Swim team falls short in double-dual at Oregon State

By Tracy Dansker     10/30/08 7:00pm

Jet lag makes us all a bit cranky and tired, but most of us plan time into our trips for our bodies and minds to recover. For the swim team, relaxation time was not an option as they traveled to Oregon State University this past weekend. The evening they arrived they dove in headfirst and by the end of Friday's meet, they were trailing 56 points behind the rested Beavers. After a night of sleep, the Owls came back out to face OSU for a second day of competition in an additional eight events. Ultimately, though, OSU took first in 13 out of the 17 events and beat Rice 181-136. Tomorrow, nine Rice swimmers will be traveling to Austin, Tex., to compete in the American Swimming Association Open Water Championships. Last year was the inaugural meet and Rice took home the first place title, clinching five of the top nine spots.

On Nov. 6, the entire swim team will face crosstown rival University of Houston and New Mexico State University at the UH Natatorium at 5 p.m. Last season, Rice easily defeated both the Cougars and the Aggies.

"On paper we have a lot more depth," assistant coach Jada Hallmark (Sid '01) said. "That gives us an edge."

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The loss to Oregon State does not reflect how well the Owls swam in the two-day meet. Although they may not have accumulated many first-place finishes overall, they edged out the most of the other OSU swimmers in any given event to grab multiple second- and third-place finishes.

In the 100-yard butterfly, junior Angela Wo took third place, closely followed by sophomore Erin Mattson. In the 200-yard butterfly the two girls switched spots, Mattson out-touching Wo by five-hundredths of a second to snag third place. Wo was also the top scorer for Rice in the 100-yard backstroke, grabbing third place, followed by fellow junior Justine Lin. Lin came back with a big swim in the 200-yard backstroke, where she finished second.

"We were a little flat, especially on Friday night," Hallmark said. "I think that came from a little bit of traveling. Saturday we were hoping for a better outcome, and, again, we just fell short."

Freshman Shelby Bottoms snatched two second place finishes, the first in the 200-yard individual medley and the second in the 200- yard freestyle. Along with Bottoms, senior Carlyann Miller was also a second place finisher. She touched the wall at 24.69 seconds in the 50- yard freestyle. Miller was also Rice's top finisher in the 100-yard freestyle, in which she took third place.

Behind Miller were her teammates Mattson and freshman Alison Godbe in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Sophomore Ashten Ackerman took third place in the 200-yard breaststroke and had one of Rice's three top finishes in the 400-yard individual medley. Freshman Alexandra O'Brien took second behind Ackerman, finishing just under two seconds behind her.

"We had a big problem finishing the races," sophomore Karen Gerken said. "They always seemed to be pulling out the victory. Race after race they were out-touching us."

The 500-yard freestyle and 1,000- yard freestyle were two of Rice's best events. Senior Caitlin Warner and freshman Nicole Delaloye have become Rice's new top distance duo, and they held to that reputation last week, going 1-2 in both events. Warner finished in 10:23, a team-best time in the 1,000-yard freestyle, and Delaloye finished in 10:32. Gerken and fellow sophomore Sarah Korellis were not far behind, finishing in the fourth and fifth spots.

In the 500-yard freestyle, Warner hit the wall in 5:06.12 and Delaloye at 5:08.55. Gerken and Korellis once again rounded out the top five spots. In the first three relays Rice came in second place, but in the last relay of the meet, the 200-yard freestyle, Rice was able to pull ahead and win in 1:37.44.

"Sometimes you just don't do your best," Gerken said. "We've learned a lot, and we're going to keep on going.

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