Rice University
SMU
Swimmers Rally Past SMU; Split Double-Dual Meet
1/12/2019 6:37:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
Owls Defeat Mustangs With Win In The Final Relay
SEC power Arkansas was in control in defeating the Owls, 163-126, in the day's other half of the double-dual. The annual showdown with the Mustangs, however, came down to the final event and – in fact the final half of the final event.
Rice true freshman Marta Cano-Minarro, who had already won the 200-freestyle earlier in the meet (1:51.70), posted a solid start in the final relay. SMU had gained the lead (over the Blue & Gray) after the second exchange, but the Owls were not quite finished. Rice sophomore Ellery Parish zoomed past the Mustangs in the third leg of the race and freshman Becca Evans notched a sensational anchor leg for a final event time of 3:28.96, just a little more than 1.5 seconds head of SMU.
Beating SMU in the day's final event provided the narrow but winning margin in the team scoring. Rice head coach Seth Huston, now in his 17th year at the helm of the Owl program, like what he saw Saturday.
"I was proud of how we bounced back today after our flat performance against North Texas (on Friday)" said coach Huston. "There were a lot of back-and-forth lead changes with SMU. It came down to the last relay to win the meet, and it was an exciting finish."
Where Rice's dual meet the day before at North Texas was not the team's best showing, Saturday's results were a different story. Senior standout Marie-Claire Schillinger swept both breaststroke events, taking the 100 with a 1:03.27 and the 200 with a 2:15.80 that was close to her best mark of the season. Parish won the 200-backstroke over a starting field of ten entries with a time of 2:02.50 and was second (to Cano-Minarro) in the 200 (1:52.30).
"Ellery and 'MC' really led the charge today," coach Huston explained. "Ellery's dominating win in the 200 back, and Marta & Ellery's 1-2 finish in the 200 free, gave us a boost."
The Rice swim team is next in action on Feb. 1-2 against SEC foe LSU and crosstown rival Houston. The two-day double-dual meet will be held at the Tiger Swim Center in Baton Rouge.
Players Mentioned
