Sports Notebook

8/21/08 7:00pm

Women's tennis coach resigns

On Aug. 1, Rice Athletics Director Chris Del Conte announced that head coach Roger White had resigned from his position after ten seasons on the Owls' coaching staff. White came to Rice as an assistant coach in 1998 after previous coaching experiences at several country clubs, and then took over as head coach in 2001. Under his tutelage, the team compiled an 86-84 dual match record, a Conference USA championship and NCAA tournament bid in 2006. White earned two Conference USA Coach of the Year awards and most recently led the tennis team to a 17-5 mark in the 2008 season.White helped to develop dozens of student athletes at Rice, who excelled on and off the court. He also taught tennis Lifetime Physical Activity Program classes for six years and served as a Wiess College associate. He received the Frank W. Bearden Award for Teaching Excellence in 2002 and 2007. White produced a total of 20 ITA Scholar-Athlete Awards in his time as head coach.

With White moving on, Del Conte needed someone to fill his shoes. On Aug. 14, the athletics department announced the hiring of Elizabeth Schmidt as the new head coach of women's tennis. Schmidt is coming off a successful career as head coach at the University of Notre Dame, where her team tabulated a 50-13 record over the last two seasons, as well as an NCAA tournament appearance and a final ranking of No. 7 in the country. Before coaching Notre Dame, Schmidt was an assistant coach at Rice in 2005 and helped Rice achieve the C-USA title in 2006.

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- Rhodes Coffey

Rice students Olympic alternates

Nir Moriah (Lovett '09) and Tal Moriah (Baker '10) are proving to the world that Rice students can literally kick it. Last week, the brothers traveled to Beijing for the Olympic Games as alternates on the U. S. Taekwondo team.

After serving in the Israeli army, Tal and Nir came to the United States to join the Elite Taekwondo Center, a highly respected instruction center in the world of martial arts.

Both Owls have a good amount of international competition experience. Last year, Tal competed in Bangkok at the World University Games as a Rice representative. He competed again this year in the World University Championship in Serbia.

Nir won a gold medal in the 2007 U.S. Senior Nationals in San Jose and another one this year at the Houston National Qualifier.

The Moriahs are not the only Taekwondo stars on the Rice campus. Incoming Brown freshman Maia Eubanks is a member of the AAU Senior National team and has medaled in four tournaments in 2008, including a quarterfinal finish in the Taekwondo German Open.

All three competitors are Olym-pic hopefuls for the 2012 Games in London.

- Yan Digilov

Rice grad makes Olympic finals

Funmi Jimoh (Jones '06), a 2006 Rice graduate, qualified for the finals in the women's long jump competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Monday. On her third and final attempt Jimoh leaped 6.61 meters, good enough for 10th overall. She will be one of 12 athletes competing for the gold in the women's long jump today.

The other two U.S. women's long jumpers, Brittney Reese and Grace Upshaw, qualified for the finals as well. Reese posted the longest jump at 6.87 m, while Upshaw posted a jump of 6.68 m.

Rice women's track and field athletes are no strangers to Olympic competition - Jimoh is the ninth Owl ever to reach the Olympics. The 2008 games are the sixth consecutive with at least one former Rice athlete in the field. Jimoh, originally from Sugar Land, Texas, qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. There, she became the first Rice track and field alumna to make the U.S. Olympic squad.

Jimoh is joined in Beijing by Rice track and field coach Jim Bevan. Bevan has been coaching Jimoh since her graduation and accompanied her to the games.

- Natalie Clericuzio

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