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Sports

SPORTS 3/6/12 6:00pm

Men's Track struggles at conference meet

By Thresher Staff Reports

Despite winning fourth and fifth place in the last two Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, there were some reasons for optimism amongst the men's track team to improve at this year's edition of the meet in Birmingham, Ala. The squad garnered a fifth place finish two weeks ago at the Texas A&M Invitational against several top teams from the Big XII and Southeastern Conferences, which was filled with great performances from veterans like redshirt junior Clayton Chaney and senior Dan Sloat, as well as newcomers like freshman pole vaulter Chris Pillow. Despite Rice‘s 1-2-3 finish in the heptathlon, something that the Owls had yet to accomplish in C-USA, was not enough to overcome the deficiencies in other areas of this team.

SPORTS 3/6/12 6:00pm

Ultimate looks to nationals

By Josh Rutenberg

The women's ultimate team scored a victory over Missouri State at the 25th Mardi Gras Tournament on Feb. 19 in Saint Francisville, La. Tomorrow, the team will have its sights set on the Music City Mash Up tournament in Nashville, Tenn and nationals in the near future.

SPORTS 2/22/12 6:00pm

Tennis loses to Alabama

By Dan Elledge

Ever since the beginning of the spring season, freshman Natalie Beazant has exceeded expectations. Beazant has proven that when she plays is 1-on-1, she cannot lose. Going into last Friday's match against 21st-ranked University of Alabama, Beazant had amassed a singles record of 7-0. But in this matchup she was going to be tested, as she was playing the 15th-best singles player in America, Alabama sophomore Mary Anne MacFarlane.

SPORTS 2/22/12 6:00pm

Strong arms power baseball to 5-0 start

By Thresher Staff Reports

While baseball national championships are won in the June heat of Omaha, they can certainly be lost in the mild weather of February and March. While past years' baseball teams have never gotten off to devastating starts in the early season, the last few years have seen the Rice sluggers compile rather average records through the first few weekends of the season. However, the 2012 team has shown little inclination to following the examples of those squads of yesteryear, taking a 5-0 record into today's three-game series against Dallas Baptist University (3-1).

SPORTS 2/22/12 6:00pm

Men's basketball slices Knights in half

By Thresher Staff Reports

Throughout Conference USA play, the men's basketball team has garnered attention for its inconsistent, up-and-down style of play, as Rice (16-12, 7-6 C-USA) has not had a winning streak of more than two games or a losing streak of more than three since conference play started in early January. This past week showed that that brand of play was still alive, for better or worse.

SPORTS 2/22/12 6:00pm

Swimming takes second at C-USA Championship meet

By Louis Lesser

After a season filled with exciting finishes, impressive performances, and promising contributions from the entire team, the women's swim team headed to the University of Houston Recreation Center Natatorium in order to defend its Conference USA title. On the first day of competition, not only did the Rice swimmers set new school records in the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay, but the Owls also posted a pair of marks that qualified for next month's NCAA Championships in those events. Rice's 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore Michelle Gean, sophomore Lilly Marrow, sophomore Karina Wlostowska and senior Shelby Bottoms finished in second, tying a new school record time of 1:41.31. The foursome broke the previous school mark set three years ago by more than six-tenths of a second and reached the "B" cut for a possible trip to the NCAA meet in March.

SPORTS 2/22/12 6:00pm

Is super conference really better for Owls

By Daniel Elledge

With the college conference landscape changing more than it ever has, the Owls were wondering when the effect of realignment would finally reach them. Conference powers the University of Memphis, Southern Methodist University, University of Central Florida and archrival University of Houston accepted invitations to join the Big East starting in 2013, leaving Conference USA and Rice in a gigantic hole.

SPORTS 2/22/12 6:00pm

C-USA and Mountain West form new conference

By Thresher Staff Reports

With the collegiate athletics conference landscape possessing about as much stability as the San Andreas Fault in the past year, it was only natural that Rice would eventually feel the tremors that were set off by the University of Colorado and the University of Nebraska departing the Big 12 for the Pac-12 and Big 10 conferences, respectively. More recently and closer to home, Texas A&M University left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference and the University of Houston, Southern Methodist University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Memphis said goodbye to Conference USA in favor of the Big East conference. As a result, on Feb. 12, C-USA and the Mountain West Conference (which has lost Brigham Young University to the ranks of Division I independents, the University of Utah to the Pac-12 conference, Boise State University to the Big East, Texas Christian University to the Big 12, and San Diego State University to the Big East for football and Big West Conference for all other sports) will align in all sports starting in the 2013-2014 school year. The new affiliation has no name as of yet.

SPORTS 2/15/12 6:00pm

Kubitza hopes to shine again

By Farrah Madanay

Austin Kubitza may only be a sophomore but the amount of accolades he has garnered since post-baseball season last year are enough to confuse him with any seasoned upper-classman. As a freshman, Kubitza earned his way to the coveted spot of the Rice University Owls' Friday-night starting pitcher. If there was any speculation regarding Coach Wayne Graham's choice to start the right-handed rookie, Kubitza put it to bed by posting impressive results, such as the most strikeouts by an Owl in four years. Regardless of his consistent pre-season performances on the mound, Kubitza himself was just as surprised by his starting assignment as a freshman.

SPORTS 2/15/12 6:00pm

Rice Baseball 2012

By Ryan Glassman

"What did Darwin say you have to do to survive?" asked baseball Head Coach Wayne Graham to redshirt junior outfielder Jeremy Rathjen on Friday, Jan. 27, the team's first day of spring practice.

