Rice University
American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships
CHAMPS! Rice Wins AAC Swimming and Diving Championship
2/22/2025 8:29:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
Rice earns three individual championships in Saturday’s finale
DALLAS, Texas - Leading by five and a half points and needing a dramatic result in the 400 Free Relay, the Rice swimming and diving team finished the event in fourth place by .24 seconds, earning 52 points and winning the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championship by a margin of one and a half points on Saturday night.
"Super proud of this team!" said head coach Seth Huston. "You don't win championships unless everyone embraces their roles and excels over the course of the meet."
Rice won its first conference championship since the 2013-14 Conference USA Championship. In addition, Rice put up the most points ever scored by an Owls team in a conference championship with 1475.5.
"The girls absolutely earned this championship."
Action began with preliminaries in the morning, beginning with the 200 Yard Backstroke. Ava Hamblett (1:57.64) and Mimi Filkin (1:57.96) earned spots on the podium to guarantee their place in the A Final. Abigail King also finished in sixth with a time of 1:59.25, securing her spot in the A Final.
Mollie McAlorum was the highest finisher for Rice in the 100 Yard Freestyle preliminary, finishing ties for 15th with a time of 51.01, earning a spot in the B Final.
In the 200 Yard Breaststroke preliminary, Lily Cramer earned a third place finish with a time of 2:12.67. Reese Cole earned a spot in the A Final with a time of 2:14.35, as did Siiri Einio with a time of 2:15.35.
The 200 Yard Butterfly preliminary saw Rice earn two A Finalists in Arielle Hayon and Sami Johnson, posting times of 2:02.98 and 2:03.24.
To round out preliminary action, Megan Philip posted a score of 183.85 in the platform diving event, while Rylee Coyne posted a score of 154.05.
Finals began with the 1650 Yard Freestyle, where Rice dominated with a one-two-three finish. Ella Dyson defended her back-to-back titles with a third championship, finishing with a time of 16:20.26. Ava Portello finished just behind with a time of 16:23.43, and Amelia Kane rounded out the podium with a time of 16:34.21. Rice earned a total of 111 points from the event, which includes Ava Casperson's 14th place finish with a time of 17:19.29, and Johnson's 16th place finish with a time of 17:40.97.
"Nothing like getting the night going like a 1-2-3 sweep in the 1650 Free to set the tone."
Hamblett won the second event of the day for Rice, moving up to take first place in the 200 Back with a final time of 1:55.81, just seven-hundredths of a second ahead of the second place finisher, earning 32 points for the Owls. Filkin finished in fourth with a time of 1:56.62, while King moved up to fifth with a final time of 1:58.25.
"Ava Hamblett's win in the 200 Back was absolutely incredible. She truly wanted that more than everyone."
Cramer was the top finisher for Rice in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:14.07, good for fifth. Cole and Einio stayed in their prelims spots of sixth and eighth with times of 2:14.62 and 2:15.55.
Hayon earned Rice's final event victory of the night with a final time of 1:57.63 in the 200 Fly, winning her third of four 200 Fly championships (2022, 2023, 2025) while winning her seventh Butterfly championship. Johnson finished in sixth with a time of 2:02.92, earning Rice a combined 56 points.
"Arielle claiming her 3rd 200 Fly championship and moving up from prelims was big in creating a cushion going into the last events."
In the platform dive, Megan Phillip earned 22 points with an eight place finish, scoring 218.30 points. Rylee Coyne earned 14 points with her prelim score of 165.05. Overall, dive contributed 136 points for Rice this week.
"Our divers really stepped up today on platform and had their best day in scoring points."
Coming down to the final event, Rice led by 5.5 points, leading 1423.5 to FIU's 1418.
Rice needed to finish no less than three places behind FIU, in order to outscore the Panthers and hold steady in the standings. In the end, the relay team of Portello, Cole, Cramer, and Filkin was able to edge North Texas by .24 seconds, staying in fourth place. FIU finished in second behind Tulane by 2.02 seconds, earning 56 points. Rice's 56 allowed the Owls to edge the Panthers by just a point and a half, earning the Owls the title of AAC Champions.
"Thanks Mimi Filkin, for anchoring that last relay and holding off North Texas by .24 to secure the team championship!"
Some swimmers and divers will go on to continue the season in zones. RiceOwls.com will publish information regarding those as those events come.
Final Standings
| TEAM | SCORE |
| Rice | 1475.5 |
| FIU | 1474 |
| Tulane | 1234.5 |
| East Carolina | 1177 |
| North Texas | 1160 |
| FAU | 1008 |
Awards
Coach of the Year - Amanda Caldwell (Tulane)
Freshman of the Year - Ava Portello (Rice)
Most Outstanding Swimmer - Nicole Frank (FIU)
Most Outstanding Diver - Kamryn Wong (North Texas)
Players Mentioned
