Seniors honored versus SMU in season's only home meet

By Tracy Dansker     1/22/09 6:00pm

The faux wooden wall was painted with an artistic array of owls, the windows were decorated with balloons and the fans were on their feet, cheering and waving signs. Maybe it was because it was the lone home swim meet of the season or maybe it was because it was the last swim meet at Rice pool. But without a doubt, the support and loud atmosphere was due in part to honor the team's graduating seniors who have contributed endless amounts of enthusiasm and talent over the past four years. After this season, Natalie Kirchhoff, Diane Gu, Skylar Craig, Jennifer Hill, Carlyann Miller and Caitlin Warner will trade their Speedos for business suits. With the help of head coach Seth Huston and assistant Jada Hallmark (Sid '01), the underclassmen successfully pulled off a fabulous ceremony for their seniors.

Kirchhoff said the senior ceremony, replete with a teammate-lined tunnel and bouquets of flowers, was like a dream.

"Senior recognition was a lot of fun," Kirchhoff said. "It felt like déj? vu - I remember when we honored the class three years ahead of us, and then two years ago, and then Brittany [Massengale] last year, and now it was our turn and it was almost a little surreal. I never thought this day would come."

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With all of the team wanting to swim especially well at home, the Owls put together some impressive races but fell to Southern Methodist University last Friday. Ranked 18th in the nation, the Mustangs took first place in 12 out of the 14 races, racking up a total score of 167 points to Rice's 93.

However, the score does not reflect the entirety of Rice's effort. For the past two years, Rice and SMU have fought it out at Conference USA championships for the conference title, with Rice placing second both times. Friday's dual meet setup highlights the discrepancy between the two teams - Rice has depth, but SMU has star swimmers that consistently snatch the top spots in races.

Hallmark said she felt that despite Rice's strong performances, the style of the meet did not showcase the team's accomplishments.

"We had some really good swims and we had other people who were definitely showing that they were kind of torn down from training," Hallmark said. "We hung in there and raced well, but the times didn't reflect that."

Despite the loss, a few Owls had standout performances. Freshman Nicole Delaloye destroyed her previous best time in the 1,000-yard freestyle by almost 20 seconds, winning the event in 10 minutes, 9.42 seconds. She was the only Rice swimmer to win an individual event against the Mustangs.

Warner, a fellow distance swimmer, also had a strong swim in the 500-yard freestyle and took second place with a time of 4:58.45. Sophomore Ashten Ackerman grabbed third place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a season-best time of 1:07.21. In addition, freshman Allison Godbe swam a season-best in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing second in 2:09.20. In the 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Erin Mattson also had an impressive second place finish. Rice ended the night on a high note by taking first place in the 200-yard freestyle relay, swam by Gu, Craig, Miller and junior Pam Zelnick.

Delaloye said she believed that the team swam well but was not in peak condition for a meet due to training schedules.

"I think we could have done better as a team, but we were pretty tired going into it," Delaloye said. "I think we can definitely step it up."

Rice's first opportunity to rebound will come with a two-day, triple-dual meet against Louisiana State University and the University of Houston in Baton Rouge, La., on January 30th. This will be the third time the Owls have faced the Cougars, having lost both times, and they are hoping to finish the season with at least one win against their crosstown foes.

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