HOUSTON, Texas, November 14. RICE juniors of Angela Wo and Pam Zelnick both posted season bests to win individual events and the duo contributed to an Owl relay victory on a successful first day of competition at the annual Phill Hansel Dual Meets, a five-way series of swim meets held Friday and Saturday (Nov.14-15) across town at the University of Houston Rec Center Natatorium. <\/p>\n
At the half-way point of the meet, the Rice swimmers are ahead of all four opponents in the team scoring. The Owls lead Florida International 126-41, Incarnate Word 140-43, Vanderbilt 138-39 and meet host Houston 95-88. There are eight more swim events to be held on Saturday beginning at 11:30 am. <\/p>\n
The Rice relay of Wo, Zelnick, Skylar Craig and Carlyann Miller got the team off to a great start with a win in the opening event of the night. The veteran foursome posted a season-best time of 1:45.62 to claim the 200-medley relay, but there is even more to the race than that. The Owls' "B" relay of Justine Lin, Ashten Ackerman, Alexandra Ernst and Diane Gu swam a solid 1:48.95 to finish third overall in the 11-team relay field. <\/p>\n
Wo came back and swam a season-best 58.44 in the 100-backstroke, but only had a second place to show for the effort. Three events later, the Houston native from Hightower High School zoomed to a win over a field of 19 competitors in the 100-butterfly. Her career-best time of 56.89 was even better than her mark at the Conference USA Championship Finals last season. It's notable that sophomore Erin Mattson was third with a 57.43, giving the redshirt her best 100-fly in two years after sitting out last season with an injury. <\/p>\n
The Owls were on a roll and in the very next event of the night, Zelnick won the 50-freestyle with a season-best 24.05. The junior from Ohio nearly led an Owl sweep of the top four spots as Skylar Craig was third (24.74) and Diane Gu was fourth (24.90). <\/p>\n
Freshman Shelby Bottoms recorded two second place finishes on the night with her two of best swims of the year. The local standout from nearby Lamar High School swam a 1:52.33 in the 200-freestyle and a 2:07.67 in the 200-individual medley. Veteran Caitlin Warner was second among a field of 14 competitors in the mile. She posted a 17:21.74 in her first race at the rugged distance this season. <\/p>\n
Sophomore Ashten Ackerman was the top Rice finisher in the 100-breaststroke. Ackerman swam a 2:24.02 while freshman Alex O'Brien was fourth in the event with a 2:24.76. <\/p>\n
The Phill Hansel Duals concludes with eight more swim events on Saturday. The meet schedule and Day 1 team scores are listed below. <\/p>\n
Meet Scores After First Day
\nRice 95
\nHouston 88<\/p>\n
Rice 138
\nVanderbilt 39<\/p>\n
Rice 126
\nFlorida International 41<\/p>\n
Rice 140
\nIncarnate Word 43<\/p>\n
Special thanks to Rice for contributing this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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