Saturday, September 22
Lawrence, KS
8:00 am CT
Rice University
at
CSCAA Open Water National Championship
Swimmers Finish Second At Open Water Championship
9/22/2018 3:01:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
Junior Sarah Nowaski Leads Five Owls In Top 13
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Led by junior Sarah Nowaski's third place individual finish, and with a total of three Owls in the top nine spots, the Rice swim team placed second at third annual CSCAA Collegiate National Open Water Championships Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas.
Nowaski finished third among a starting field of 69 competitors representing 18 universities in the 5,000-meter Open Water Championship sponsored by College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). The junior from San Diego, Calif., finished the race in a time of 1:03:08.00 -- less than two seconds off Audrey Guyett's (Univ. of Missouri) winning time over a distance of 3.1 miles.
Southeastern Conference power Missouri won the meet based on the placings of the top-three finishers from each school. Rice's scoring trio of Nowaski, junior Claire Therien (fifth) and sophomore Lindsay Mathys (ninth) lifted the Owls over a formidable field of teams that included Texas A&M, TCU, Rutgers, George Washington and meet host Kansas to name.
Rice posted five of the top 13 spots with senior Hanna Huston finishing 11th and true freshman Shannon Jelley 13th. Huston was in fact swimming strong among the leaders, but suffered an injury with 1,000 meters remaining thanks to one of the distinctive but chaotic aspects of open water meets – groups swimming fast in close quarters. The senior from Katy, Texas, dislocated her shoulder after coming in contact with another competitor (or two). Where Huston was regarded as one of the event favorites after placing second overall in the same meet a year ago, she now had to summon an even greater effort just to finish the race.
Owl head coach Seth Huston, now in his 17th season at the helm of the swim program, stated Saturday's meet was a good starting point to the season.
"We swam great, with four in the top twelve almost all the way through the race," coach Huston said. "Sarah had the lead for a while and was strong the whole time. Claire and Lindsay really moved up. Hanna was swimming well but ended up dropping back because of her shoulder. That's part of competing in open water meets.
"I was really happy, and really proud, of how we got up and raced," coach Huston added. "We raced as a team, which you have to do in this meet."
The Owls' swim team is next in action at its annual home meet, the Rice Invitational, on October 12-13.
Nowaski finished third among a starting field of 69 competitors representing 18 universities in the 5,000-meter Open Water Championship sponsored by College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). The junior from San Diego, Calif., finished the race in a time of 1:03:08.00 -- less than two seconds off Audrey Guyett's (Univ. of Missouri) winning time over a distance of 3.1 miles.
Southeastern Conference power Missouri won the meet based on the placings of the top-three finishers from each school. Rice's scoring trio of Nowaski, junior Claire Therien (fifth) and sophomore Lindsay Mathys (ninth) lifted the Owls over a formidable field of teams that included Texas A&M, TCU, Rutgers, George Washington and meet host Kansas to name.
Rice posted five of the top 13 spots with senior Hanna Huston finishing 11th and true freshman Shannon Jelley 13th. Huston was in fact swimming strong among the leaders, but suffered an injury with 1,000 meters remaining thanks to one of the distinctive but chaotic aspects of open water meets – groups swimming fast in close quarters. The senior from Katy, Texas, dislocated her shoulder after coming in contact with another competitor (or two). Where Huston was regarded as one of the event favorites after placing second overall in the same meet a year ago, she now had to summon an even greater effort just to finish the race.
Owl head coach Seth Huston, now in his 17th season at the helm of the swim program, stated Saturday's meet was a good starting point to the season.
"We swam great, with four in the top twelve almost all the way through the race," coach Huston said. "Sarah had the lead for a while and was strong the whole time. Claire and Lindsay really moved up. Hanna was swimming well but ended up dropping back because of her shoulder. That's part of competing in open water meets.
"I was really happy, and really proud, of how we got up and raced," coach Huston added. "We raced as a team, which you have to do in this meet."
The Owls' swim team is next in action at its annual home meet, the Rice Invitational, on October 12-13.
Players Mentioned
Distance/Fly/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle/Fly/IM
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Middle Free
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