Hayon's Gold Keeps Rice on Top After Day Three of AAC Championship
2/21/2025 8:29:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
DALLAS, Texas - Rice swimming and diving earned a total of 481.5 points on Friday to keeps its hold on first place on day three of the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championship hosted at the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center on the campus of SMU.
Preliminaries action began with the 400 IM, where four Owls earned their way into the finals with top-eight times. Lily Cramer finished in second place with a time of 4:18.48, while Amelia Kane rounded out the podium with a time of 4:19.90. Ella Dyson (4:21.65) finished in fifth while Sami Johnson (4:24.91) rounded out the top eight.
In the 100 Fly preliminaries, Arielle Hayon and Jessica Lawton claimed the top two spots of the podium with times of 52.73 and 53.56, earning Hayon the opportunity to defend her three-straight 100 Fly conference championships.
In the 200 Free preliminaries, Ava Portello blew past the competition in her heat to top the board with a time of 1:48.22 to lead all swimmers heading into the finals. Reese Cole and Mollie McAlorum also earned sports in the finals, with Cole earning a fourth place finish with a time of 1:49.29, and McAlorum rounding out the top eight with a time of 1:49.83.
Siiri Einio earned her way into the finals of the 100 Breast with a 1:01.97, good for seventh in the preliminary round.
Abigail King and Mimi Filkin earned spots in the 100 Back Final, with King posted a third place time of 54.28 to secure her spot. Filkin earned a time of 54.39, good for a sixth place finish, to solidify her spot in the final.
In the final preliminary of the day, Megan Phillip clinched a spot in the three-meter dive final with a score of 262.50, good for sixth. Rylee Coyne finished in the top 20 of all divers in the three-meter with a score of 210.20.
In finals action, Amelia Kane and Lily Cramer earned podium finishes for Rice at second and third in the 400 IM, respectively. Kane finished with a final time of 4:14.78, while Cramer finished with a time of 4:15.54. Ella Dyson and Sami Johnson also earned top eight finishes at fifth and seventh.
"Really proud of our IMers tonight," said head coach Seth Huston. "It was awesome to see Amelia and Lily earn podium finishes."
The 100 Fly saw Arielle Hayon win her fourth-consecutive conference championship, her third in the American. Hayon posted a final time of 52.30 to earn 32 points for Rice. Jessica Lawton finished fourth in the event with a time of 53.62.
"4-peat for Arielle! Pure dominance in the 100 fly. Arielle is showing her competitiveness, and focus over and over again as she wins again!"
For the first time in this season's championship, two swimmers were tied for second in the 200 Free, with Portello being one of the swimmers tied, earning 27.5 points with a final time of 1:47.23. Cole and McAlorum earned finishes in seventh and eight place.
"Ava Portello's long arms paid off on her finish to tie for second in the 200 free. I know her head was farther back from her co-runner up."
Einio was Rice's top finisher in the 100 Breast, finishing in eighth with a time of 1:02.22.
Filkin finished on the podium for the third time this week with a 53.91 in the 100 Back, earning 27 points for Rice. Abigail King followed right behind her with a time of 54.02 for 26 more points to push Rice's lead.
"Mimi Filkin and Abi King both went personal bests on their way to a 3, 4 finish in the 100 back. They executed great race strategies."
Megan Phillip earned eighth in the three-meter dive A final with a score of 258.80, earning a crucial 22 points for Rice. Rylee Coyne earned five points for Rice as well. In total, after the third day of action, diving accounted for 100 total points of Rice'e team score, pushing Rice ahead of the pack.
In the final event of the night, the quartet of Filkin, Cole, Hayon, and Cramer earned a second place finish in the 400 Medley Relay with a time of 3:37.23, setting Rice up with 56 more points to close the day.
After three days of action, Rice leads the conference with 1004.5 points. Florida International is second with 967, followed by Tulane (842.5), East Carolina (818), North Texas (789), and Florida Atlantic (659).
| TEAMS | SCORE |
| Rice | 1004.5 |
| FIU | 967 |
| Tulane | 842.5 |
| East Carolina | 818 |
| North Texas | 789 |
| FAU | 659 |
The AAC Championship concludes Saturday with the 1650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 400 Free, and Platform Diving Events.
Players Mentioned
