08-23-2023 Sports Cartoon: "Owl-American"
On the court, you can see Rice’s senior libero Nia McCardell tapping the floor four times with her nails before receiving each serve. Off the court, you can find McCardell behind the camera, filming a vlog for her new YouTube channel “niaaanicole.”
The 2022 season was full of firsts for the Rice volleyball team. The Owls lost just four matches the entire season on a run that saw them ranked in the top-20 in the nation for the first time in program history. Their wonder season ended at the hands of No. 17 Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Waco.
Tommy McClelland will join Rice as its newest athletic director, following Joe Karlgaard’s departure in July. McClelland, currently the deputy athletic director at Vanderbilt, will start Aug. 14, according to President Reggie DesRoches’ July 30 announcement.
Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard will be departing Rice at the end of July, according to an email sent by President Reggie DesRoches on June 20. Karlgaard will assume a new position as CEO of GSV Summit LLC, a privately-owned investment company. “Joe Karlgaard has led and benefited our athletics programs across several periods of exceptional growth and challenge, including, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic,” DesRoches wrote.
There’s a trophy in the Rice baseball offices. It’s from 2006, the Owls’ first season in Conference USA. On the front, it reads “C-USA 2006 Baseball Tournament Champions.” On either side are the logos of nine schools.
Both Rice tennis teams held their annual Senior Days this weekend. On Saturday, the men’s team took a 4-2 loss at home against Southern Methodist University, putting their season record at 12-9. The following day, the women’s team swept Prairie View A&M University, to move to 11-8.
There are 280 McDonald’s stores in Africa. 230 of them are in South Africa, according to freshman javelin thrower Mckyla Van der Westhuizen.
The road to being a Division I basketball player is hard. It is even harder when you are an Asian-American. According to the most recent data from the 2019-2020 NCAA basketball season, players of Asian descent make up 0.4% of Division I Men’s basketball players. But growing up, that number never even came into my mind for a second. I just wanted to hoop.
Grace Forbes has a sweatshirt that she would wear before every race. Her grandfather, who died when she was young, bought it as a souvenir at the 1998 Rose Bowl, before it was passed on to her.
There are currently six Rice football alumni on an active roster in the National Football League, and former Owl Ikenna Enechukwu is looking to make it seven. For the decorated defensive end from Kansas City, Missouri, his dreams of getting drafted to an NFL roster are getting closer while, according to Enechukwu, the intensity leading up to the NFL draft is increasing.
The Rice Owls men’s and women’s track and field continued to put together a strong outdoor season this past weekend when they traveled to San Diego to compete in the Triton Invitational. The events, which were only for throwers, saw the women’s team record four top-five finishes while the men’s team ended the meet with five top-10 finishes.
After hearing Peter Chung (Baker ’22), fawn over Rice football highlights or discuss his hometown Dallas Cowboys’ chances at winning a Super Bowl, it becomes obvious that his life’s passion is football. However, unlike others who find football as a hobby, Chung is building a career in the sport.
When San Diego State University guard Lamont Butler hit a corner jumpshot with time expiring – the first buzzer beater in Final Four history hit while trailing – to beat Florida Atlantic University in the men’s college basketball national semifinal, the Owls weren’t the only ones whose plans he foiled.
This past weekend, while most Rice students watched or participated in bike relays, several Rice track and field athletes took the stage at the Texas Relays in Austin. Competing against some of the best athletes in the nation, several Owls finished top-ten in their events, highlighted by golds from junior vaulter Alexander Slinkman and junior distance runner Caitlin Wosika. Men’s head coach Jon Warren believes that, despite only sending a few athletes, the team still performed well.
While the Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team came to Houston for the Men’s Final Four, the Rice baseball team swapped places with them for a weekend series in Boca Raton. Despite shutting out FAU in the first game, Rice dropped the next two games by a combined score of 24-11, losing the series and bringing their season record to 14-14.
More than 2,000 fans packed into the stands at Holloway Field this past weekend to watch some of the best high school and collegiate track and field athletes in the area compete an the 40th Victor Lopez Classic. Amid the weekend’s festivities, several Owls were able to win their events and set personal records, setting themselves near the top of conference and national rankings.
