New Orleans, Incarnate Word vs. Rice

HOUSTON, Texas, November 6. THE senior tandem of Angela Wo and Pam Zelnick both won individual events and teamed together on a winning Rice relay to highlight a commanding performance by the Owl swimmers on the opening day of competition at the program's new on-campus Aquatics Center Friday evening in Houston.

Not only did Rice notch wins in all seven swim events held on the opening day of the two-day invitational meet, the Owls finished in both first and second place in all but one of the events to build convincing leads in the team scoring of both simultaneous meets. At the halfway point Rice leads the University of New Orleans by a score of 104-27. The Owls also lead the University of the Incarnate Word by a score of 110-21. UNO leads Incarnate Word 93-38. In addition to the women's double-dual, the New Orleans and Incarnate Word men's teams held a non-conference dual meet. UNO leads the UIW men by a score of 84.5 to 46.5.

If there was any thought that the wide & deep lanes of the new Aquatic Center somehow wasn't a fast pool to compete in, it was quickly put to rest in the first event of the meet and therefore the debut event to be held at the state-of-the-art facility. The veteran duo of Angela Wo and Pam Zelnick swam the first and second legs, respectively, of the 400-yard medley relay and were followed by equally-strong 100's from junior Erin Mattson and sophomore Shelby Bottoms in the event's second half. The Owl foursome breezed to a win with their best time of the year, a 3:56.38 that was a full 3.5 seconds faster than the mark Rice swam in its previous outing just two weeks ago. Rice's "B" relay finished second in the race (4:00.03) and was almost faster than the Owls' previous season-best it had before moving to the new facility.

The Blue & Gray had a win and a season-best time in its opening relay. The individual events followed suit. Junior Kait Chura swam a season-best 4:28.54 to lead Shelby Bottoms, Alison Godbe and Kylee Talwar in a 1-2-3-4 Rice finish in the 400-individual medley. Chura's mark is the second-fastest time in Conference USA this year.

Zelnick then led a 1-2-3 Rice finish in the 100-freestyle on the strength of a season-best 53.46. Freshman Kim Steinhouse was second (53.54) and Mattson was third with her top mark of the young season (53.55).

Freshman Stephanie Wei edged Chura for the top spot in the 200-backstroke. Wei sliced seven-tenths of a second off her previous best for a 2:06.20 while Chura was right behind with a 2:06.45.

Junior Ashten Ackerman was particularly strong with a near career-best 2:21.87 to win the 200-breaststroke. Sophomore Alex O'Brien took second with a 2:25.49.

Angela Wo was an individual winner in the 100-butterfly. The senior from Sugar Land, Tex., swam a 57.47 for first place while Godbe was third (59.50) among the field of 11 competitors.

Butterfly was the lone event where the Owls didn't take at least first and second, but the team made up for it in the next event. Rice dominated the 500-freestyle by taking each of the top five spots in the race. Freshman Danielle Spence tallied the Blue & Gray's best time of the year (5:04.31) while Karen Gerken was a close second place (5:04.45). Nicole Delaloye and O'Brien tied for third (5:08.54) while Wei (5:08.81) finished fifth.

It was a sensational outing for the Owls and their facility, and it was only day one. The second day of the double-dual is set for Saturday at 11 am. the event schedule features seven individual events and three relays. Three Owl seniors will be honored at the meet on Saturday. There is no charge for admission to the competitions.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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