SPORTS 2/15/12 6:00pm

Manuel aims to remain clutch

By Thresher Staff Reports

From the beginning of his baseball career at Rice University, Craig Manuel has been known as having a knack for coming through in a tough spot. The senior catcher was plucked up by Rice at a baseball camp in the summer of 2008 after Manuel had already committed to play junior college ball in Florida, a fortuitous find for a team still lacking a catcher in its signing class. With junior Diego Seastrunk (Will Rice '10) not used to catching after moving from third base, Seastrunk moved to the designated hitter spot, and Manuel began catching just a few weeks into his collegiate career and helping to orchestrate Ryan Berry's (Hanszen '10) two-hit shutout of Texas A&M University in the 2009 Minute Maid Classic. Manuel picked off 12 hitters that year and made just one error, while hitting impressively with runners in scoring position, batting .404 in those situations. Still, that last sentence describes a microcosm of his career: a great defensive asset, whose left-handed batting stance made him a great situational hitter but not a middle-of-the-order type of guy.

SPORTS 2/15/12 6:00pm

Women's track led by middle- and long-distance

By Thresher Staff Reports

The Texas A&M Invitational was anything but a tuneup for the Conference USA Indoor Championship for the women's track team as the ladies finished second among C-USA teams at the meet and asserted their dominance in a few events as well. Seniors Becky Wade and Allison Pye ranked first and second in the 5,000-meter run and second and fourth among C-USA runners, respectively. Saturday's one-two finish in the 3,000-meter run showed their opponents exactly what they will have to deal with next weekend. Wade was two seconds off of her personal best after crossing the finish line in 9:31.13, while Pye was less than two seconds behind her at 9:33.12. Sophomore Farrah Madanay followed closely behind to capture 10th place and to give the Owls three runners in the top 10 of a highly competitive field. In the mile run, four Rice runners competed, with junior Heather Olson and senior Halsey Fowler placing in the top 10 as Olson nearly went below the five-minute mark. Junior Sarah Mason and freshman Allie Schaich were 13th and 17th, respectively. In the 800-meter run, seniors Sophie Peeters (fourth-fastest time of any C-USA runner this season) and Keltie John (10th-fastest) ran well, with Peeters running her way to a personal best in third place, while John was 12th overall and six seconds behind Peeters.

SPORTS 2/15/12 6:00pm

Owls take on four top-15 teams, familiar regional foes

By Thresher Staff Reports

While Conference USA has consistently ranked in the top five conferences in terms of overall strength and competitiveness, the sixth-ranked Owls have supplemented their eight conference series with a host of highly non-conference opponents starting this weekend with their three-game matchup against 28th-ranked Florida International University. The Panthers have made the NCAA Tournament the past two years and feature preseason All-American senior outfielder Pablo Bermudez, who is the Sun Belt Conference's preseason player of the year. First baseman Mike Martinez and designated hitter Rudy Flores all provide power in the lineup. Southpaws R.J. Fondon and Mason McVay will provide a formidable two-thirds of the Panthers' weekend rotation. After the Panthers come to town, New Mexico State University will pay a midweek visit to Reckling Park, led by catcher Zac Fisher. The Aggies led the nation in batting average (.377) last year, were second in runs scored per game with 8.5 and ranked third in walks with 333. While not highly-ranked, they will test the depth of the Owls' pitching staff as Head Coach Wayne Graham looks to preserve pitchers for the weekend series against Dallas Baptist University. The Owls have struggled in the past against the Patriots, going 0-2 against them in the last two seasons. The Patriots are also patient at the plate, with 310 walks, and return a solid Friday night starting pitcher in Jake Johansen as well as five of their eight starting position players from 2011, including their two leading home-run hitters.

SPORTS 2/15/12 6:00pm

Tennis finally loses in Lady Raider Shootout

By Dan Elledge

Perfection cannot last forever, and the women's tennis team knew its dream start would have to end sometime. After a thorough domination of its first six opponents, including a breezy win over Florida International University on Saturday, the Owls dropped their first match of the year to 42nd ranked Texas Tech University in a gut-wrenching 4-2 defeat.

SPORTS 2/14/12 6:00pm

Men's basketball goes over .500 in C-USA play

By Ryan Glassman

The men's basketball team defeated Southern Methodist University (11-15, 2-9 C-USA) on Saturday evening, moving to 15-11 overall and 6-5 in the conference, clinching the highest overall and conference win totals for the program since the 2006-07 season.

SPORTS 2/14/12 6:00pm

Men's track rolls past big teams at A&M

By Thresher Staff Reports

Like so many track meets in the last few years, the Texas A&M Invitational saw redshirt junior Clayton Chaney pull off another great performance, taking first place in the 60-meter hurdles. Chaney, who has been a jack-of-all-trades athlete for Head Coach Jon Warren (Jones '88), has made forays into the heptathlon, hurdles and long jump over the years and finished seven-hundredths of a second off of his best time in the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday. Senior Lee Johnson took sixth place in the same event to give the Owls 11 points from that event alone. Sophomore Ben Pressley also ran in the event but did not make the finals, placing 11th in the preliminaries.

SPORTS 2/7/12 6:00pm

Men's tennis dominates Miami, Tyler JC

By Dan Elledge

As the thunderstorms rolled in Saturday morning, the 38th-ranked Owls were not happy at first to hear that they would have to go indoors and play at the Galleria Tennis Athletic Center, but it happened to be a blessing in disguise as it boosted them past 37th-ranked University of Miami and Tyler Junior College last weekend.

SPORTS 2/7/12 6:00pm

Men's track has seven top-10 finishes in Neb.

By Thresher Staff Reports

The seven top-10 finishes out of all athletes competing at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. this past weekend demonstrated that the men's track team is more than ready to play against in the big boys. This victory is possibly a sign of things to come in College Station at the Texas A&M Challenge this weekend.

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