Full Speed Ahead for Rice Swim Team

By John Sullivan

The Owls sent something of a shock wave through college swimming circles last season, posting their best league finish in 25 years of competition at the Division I level and taking second place at the C-USA meet. Now, head coach Seth Huston is preparing for an encore. The good news is that the Owls have lost only one senior from last year’s elite team, and the squad welcomes back 16 experienced letter winners and brings in some talented newcomers.

Here’s a look at the Owls event by event:

Freestyle

  From the 50 meter to the mile, the Owls will be very competitive. With the veteran duo of senior Brittany Massengale and junior Caitlin Warner leading the way, the Owls are particularly tough in the distance events. Both swimmers have qualified to compete in the U.S. World Open Water Championship Trials, with a chance to make the U.S. team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Massengale is the Rice record holder in the 500, the 1,000 and the mile and is the first swimmer in Rice history to make Team USA (in 2006). Warner has improved every year and proved to be a big scorer for the team at the annual C-USA meet. Freshman Karen Gerken is an all-state honoree who can contribute in the distance events, particularly in the 500.

If that’s not enough for dual meet opponents to think about, the Owls also have the reliable sprinting duo of juniors Carlyann Miller and Diane Gu. Gu won the silver medal in the 50 at the C-USA Championships with the Owls’ best mark of the year. Miller proved to be the team’s top performer in the 100 for the second year in a row, and her 1:49.91 in the 200 is the fourth-fastest time in school history. Versatile veterans like Skylar Craig, Keri Hyde, Megan Land, Erin Mattson, Pam Zelnick and Stephanie Eberhardt will contribute in the freestyle events. A few of the newcomers, like freshman Sally DeWitt, may get some work here as well.

Butterfly

Led by Mattson, the 2007 C-USA champion in the 200-butterfly, the Owls have a wealth of talented flyers returning to the blocks. Mattson became the Owls’ first individual champion at a conference meet since 2003 with one of the best times in the 200 (2:01.94) in school history. She also is a steady performer in the 100, but it was Craig who had the team’s top mark in that event to take third at the C-USA meet. Also keep an eye on Angela Wo, a sophomore who missed the first half of last season with an injury but still scored in both butterfly events at the conference meet. Now back to full health, she should be an even bigger factor in her second season at the Division I level. Juniors Natalie Kirchhoff and Hyde can be expected to continue scoring in the butterfly as they have done the previous two seasons, and newcomer DeWitt could help the team here, too.

Coach Seth Huston, now in his seventh year at the helm of the program, likes the team’s potential for 2007–08.

“We have a fantastic group of young women and the most depth since I’ve been here. Hopefully that  will help our versatility in dual meets and our ability to score big in the finals at the C-USA Championships.”- Seth Huston

Backstroke

The Owls may have had five different swimmers score in each C-USA butterfly event, but backstroke is where they made the biggest strides and provided an even heavier scoring punch. Four Owls finished among the top nine in the 100-back, and four placed in the top six of the 200. Craig won the C-USA silver medal in the 100 with the team’s top time of the year (56.95), and she took fourth in the 200. Hyde was fourth in the league in the 100 and fifth in the 200. Sophomore Justine Lin was third in the 200 with the fourth-best time in school history, and she was fifth in the C-USA 100. Wo won the C-USA’s consolation finals in the 100 as a freshman last season. Newcomers to watch are Kait Chura and Sarah Korellis. Rice will be without senior speedster Amy Halsey, who is out due to an injury.

Breaststroke

A year ago, the freshman trio of Eberhardt, Allyson Lemay and Zelnick made strides in the breaststroke events. There’s every reason to expect more improvements from the group this season. Zelnick posted the team’s top time in both events, and her 1:05.24 in the 100 is one of the top marks in Rice history. Mix in freshman Ashten Ackerman, and Rice will be solid in the breaststroke category.

Individual Medley

Of all the events, the individual medley may be the most unpredictable. Standout Jennifer Hill had the Owls’ top time in both the 200 and 400 last season, but she will undergo a redshirt season due to injury. Kirchhoff and Eberhardt improved over the course of the year and helped the team, but Huston may look to freshmen Ackerman, Chura and Korellis to fill in the ranks.

Relays

It’s pretty obvious that great individual talent can make for some eye-opening relays, and that is sure to be the case this season. In the 200-medley, the team of Hyde, Zelnick, Craig and Gu shattered the previous school record with a new time of 1:43.70. Miller replaced Gu in the 400-medley, and that foursome went on to win the first conference relay championship in school history. The three freestyle relay teams — each among the best in Rice history — are all back together again with the same personnel. Rice’s 400-free relay has a great chance to move from second to first in the record books, and the 800 team of Mattson, Massengale, Miller and Warner may be on a mission to crack the school record set more than 10 years ago.

The NCAA Championships are at Ohio State University in Columbus in March. “I know we have the talent to score at the championships,” Huston said. “We just have to do what it takes as a team to achieve this goal: Be confident and consistent, and stay healthy.”