Dyson Named Female Athlete of the Meet; Leads Rice to Runner-up Finish at NIC

Thursday, March 12

Ocala, Fla.

Rice University

CSCAA National Invitational

Dyson Named Female Athlete of the Meet; Leads Rice to Runner-up Finish at NIC

3/14/2026 8:12:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

By: Kendyll Morris (km215@rice.edu)

OCALA, Fla. – Ella Dyson won two individual titles Saturday to lead Rice to a runner-up finish at the CSCAA National Invitational Championship. She was also named the Female Athlete of the Meet.

The Owls totaled 500.5 points to place second behind Kentucky, which won the team title with 553. Head coach Seth Huston was also named the NIC Women's Coach of the Year, an honor he credited to the entire Rice staff.

Dyson highlighted the final day with a season-best time of 16:15.25 to win the 1,650-yard freestyle. Earlier in the day, she captured the 1,000 freestyle in the morning session with a time of 9:52.82, finishing the week with three individual championships.

Rice recorded four individual titles overall, with the fourth coming from freshman Lily Archibald earlier in the meet, and the Owls totaled seven podium finishes.

Freshman Bella Zhang followed with a third-place finish in the 100 individual medley with a time of 55.15.

Ava Hamblett placed ninth in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:57.65.

In the 100 freestyle consolation final, Avery Karacz finished fifth with a time of 50.34 and Lizzie Zadel placed seventh with a time of 50.77.

Lily Cramer tied for second in the 200 breaststroke consolation final with a time of 2:13.69.

Sami Johnson closed the individual events with a seventh-place finish in the 200 butterfly championship final, recording a personal-best time of 2:00.53.

The Owls wrapped up the meet with a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Zadel, Karacz, Archibald and Cramer finished in 3:19.82.

"This is a tough meet to compete in," head coach Seth Huston said. "I am proud of how the team persevered from day to day, session to session. Everyone had a struggle and everyone had performances to celebrate. We had a great meet.

"Ella bounced back from conference and had the collegiate meet of her life. What an awesome way to complete her collegiate career."

Rice will close the 2025-26 season at the NCAA Championships in Georgia, where Ava Portello and Reese Cole will compete.