting, and Stephanie and Kait did well racing in the championship final. Everyone got better in the 100-free, so that is good to see we're going in the right direction. I thought our `A' relay did a nice job and `B' relay was pretty good too. The main thing is we got better as the meet went on and everyone finished strong. From this point we'll recover a little bit as we head into next week, then get back on continuing to improve."
A complete listing of the meet results are located at the above link.
Players Mentioned
