Massengale And Korellis Lead Rice Swimmers To Open Water Team Title

AUSTIN, Texas, November 3. SENIOR Brittany Massengale and freshman Sarah Korellis finished first and second, respectively, in the individual standings to pace Rice to the team title of the 2007 Open Water Swimming Collegiate National Championships at Lake Travis in Austin, Texas.

Led by Massengale's winning time of 55:09 for the 5,000-meter race in the main basin of Lake Travis, the Owls claimed five of the top nine spots to win the American Swimming Association's first-ever Open Water Collegiate National Championship. Rice finished with a team total of 43 points, a comfortable margin ahead of national runner-up the University of New Mexico (22 points).

Massengale has already made a name for herself as an open water swimmer. The native of Alma, Ark., was a member of the United States national team in an international open water event in the summer of 2006. She also competed in the 2007 national team trials last month in Florida. Massengale won the 5K ahead of Korellis, who registered a time of 55:42. Fellow Rice freshman Karen Gerken was fourth while junior Carlyann Miller was sixth and Kait Chura was ninth.

"It was a great day and we had a great meet," said Rice head swim coach Seth Huston. "Brittany has a lot of experience in open water events. Sarah came on really strong and did a fantastic job to take second. Every one swam very well. This was the first open water team championship for colleges, so we'll have to come back next year to defend our title."

Special thanks to Rice for contributing this report.

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