Swimming lurches out of gate

By Floyd Ray     1/28/10 6:00pm

Although the swim team closed out 2009 with a win at the Delta State Holiday Invitational, the team could not carry over its winning ways into the new decade. Rice (3-4) dropped its first two meets of the season over the past week, falling to No. 18 Southern Methodist University and the University of North Texas.Last Friday, the Owls traveled to Dallas to take on conference rival SMU (3-3) in their first Conference USA dual meet of the season. The Mustangs are a perennial national power, having dominated C-USA for years, so it was not altogether surprising that they bested the Owls 129-89.

Following that loss the team competed the next day in a non-conference dual meet against North Texas. The meet, held in Denton, Texas, was, unfortunately, all too similar: Once again, the Owls were on the road, and once again they encountered a disappointing loss, this time by a score of 152-110.

Not exactly the best way to continue from a fall season that, for all intents and purposes, had exceeded expectations.

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Head Coach Seth Huston says the team will try to find a positive in the losses to help them bounce back.

"Losing never feels good," Huston said. "We evaluate every loss to find out where we can improve our team."

This philosophy must be working, as the team has continued to compete at a high level of intensity despite the losses. Senior Pam Zelnick, sophomore Alex O'Brien and freshman Stephanie Wei all won individual events at the SMU conference meet. Zelnick won the 50-yard freestyle with one of her top marks of the season, while O'Brien swam a 2:23.20 to win the 200-yard breaststroke and lead a 1-2 finish in the event with junior Ashten Ackerman.

O'Brien also teamed with senior Karen Gerken to take second and third place, respectively, in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Meanwhile, Wei and junior Kait Chura finished first and second, respectively, in the 200-yard back stroke times of 2:37.71 and 2:06.62.

With each meet, according to Wei, the inexperienced Owls have improved in one area or another.

"We are a young team compared to our opponents," said Wei. "Our team has improved over the course of this season with the experience we have gained."

The Owls will next get a chance to show off that experience in a double dual meet, hosted by conference rival University of Houston, running today and tomorrow. The two-day meet will pit Rice against both Houston and Louisiana State University.

"Each meet is a learning experience for the younger members of the team," Huston said, noting the overall youth of the squad. "The older members of the team know what it takes to compete in this conference, and our rookies are learning what the veterans already know. They impress me with every meet.

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