Third-year student Amelia Kane, sophomore Ella Dyson, and fifth-year student Shannon Campbell placed first, second, and third, respectively, in the 500-yard freestyle. The Owls placed third overall at the AAC Swimming Championships.Provided by: Rice Athletics
Posted by Cadan Hanson 2/27/24 10:51 PM
Rice Swimming competed in the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in Dallas this past weekend. Of the seven teams that participated, Rice earned a total of 593 points, improving on its performance from last year's fourth place to place third overall.
“This was the best conference tournament the Owls have had in years,” head coach Seth Houston said. “This season, we did more with less, and this team has grown a lot to finish like we did.”
Over the weekend, the Owls earned five gold medals, 15 podium appearances, and four school records. Leading the way for the Owls was senior Imogen Meers, who won gold medals in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle in 48 minutes, 80 seconds, earning her school record in the process. did.
“I let myself believe I had a chance to be 3-for-3 in the conference this season, but I don’t know if I ever thought that would actually happen,” Mears said. “I wanted to win the race for myself, but definitely for the team and for the girls who race every day in training. Swimming is an individual sport, but as a team It took a lot of effort.”
After the Triple Crown performance, Houston expressed pride in Mears' performance and Rice's career.
“Coaching” [Meers] I’m honored,” Houston said. “I hope our freshmen, sophomores and juniors understand that.” [Meers] The season has shown us how champions prepare, compete and ultimately win through the discipline of staying involved in the process from start to finish. ”
This weekend, the long distance team (Group D) definitely cleaned up the competition and dominated the long distance swimming events.
Rice dominated the podium in the 500-yard freestyle, with junior Amelia Cain taking gold with a time of 4:43.70, sophomore Ella Dyson second and fifth-year Shannon Campbell third. It became.
On Sunday, the Owls had a 1,650-yard freestyle sweep. Dyson won the gold medal this time with a time of 16:21.98, followed by Kane in second and Campbell in third. After the match, Kane, who also took second place in the 400-yard IM, was happy that his hard work paid off in Group D and with a personal best.
“The long distance team had a great competition, with everyone setting personal bests and sweeping the podium in both the 500m and mile,” Kane said. “I'm happy to win, but it's even more fun to see my teammates swim well.”
Junior Ariel Ayon is also the reigning 100-yard and 200-yard fly champion, not uncommon for podium finishes as an NCAA national championship qualifier, but she also earned three medals and two school records at the meet. achieved success.
In the 200-yard individual medley relay, Ayon won the silver medal with a school record time of 1:58:55. In the 100-yard butterfly, Ayon reached the top of the podium and won the gold medal, breaking her school record and setting a meet record of 51 minutes, 38 seconds. To cap off the weekend, Hayoung won a silver medal in the 200-yard butterfly.
The Owls finished on the podium in three of the relays, but were disqualified from the other two due to poor reaction times. In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Kane, Campbell, senior Elizabeth Myers and sophomore Lily Kramer took second place. In the 400-yard medley relay, senior Mimi Filkin, freshmen Siri Einio, Hayon, and Mears won silver medals. In the final race of the meet, Mears, Filkin, Myers and Kramer took her third place in her 400 meter hard freestyle relay.
The AAC Championship was the last conference championship for the seniors on the team. Houston said they rose to the challenge and had “the best game of my career.”
Filkin finished on the individual podium twice, taking third place in the 100-yard backstroke and bronze in the 200-yard backstroke. Additionally, Myers set her personal records in all three individual events and won medals in two relays.
“It was definitely something for the seniors because a lot of people knew this would be their last conference championship at Rice,” Mears said. “As a whole class, I can definitely say we went out with a bang. It's pretty surreal when it's over. This was definitely the most emotional match of my career so far. Like this. Moving on is a really good way to end this chapter.'' The Rice swim team, ranked No. 33 nationally, won't end its season with the conference meet. swim cloud ranking. Individuals will travel to compete in the CSCAA National Invitational on March 14th and the NCAA National Championships starting on March 20th.
