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The Rice Thresher
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by John C. Chao thresher staff
In the swim team's 162-93 win over the University of Houston Saturday, an Owl hit the wall first in 12 out of 14 events. Rice took both first and second place in seven of the 14 races, and went one-two-three in three events. And some of the margins of victory bordered on ridiculous. Both junior Beth Williams and freshman Toni Ciffolilli were more than 11 seconds ahead of the two UH swimmers in the 400-yard individual medley. No Cougar came within eight seconds of junior Rachel Armstrong in the 200-yard freestyle, and freshman Elaine Lee was more than seven seconds ahead of three UH swimmers in the 200-yard fly. Senior Jada Sanders won the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events, and freshman Jackie Corcoran posted her best time of the year in winning the 1,000-yard freestyle. Overall, Rice's times were slower than they have been in other meets, but much of that was a result of the lack of competition. "We didn't swim as fast this meet as we did against A&M," head coach Doug Boyd said. "But Jackie's time in the 1,000 free and Toni's in the 400 IM medley were probably our best performances of the weekend." Corcoran's performance was especially impressive because she had battled injuries earlier this year that did not allow her to compete at some meets. "I know Jackie must have been frustrated with her ankle and shoulder injuries this year," Ciffolilli said. "But I'm really glad that she swam her best times." Ciffolilli has been perhaps one of the most consistent swimmers on the team this year. She kept up her strong performance this weekend, finishing second behind an inspired Sanders in the 100-yard backstroke and second behind Williams in the 200-yard breaststroke. "I wasn't too happy with my times this weekend," Ciffolilli said. "But I think the way I swam my race on the weekend was good." Even though Houston was not a tough opponent, the victory was important because it gave Rice a good tune-up for the upcoming Western Athletic Conference Championships at a time of year when they should be reaching their peak. The WAC Championships will be held Feb. 22-24 in San Antonio. "I think we didn't know what to expect from a meet this time of the year," Ciffilolli said. "We were trying to swim a strong race and not die." And it showed the team that all its hard training and conditioning so far has paid off. "Just from what Doug said about how we have been progressing from meet to meet makes me feel that we are in good shape," Ciffilolli said. "I'm hoping to be part of the best team at WAC in Rice history. All the other girls are looking forward to it too. We have been swimming faster this year than they did last year at WAC." "We're in better shape this year than last year," Boyd said. "Even though we have three less swimmers than last year, I think we are going to go into the WAC Championships much more prepared."
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