Sports

Wosika, Slinkman highlight strong weekend at Texas Relays

This past weekend, while most Rice students watched or participated in bike relays, several Rice track and field athletes took the stage at the Texas Relays in Austin. Competing against some of the best athletes in the nation, several Owls finished top-ten in their events, highlighted by golds from junior vaulter Alexander Slinkman and junior distance runner Caitlin Wosika. Men’s head coach Jon Warren believes that, despite only sending a few athletes, the team still performed well. 

Baseball drops series to FAU despite Smith shutout

While the Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team came to Houston for the Men’s Final Four, the Rice baseball team swapped places with them for a weekend series in Boca Raton. Despite shutting out FAU in the first game, Rice dropped the next two games by a combined score of 24-11, losing the series and bringing their season record to 14-14. 

Owls’ throwers shine at Victor Lopez Classic

More than 2,000 fans packed into the stands at Holloway Field this past weekend to watch some of the best high school and collegiate track and field athletes in the area compete an the 40th Victor Lopez Classic. Amid the weekend’s festivities, several Owls were able to win their events and set personal records, setting themselves near the top of conference and national rankings. 

03-29-2023 Sports Cartoon: "Owl-American"

Baseball drops back-and-forth series to first-place UTSA

When the Rice baseball team entered their series against the University of Texas at San Antonio, they were a game over 0.500 and undefeated in conference. At the end they were neither. The Roadrunners took the first and third games off the Owls at Reckling Park, bringing the home team to a 12-12 overall record and a 4-2 record in conference. According to head coach Jose Cruz Jr., however, the series was not entirely a disappointment.

Fresh off of NCAAs, Hayon talks competive nature, future goals

All families share a commonality, whether it’s a genetic trait like dimples or habits passed down from parents. For Arielle Hayon, that commonality is swimming. Starting with her parents, who both grew up near the water in Israel, Hayon is now the third of her siblings to swim at the collegiate level.

Yo-yo accident leads Manny Garza to baseball stardom

When sophomore catcher Manny Garza broke his family’s TV as a child, his father decided to punish him. Little did he know at the time, his father’s discipline would  accidentally introduce him to his greatest love: baseball. 

UTSA’s Hallmark, a longtime Owl, talks return to Reckling

Patrick Hallmark has walked out of the Reckling Park dugout some 250 times, but the last nine have been from the visitor’s side. Hallmark, who played for Rice before returning to coach the Owls, served as an assistant under former head coach Wayne Graham from 2006 through 2016. Now the head coach of the University of Texas at San Antonio, Hallmark said returning to Rice feels different.

Gunnarsdottir takes her shot at shot put glory

Hailing from a small town outside of Reykjavik, Iceland, Erna Gunnarsdottir was a young girl when she was first exposed to shot put. Now, over a decade later, Gunnarsdottir competes on Rice’s track and field team, recently earning seventh place for shot put in the NCAA Championships.

Women’s basketball bounced from NIT by Oregon in second round

The Rice women’s basketball team couldn’t replicate their 2021 Women’s National Invitational Tournament title run this time around, falling in the second round to the University of Oregon. The Owls kicked off their tournament with a 71-67 win over Brigham Young University on Friday and looked to be on their way towards a second straight road victory on Monday before a relentless third-quarter push by the Ducks gave the hosts a comfortable 78-53 win. Despite the loss, head coach Lindsay Edmonds said she was proud of her team for holding their own in the second most important postseason tournament in the sport.

Baseball breaks out brooms in Birmingham

Rice baseball swept the University of Alabama at Birmingham last weekend, the first time they’ve opened Conference USA play with a sweep since 2015. It was a chilly weekend in Birmingham — game time temperatures were around 35 degrees on Sunday — but according to head coach Jose Cruz Jr., the Owls were able to grind out a few wins despite the cold.

‘Like a dead fish’: Hayon fights through illness at NCAAs

For the second year in a row, Arielle Hayon competed at the NCAA Swimming Championship Meet, this time placing No. 39 in the 100 yard butterfly and No. 50 in the 200. But unlike last year, the sophomore from Agoura Hills, California competed in both races battling a sinus infection.

MBB routed by UAB in second round of C-USA tourney

In the second round of the Conference USA tournament, the Rice men’s basketball team fell short against the University of Alabama at Birmingham by a final score of 87-60. According to head coach Scott Pera, the Blazers were able to force the Owls into mistakes throughout the game.

WBB stunned by UTSA in C-USA quarterfinals after late collapse

After earning the No. 3 seed and a first round bye, the Rice women’s basketball team’s Conference USA tournament run ended abruptly on Friday when they lost to the No. 6 seed University of Texas at San Antonio 62-54 in the quarterfinals. 

‘This is March Madness, right?’: MBB narrowly defeats UTSA in C-USA opener

If college basketball games lasted 40 minutes and half a second, the Rice men’s basketball team’s season would be over right now. After leading nearly the entire game against the No. 11 seed University of Texas at San Antonio in their opening game of the Conference USA tournament, the No. 6 seed Owls allowed UTSA to close the margin to one before guard Japhet Medor drove the length of the court with time expiring, getting his layup to roll in. The initial ruling was that Medor had gotten his shot off just before the clock hit zero, but the call was reversed after a two-and-a-half minute review, giving Rice a 72-71 win.

Women’s tennis narrowly avoids sweep against No. 10 UT

The Rice women’s tennis team fell 6-1 on Saturday afternoon to the two-time defending national champion No. 10 University of Texas at Austin. The sky was clear and the sun was scorching at the George R. Brown Tennis Center where the Owls faced off against their second top-25 opponent in the last month. Despite being swept by now-No. 7 Texas A&M University, the Owls were on a three-match winning streak heading into Saturday’s bout with the Longhorns. According to head coach Elizabeth Schmidt, the Owls hoped to build off their recent form and get a win at home. 

After Title IX: Looking back at early women’s sports at Rice

In 1977, one of the most smuggled goods at Rice was sandwiches. The perpetrators were the women’s volleyball team, forced to sneak food out of the serveries to accommodate for their practice time at the gym, which overlapped with dinner times. Neither Rice nor the athletics department had made any mealtime provisions for female athletes at the time, according to Helen Travis Savitzky (’80), who was on the volleyball and swim teams during her time at Rice.

Red-hot WBB enters conference tourney as No. 3 seed

Last weekend, Edmonds’s Owls swept their final regular season games, defeating Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University, conquering the Sunshine State.  According to Edmonds, the Owls are playing their best basketball at the best possible time.

MBB hopes to reverse recent fortunes in C-USA tournament

The Rice men’s basketball team enters this week’s Conference USA tournament in Frisco as the No. 6 seed, as they hope to qualify for the Big Dance for the first time since 1970. The Owls will face off against the University of Texas at San Antonio, the No.11 seed, on Wednesday at 8:30 pm. On a four-game losing streak, the Owls look to turn around their fate at a critical juncture of their season. Despite their recent struggle, head coach Scott Pera is confident that his team will show up in their biggest game of the year. 

Baseball upsets Tech, bats go silent against A&M and TCU

The Rice baseball team got a statement win on a big stage, beating No. 24 Texas Tech University 3-2 on Friday to open the Shriners’ College Classic at Minute Maid Park. But the rest of the weekend didn’t go as planned, and the Owls dropped games to No. 15 Texas A&M University and No. 10 Texas Christian University in lopsided fashion, bringing their record to 4-7.