Rice University
Phill Hansel Invitational
Schillinger Defends Event Title Saturday At Hansel Invitational
11/17/2018 11:55:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
Second-Straight Year For Marie-Claire Schillinger To Win 100-Breaststroke
After 12 swimming events and the second of three diving events, Rice holds fifth place in the team standings with 566 points. Meet host Houston owns a commanding lead in the 12-team meet with 1,159 points. Nevada is second with 596 points, followed by Tulane (589.5) and New Mexico (589 points). The Owls lead Washington State (407.5), Colorado State (378), Vanderbilt (328), Northern Colorado (314), Air Force (286), Incarnate Word (232) and North Texas (97).
It was in the same U.H. meet two years ago, Schillinger's sophomore year in November of 2016, when she was edged-out for first place in the same 100-breaststroke event by just two one-hundredths of a second (.02). Schillinger has not lost this invitational's 100-breaststroke title since. The Orinda, Calif., native set Rice school record (1:00.06) on the way to winning the event title as a junior last season. As a senior Saturday she won the event over a starting field of 45 entries with a time of 1:00.64 and was almost every bit as consistent as her 1:00.63 she posted in the morning prelims.
Rice had some solid scores in a host of different events. In the 200-freestyle the tandem of freshman Marta Cano-Minarro and sophomore Ellery Parish were fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 1:47.69 and 1:48.20. Cano-Minarro's mark was the fourth-fastest in school history and to prove it wasn't a fluke, she went even faster when swimming the lead leg of the 800-freestyle relay with a 1:47.61. The Owl foursome of Cano-Minarro, Parish, Hanna Huston and Claire Therien placed fifth overall with a 7:19.14 that was a full 15-seconds faster than the team's 800-free relay at the Rice Invitational last October.
The Owls began evening finals with an even better third place result in the 200-medley relay. The team of Rabea Tzenetos, Schillinger, Brittany Bui and Can-Minarro logged a season-best 1:40.75 that is just two-tenths of second from the No. 5 mark in school history.
Bui also scored big for the Blue & Gray with a sixth place finish in the 100-butterfly (55.01). A pair of Owls, Tzenetos and Hannah Sumbera, won consolation finals Saturday. Sumbera swam a 4:20.72 for ninth in the rugged 400-individual medley. Tzenetos registered a career-best 54.72 in the 100-backstroke that may have been ninth in the final point totals, but was second-fastest time in the event all night. It's also the fifth-fastest 100-back in the Rice ledgers.
The Hansel Invitational concludes on Sunday with prelims starting at 10 am. Event finals are scheduled for 3 pm, which is an earlier start time from the first two days of the meet in order to accommodate team travel for the non-local teams.
Players Mentioned
