The Fifth Lap
The last four years have been a ride. There were overtime wins, heartbreaking losses, school records and conference championships. There were moments that were hard to watch and moments that were stunningly exciting.
So for the class of 2012, here is a stroll down memory lane with brief recaps of eight of the best sports moments of the last four years.
2008: Football's pick-6 against Memphis seals road comeback
The 2008 Rice football season was full of special moments: getting 10 wins, hoisting the Texas Bowl trophy, watching Jarrett Dillard, Chase Clement and James Casey carve up defenses. But freshman Chris Jammer returning his first interception for a touchdown with 11 seconds left to cap a 15-point fourth-quarter rally in the second game of the season was a precursor for it all.
2009: Volleyball claims C-USA tournament crown
Hosting the final Conference USA volleyball tournament, Rice put together two huge rallies against University of Tulsa on the way to capturing its first ever volleyball conference championship and its second consecutive NCAA tournament bid with a fourth set victory.
2009: Jason Colwick reaches new heights
Give him a fiberglass pole, and Jason Colwick can soar. In 2009, he won gold at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA meets. Indoors, he won with a height of 18 feet and 4.25 inches. Outdoors, he finished at 18 feet and 8.25 inches.
2010: Men's Tennis (finally) takes down Tulsa when it counts
For four consecutive C-USA tournament finals, Rice had been stonewalled by Tulsa. Hosting the tournament, Rice was down 3-1, one loss away from another defeat. But senior Bruno Rosa won in straight sets cutting the deficit to 3-2, and assisting in clinching the team title 4-3.
2010: Anthony Rendon is best in college baseball
In 2010, Anthony Rendon had more home runs (26) than strikeouts (22), part of the reason he won the Howser Trophy for National Player of the Year. Head Coach Wayne Graham summed up Rendon's season better than any statistic could: "Anthony is, as my dad used to say, 'poetry in motion.'"
2011: Rice captures first Women's C-USA Swimming and Diving Title
In 2011, Rice's women's swim team firmly struck the word "can't" from the C-USA vocabulary. They defeated Southern Methodist University, which had won every conference meet since joining in 2006, and they won without entering a single diver in the three diving events.
2012: Beazant leads Women's Tennis
This season, freshman Natalie Beazant only lost one match. Her teammates followed her lead, taking the team to its highest ranking in program history and its first NCAA tournament since 2006.
2011-12: Wade wows in 5th year
Becky Wade (Martel '12) qualified for her record fourth NCAA National meet and earned Rice's first cross country All-America since 1986. In indoor track, she won the C-USA title in the mile, broke the school indoor 5km record and earned All-America in the 5km. Wade has already broken both the Rice outdoor 5km and 10 km records and has qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer.
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