This afternoon, the Rice University women faced off with the women of Missouri State University at Rice’s outdoor pool in Houston, Texas. This meet was the first for both teams since the holiday season and the first in 2015. The Bears of Missouri State came to Houston for their training trip but were able to also get in the competition against the Owls while they are in the area.
The meet order was somewhat unique – instead of swimming the usual 13- or 16-event order that is so common in college meets, this afternoon’s meet was organized as a pentathlon. Coach Huston of Rice and Coach Collins of Missouri State decided that the meet should be arranged as the four 100s of stroke in reverse-IM order followed by the 200 IM event. There were six heats of each event. The athletes competed in all five events, allowing them to swim events that are outside of their usual lineup or that they consider to be their “off” events.
Rice University claimed first and second place in all five events and swept the top four spots in four of those events (100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 butterfly, and 200 IM). Hannah Deters was a standout for the Owls this afternoon, winning the 200 IM and placing second in all of her 100s. Casey Clark, a 2014 NCAA qualifier from Rice, won three of her events – the 100 freestyle (52.36), the 100 backstroke (58.84), and the 100 butterfly (57.39). Rice swimmer Rachel Moody took first in the 100 breaststroke by almost five seconds, touching the wall in 1:03.56. In the 100 backstroke, CeCe Etter and Sydney Zupan posted Missouri State’s highest rankings in an event this afternoon by taking third and fourth in 59.90 and 1:00.42, respectively.
The final score: Rice University 110 – Missouri State University 45
The Rice Owls next compete in San Diego when they face Nevada and San Diego State on January 9th (12 pm CT). The women of Missouri State will swim against Truman State in Springfield, Missouri following the conclusion of their training trip (January 17th, 3 pm CT).
Does rice use USRPT?