Erin Flanigan Leads Rice Swimming To Victory Against Houston

HOUSTON, Texas, October 17. Rice Swimming took down in-state rival Houston with a 176-117 victory at Houston’s Rec Center Natatorium.

Rice Press Release

Five Rice senior swimmers, led by distance specialist Erin Flanigan, made a statement in their final road dual meet across town at rival Houston by leading the Owls to a convincing 176-117 victory over U.H. Wednesday evening at the Cougars’ Rec Center Natatorium.

Flanigan swept both distance events, posting a winning time of 4:58.65 in the 500-yard freestyle and a steady 10:12.05 in the 1,000. She was joined by Owl seniors Casey Clark (200-butterfly, 2:05.01), Faith Hirschi (200-backstroke, 2:05.54), Marissa Konicke (50-freestyle, 24.73) and Rachel Moody (100-breaststroke, 1:03.36), who all notched individual wins on the night. The veteran trio of Clark, Konicke and Moody also swam on winning Rice relays as the Blue & Gray claimed 11 of the meet’s 14 swim events.

Junior Cora McKenzie led a 1-2 Owl finish with Moody in the 100-freestyle that included season-best marks of 52.56 and 52.68, respectively. Late in the meet redshirt sophomore Meaghan Wisenbaker brought her teammates to their feet with an emotional win in the 100-butterfly (56.88). Wisenbaker had missed all of last season while sidelined with an injury, but came from behind to post her first individual win in more than a calendar year.

Houston won the 100-backstroke, 200-breaststroke and 200-freestyle, as well as both springboard diving events (which the Owls do not compete in). The Rice swimmers are next in action on Oct. 31 at longtime rival SMU. The Owls then face North Texas in a Conference USA dual meet on Nov. 1.

Houston Press Release

The University of Houston swimming and diving team dropped to 0-2 after losing at home to Rice, 176-117, Thursday afternoon at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

“I am really pleased with how we raced today,” Head Coach Rich Murphy said. “I think we raced better today than we did in either of the previous competitions. As we’re continuing to build we are a young team and we need to be able to add more depth to be able to withstand the depth of a team like Rice.”

The swimming team had three first place finishes. Junior Dora Bednjanec won the 100-yard backstroke (58.38), Sophomore Michaela Hamrick won her first colligate swim meet in the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.34) and Freshman Ashley Grijalva took the 200-yard breaststroke (2:22.48).

“I am really happy that we won a number of events. I am really impressed with the toughness of both Maya Owens and Mackenzie Alspaugh. It was good to see Dora Bednjanec and Michaela Hamrick break through for a win, as well as as our freshman breaststroker Ashley Grijalva.”

Continuing their outstanding performances, the diving team went 1-2-3 in both of their events. In the 3-meter dive sophomore Taylor Olanski took first (282.60) followed by junior Danielle Shedd (282.30) and redshirt freshman Micaela Bouter. Senior Natasha Burgess captured first (276.75) in the 1-meter dive, followed by Shedd (265.80) and Bouter (262.35).

“For us it’s how you look at it,” Murphy said. “I think you either look at it glass half full or not. For our team, we are racing well. We know the story behind our record. We are really building toward the American Athletic Conference Championship. That’s where we really want to prove and show what we can do and the direction we’re moving in. Our team knows we aren’t going to use our record to define the path we’re on.”

The Cougars have two weeks off before taking to the road to face University of North Texas and Texas A&M on October 31 in Denton, Texas.

“More so than being away, I think our challenge is that we have a meet on Friday and Saturday,” said Murphy. “Our first two competitions were single-day events. I think the challenge of us going away is we aren’t sleeping in our beds and for some of them we are swimming in a pool that they’ve never swam in before. I believe though this will provide an opportunity for our team to bond and getting them out of their normal routines. I am confident this away meet will help set us up for the Pearland Invitational.”

Results: Rice vs. Houston

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