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Thresher Staff Reports

SPORTS 4/19/12 7:00pm

Nick Williams sets Rice hammer throw record

By Thresher Staff Reports

Amidst the 30-to-40 mile-per-hour winds in the high desert of El Paso, an unlikely hero arose for the men's track team at The University of Texas-El Paso Invitational. While his track career is far from set in stone, thrower sophomore Nick Williams has had a lot to live up to so far during his tenure as an Owl, as most expect him to be the star thrower that senior Alex Zinchenko has largely been during his near-finished career with Rice. While he has shown promise at times, Williams created his best memory as an Owl on Saturday as he stepped into the throwing ring for the hammer throw. Williams has scored well in the event, but not highly enough to be considered to be a threat for the Conference USA crown. However, all that changed with his throw of 49.63 meters, which now stands as the all-time record for the event in men's track history, beating Clay Baker's (Brown '10) throw of 48.54 meters three years ago. Williams' throw was good enough for sixth place overall, and the sophomore now has the confidence to believe that he can challenge for the podium at the C-USA Championship in two weeks in New Orleans. Head Coach Jon Warren (Jones '88) commented on Williams' seminal performance.

SPORTS 4/4/12 7:00pm

Men's track has setback at relays in Austin

By Thresher Staff Reports

With the men's track and field team enjoying the home cooking at the Victor Lopez Classic the previous weekend, Head Coach Jon Warren (Jones '88) and his squad did not necessarily expect the same caliber of results at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays this past weekend, but they certainly did not foresee a tumultuous first day of competition like they experienced last Thursday in Austin.

SPORTS 3/28/12 7:00pm

Chaney named conference indoor top athlete, outdoor jumpstarts spring season

By Thresher Staff Reports

The Victor Lopez Classic, held the weekend of March 24, was marked by both success and growth for the women's track and field team. The meet, which welcomed 3,500 spectators on Saturday night, according to Head Coach Jim Bevan, consisted of 75 high school and collegiate teams comprised of 1,800 athletes. The meet has grown in popularity in recent years, with the last two being the largest ever, according to Bevan. The team came in fifth overall with a total of 43 points, with Notre Dame winning the competition thanks to a score of 53.

SPORTS 3/28/12 7:00pm

Freshmen shock basketball team by transferring

By Thresher Staff Reports

While the start of Willy Week should have been a promising time for Owls fans, what with the spring football game taking place tonight and the baseball team starting its first Conference USA home series tonight, the men's basketball program was rocked Monday afternoon with reports that freshman point guard Dylan Ennis and freshman small forward Jarelle Reischel decided to transfer to other schools after the completion of the spring semester. Head Coach Ben Braun commented on their decisions to transfer.

SPORTS 3/14/12 7:00pm

Wade finishes strong at NCAA championships

By Thresher Staff Reports

With a multitude of records to her name, fifth-year senior Becky Wade has already cemented herself as one of the greatest distance runners in Rice history. But in her five years at Rice, Wade had yet to qualify for the NCAA Indoor National meet to this point, despite making the trip for the NCAA Outdoor National meet two times and the NCAA Cross Country meet once.

SPORTS 3/6/12 6:00pm

Men's Track struggles at conference meet

By Thresher Staff Reports

Despite winning fourth and fifth place in the last two Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, there were some reasons for optimism amongst the men's track team to improve at this year's edition of the meet in Birmingham, Ala. The squad garnered a fifth place finish two weeks ago at the Texas A&M Invitational against several top teams from the Big XII and Southeastern Conferences, which was filled with great performances from veterans like redshirt junior Clayton Chaney and senior Dan Sloat, as well as newcomers like freshman pole vaulter Chris Pillow. Despite Rice‘s 1-2-3 finish in the heptathlon, something that the Owls had yet to accomplish in C-USA, was not enough to overcome the deficiencies in other areas of this team.

SPORTS 2/22/12 6:00pm

Men's basketball slices Knights in half

By Thresher Staff Reports

Throughout Conference USA play, the men's basketball team has garnered attention for its inconsistent, up-and-down style of play, as Rice (16-12, 7-6 C-USA) has not had a winning streak of more than two games or a losing streak of more than three since conference play started in early January. This past week showed that that brand of play was still alive, for better or worse.

SPORTS 2/22/12 6:00pm

C-USA and Mountain West form new conference

By Thresher Staff Reports

With the collegiate athletics conference landscape possessing about as much stability as the San Andreas Fault in the past year, it was only natural that Rice would eventually feel the tremors that were set off by the University of Colorado and the University of Nebraska departing the Big 12 for the Pac-12 and Big 10 conferences, respectively. More recently and closer to home, Texas A&M University left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference and the University of Houston, Southern Methodist University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Memphis said goodbye to Conference USA in favor of the Big East conference. As a result, on Feb. 12, C-USA and the Mountain West Conference (which has lost Brigham Young University to the ranks of Division I independents, the University of Utah to the Pac-12 conference, Boise State University to the Big East, Texas Christian University to the Big 12, and San Diego State University to the Big East for football and Big West Conference for all other sports) will align in all sports starting in the 2013-2014 school year. The new affiliation has no name as of yet.

SPORTS 2/22/12 6:00pm

Strong arms power baseball to 5-0 start

By Thresher Staff Reports

While baseball national championships are won in the June heat of Omaha, they can certainly be lost in the mild weather of February and March. While past years' baseball teams have never gotten off to devastating starts in the early season, the last few years have seen the Rice sluggers compile rather average records through the first few weekends of the season. However, the 2012 team has shown little inclination to following the examples of those squads of yesteryear, taking a 5-0 record into today's three-game series against Dallas Baptist University (3-1).

SPORTS 2/15/12 6:00pm

Owls take on four top-15 teams, familiar regional foes

By Thresher Staff Reports

While Conference USA has consistently ranked in the top five conferences in terms of overall strength and competitiveness, the sixth-ranked Owls have supplemented their eight conference series with a host of highly non-conference opponents starting this weekend with their three-game matchup against 28th-ranked Florida International University. The Panthers have made the NCAA Tournament the past two years and feature preseason All-American senior outfielder Pablo Bermudez, who is the Sun Belt Conference's preseason player of the year. First baseman Mike Martinez and designated hitter Rudy Flores all provide power in the lineup. Southpaws R.J. Fondon and Mason McVay will provide a formidable two-thirds of the Panthers' weekend rotation. After the Panthers come to town, New Mexico State University will pay a midweek visit to Reckling Park, led by catcher Zac Fisher. The Aggies led the nation in batting average (.377) last year, were second in runs scored per game with 8.5 and ranked third in walks with 333. While not highly-ranked, they will test the depth of the Owls' pitching staff as Head Coach Wayne Graham looks to preserve pitchers for the weekend series against Dallas Baptist University. The Owls have struggled in the past against the Patriots, going 0-2 against them in the last two seasons. The Patriots are also patient at the plate, with 310 walks, and return a solid Friday night starting pitcher in Jake Johansen as well as five of their eight starting position players from 2011, including their two leading home-run hitters.

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