Friday, October 23
Houston, Texas
4 PM
Rice University
120
vs
179
Arkansas
Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
10/24/2026 6:41:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
HOUSTON – Rice swimming and diving earned three event wins and 21 top-three finishes in Friday's dual meet before competing in an elimination-style format Saturday against Arkansas at the Rice Competition Pool.
Ava Portello led the Owls on Friday with wins in the 500-yard freestyle (4:54.99) and 1,000-yard freestyle (10:05.32). Newcomer Eva McIver-Jenkins added a victory in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:01.13.
Rice recorded 11 second-place finishes and seven third-place finishes but fell to Arkansas 179-120.
In diving, Morgan Robson and Elizabeth Woollcott qualified for Zones on 1-meter with scores of 269.63 and 252.38, respectively, while Antonina Harned and Olivia Aarseth qualified on 3-meter with scores of 314.40 and 284.10, respectively.
Saturday's competition challenged swimmers to advance through multiple rounds to reach the finals. Portello won the opening two rounds of the distance freestyle bracket, posting times of 6:09.88 in the 600-yard race and 3:57.43 in the 400-yard race. She then finished second in the 200-yard final in 1:50.94.
Lily Archibald added two runner-up finishes, touching second in the 50-yard freestyle final in 22.59 and the 50-yard butterfly final in 23.62.
"Really solid weekend for the Owls," head coach Seth Huston said. "On Friday, we knew Arkansas would be a challenge. I was proud of how we fought all the way to the end. We had some great performances, but Arkansas was just better.
"Saturday was a blast. I think both teams enjoyed the challenge of advancing to the championship round and we had some impressive swims for this time of year."
The Owls will face Houston and Tulane at the University of Houston on Nov. 6 before returning home to host Tulane for Senior Day on Nov. 7.
Ava Portello led the Owls on Friday with wins in the 500-yard freestyle (4:54.99) and 1,000-yard freestyle (10:05.32). Newcomer Eva McIver-Jenkins added a victory in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:01.13.
Rice recorded 11 second-place finishes and seven third-place finishes but fell to Arkansas 179-120.
In diving, Morgan Robson and Elizabeth Woollcott qualified for Zones on 1-meter with scores of 269.63 and 252.38, respectively, while Antonina Harned and Olivia Aarseth qualified on 3-meter with scores of 314.40 and 284.10, respectively.
Saturday's competition challenged swimmers to advance through multiple rounds to reach the finals. Portello won the opening two rounds of the distance freestyle bracket, posting times of 6:09.88 in the 600-yard race and 3:57.43 in the 400-yard race. She then finished second in the 200-yard final in 1:50.94.
Lily Archibald added two runner-up finishes, touching second in the 50-yard freestyle final in 22.59 and the 50-yard butterfly final in 23.62.
"Really solid weekend for the Owls," head coach Seth Huston said. "On Friday, we knew Arkansas would be a challenge. I was proud of how we fought all the way to the end. We had some great performances, but Arkansas was just better.
"Saturday was a blast. I think both teams enjoyed the challenge of advancing to the championship round and we had some impressive swims for this time of year."
The Owls will face Houston and Tulane at the University of Houston on Nov. 6 before returning home to host Tulane for Senior Day on Nov. 7.
Players Mentioned
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Free/Fly
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Diving
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Free
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Diving
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/ Swimming & Diving
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