
Grace Forbes: Lightning Fast
Grace Forbes has been outrunning just about everyone she’s faced this season. But, according to Forbes, the freshman track star who has taken Conference USA by storm, that hasn’t always been the case.
Grace Forbes has been outrunning just about everyone she’s faced this season. But, according to Forbes, the freshman track star who has taken Conference USA by storm, that hasn’t always been the case.
Rice men’s and women’s tennis will face Louisiana State University on Sunday in a dual home meet. The men’s team, with a 3-3 record, hopes to first defeat Texas A&M University on Friday, while the women’s team will seek to first up its 4-4 record against Texas State University on Saturday.
Rice women’s basketball will aim to get back into the win column when the team faces the University of North Texas at home on Thursday. Rice has lost two games in a row to Conference USA opponents: Old Dominion University and the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Previously, the Owls had won 11 straight games, all against C-USA opponents.
Every baseball player remembers when they first picked up the game. For most, it’s playing catch in the backyard or hitting off of a tee. But for Trei Cruz, junior shortstop on this year’s Rice baseball team, his first baseball memory is everything but normal.
Last year marked a brave new step into an uncharted world for the Rice baseball team. After 27 years, 23 NCAA Tournament appearances and one national championship all under the steady stewardship of Wayne Graham, Rice opted to part ways with the only coach they’d ever achieved success under. But 2018, Graham’s final season, was a far cry from the sustained success that characterized his tenure as Rice’s head coach. The Owls struggled to a 26-31-2 finish, missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.
Before each Rice baseball home game this season, you can find junior pitcher Kel Bordwine playing ping pong at Baker College or dining at Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, where he always eats the same meal in a specific order. But once the game starts, you can expect to see Bordwine on the mound frequently, after he finished last season with a solid 3.69 ERA as opponents hit for a .258 average against him in nine starts.
In the fall of 2018, Rice Athletics faced a difficult task: hiring a new baseball head coach in the stead of the legendary Wayne Graham. Rice ultimately selected Matt Bragga, formerly the coach of Tennessee Tech University, as its new head coach.
The Rice women’s basketball team, now riding a nine-game win-streak, has reached strong mid-season form. Through its first 20 games, Rice has posted an impressive 14-6 record, and is 8-1 at Tudor Fieldhouse, where its only loss came at the hands of No. 5 Texas A&M University. This week, the Owls look to continue their strong stretch when they take on the University Alabama, Birmingham on Thursday, and Middle Tennessee State University on Saturday.
On any given Saturday, Jorge Zepeda can be found working up a sweat. But instead of hitting the gym or getting on the field, Zepeda has chosen a different way to exercise: Dance Dance Revolution. Zepeda is just one of many students at Rice who find their exercise, stress relief and mental agility in sports not found on traditional college rosters.
While the Rice women’s soccer team is used to taking on respectable competition, the team took it a step further and opened their spring training program by taking on Costa Rica’s national women’s team this past Friday, Jan. 24. The Costa Rican team won the exhibition match 3-0, with senior midfielder Lianne Mananquil nearly scoring with a close miss at the 67th minute.
Rice swimming will look to keep its successful season afloat this weekend with a double-dual meet against the University of Houston and Louisiana State University. This year, the Owls have a 5-1 record in dual meets, losing only to No. 11 Texas A&M University.
After a tough weekend that saw the team lose against two Conference USA opponents, Rice men’s basketball will aim to even its season series against the University of North Texas on Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse. According to head coach Scott Pera, UNT — which is ranked No. 1 in C-USA — will pose a difficult challenge for the Owls.
When she’s not shooting hoops on the basketball court, you can find Rice forward Erica Ogwumike shooting YouTube videos in her room. Although she graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Rice in December, finishing one semester early, Ogwumike continues to play for the Rice women’s basketball team.
There’s no denying it: Rice women’s basketball had a rocky start to the 2019-20 season. Coming off a historic season last year in which the team won 21 straight games and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005, this year’s team registered a middling 5-6 record against non-Conference USA opponents to start the season.
The last time the Rice men’s tennis team took the court for a match was almost three months ago, on Nov. 3, when sophomore Campbell Salmon and junior Mohamed Abdel-Aziz picked up a pair of doubles wins to close out the Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge and the Owls’ 2019 tournament season.
Rice men’s basketball will aim to pick up its second Conference USA win of the season this week when the team faces the University of Texas, El Paso on Thursday night at Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Rice women’s tennis team prepares to face Lamar University in its first home match of the year on Saturday, Jan. 18 after opening its spring season this past weekend.
Rice women’s basketball will aim to extend its current four-game Conference USA winning streak when the Owls take on Louisiana Tech University and the University of Southern Mississippi at Tudor Fieldhouse this week.
In December, the Baker College powderpuff team defeated McMurtry College 7-6 to win its first women’s college flag football title since at least 1999. Baker’s victory broke a four-year streak during which Hanszen and McMurtry each claimed two titles.
In the season finale, Rice football defeated the University of Texas, El Paso 30-16, outscoring the Miners 16-0 in the second half en route to their third consecutive victory on Saturday. The victory in Rice’s season finale improved the Owls’ final record to 3-9, a one-win increase over last year’s total and tied for Rice’s best finish since 2016.