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(02/13/09 12:00am)
The slowest time in the women's 3000-meter run ever to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship is 9 minutes, 18 seconds. Last weekend at the Notre Dame's Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind., senior Lennie Waite ran a 9:16. While the season will not conclude until the end of the month, it looks as though Waite has at least a decent shot to qualify for the premier competition in the country. Waite and the rest of the women's track and field team will have the opportunity to secure more postseason berths next weekend when a 28-woman squad competes at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station. There, the Owls will compete against every Division I school in Texas, along with Louisiana Tech University, the University of Miami, Arizona State University and Northwestern University. The competition will be stiff, as Arizona State won the national indoor title two years ago and Texas A&M was ranked first in the nation coming into the 2009 season. Also, the meet will have additional championship feel, since the Aggies' brand-new indoor facility happens to be the site of this year's championship meet.
(02/06/09 12:00am)
In two meets, senior Lennie Waite has set two conference records in two different events, first in the mile two weeks ago and then the 3000-meter run last weekend. But she is not the only member of the women's track and field team to find success during that span - five other Owls won events last weekend at the Houston Invitational, and several others earned personal bests.
(01/23/09 12:00am)
After winning both the conference indoor and outdoor championships last season, as well as earning a No.1 ranking in Conference USA, the women's track and field team entered the 2009 season with plenty of expectations. With a win in their first meet of the season last Friday, where they defeated the University of Texas and the University of Houston, perennial track and field powerhouses, the Owls proved they could still outmuscle the best.
(01/16/09 12:00am)
The women's track and field team has built an expectation for excellence with winning performances over the past two seasons. With four conference championships, as well as a host of national qualifiers and scorers, these runners, jumpers, vaulters and throwers want only to continue their successes this year. The quest for repeat championships begins this Friday at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational held at the Yeoman Fieldhouse on the University of Houston campus. The meet will feature varied competition for the Owls, including No. 1-ranked Texas A&M University. Other competition will include the University of Texas, host school University of Houston, McNeese State University, University of Texas-San Antonio, Sam Houston State University, Stephen F. Austin University, Texas State University and Lamar University.
(12/05/08 12:00am)
To complete one of the best seasons the women's cross country team has ever had, the team placed 22nd overall out of 31 squads at the NCAA National Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday, Nov. 24. Considering the temperature at race time was 42 degrees, well below the Houston average, the Owls ran an impressive race. The Owls' invitation to the meet marked the first time a Rice team has ever made it to nationals two years consecutively. And in conjunction with second-place spots at both the Conference USA championship and South Central Regional, the showing revealed Rice's ability to compete at the top levels of collegiate running.
(11/21/08 12:00am)
Not since Autry Court's construction in 1950 or perhaps after the installation of the central air-conditioning system in 1991 have students sat in the stands at a Rice basketball game in such an aesthetically pleasing space. Last weekend ushered in the beginning of a new era in Rice Athletics with the opening of Tudor Fieldhouse.Even though the pregame tailgate itself had low attendance, the students appeared to make up the majority of the crowd at the game and certainly to generate the majority of the cheering during play. With the right side of the student section packed, student support for Rice basketball appeared to be on an upswing. In comparison to the Rice-Texas game at the Toyota Center last season, where there were at most 40 students present, the enthusiasm level certainly increased fairly dramatically.
(11/21/08 12:00am)
Running cross-country is a lot like playing poker: Doing well requires practice and skill, but they both require a little bit of luck. Last Saturday at the NCAA South-Central Regional meet, all of these elements came together for the women's cross-country team perhaps for the first time all season. Not only did the team compete in peak shape, but they also ran without anyone on the team battling illness or injury.
(11/07/08 12:00am)
Luck definitely has not been on the side of the women's cross country team this season. Even though team members had been battling knee problems and sickness since Hurricane Ike, the whole team was prepared to go into conference with a healthy squad. Then a week before conference, sophomore Becky Wade - consistently one of Rice's top runners last season and only recently recovered from a cold and knee problems - caught a case of the flu and could not run for five days. And, because the downward sloping terrain at the Conference USA Championship meet in Memphis, Tenn., last weekend, freshman Michaela Reynolds triggered a lingering back injury from early in the race.
(11/07/08 12:00am)
Even though Barack Obama has been declared our president-elect, both his and John McCain's views on sports can still give the nation some insight into how each man would perform in the oval office. On Monday Night Football on the eve of Election Day, Chris Berman, known for his uber-hyped play-by-plays, interviewed Barack Obama and John McCain before the nation discovered which campaign would go the distance. Now that the campaign is over, let's see how the sports fan in Obama will influence his presidency, and how the sports fan in McCain would have.Berman first asked the two men what would happen if they could change one thing in sports. The answers of the candidates went against the conservative small government and liberal larger government stereotypes. McCain touched on sport's recent spate of drug-related problems, proposing stronger government regulation.
(10/24/08 12:00am)
When classes and the Thresher took a break two weeks ago, the women's cross-country team did not slow down. Last weekend, the team traveled to Terre Haute, Ind., to compete in the Pre-National meet, so named because it is held on the same course as the national meet. There the Owls placed eighth overall, beating two ranked teams in Providence University and North Caroline State University, then ranked 21 and 18 respectively. The weekend before, the team won the Houston Baptist Invitational. The Owls now have a weekend off before traveling to Memphis, Tenn., to compete in the Conference USA Championship meet. The Owls will be running to defend last season's Conference USA championship. This season, the win will be more difficult to come by, as 26th-ranked Southern Methodist University has already defeated Rice twice this season.
(10/10/08 12:00am)
Friday evening, the night before the Notre Dame University football team defeated Stanford University in front of tens of thousands of fans, the Rice women's cross-country team ran in the Notre Dame Invitational in front of a slightly smaller crowd. Last season the Owls won the Notre Dame Invitational, but this season they stumbled, finishing eighth. This weekend Rice will run a smaller squad at the Houston Baptist University Invitational. In order to give some of the less experienced runners more practice, head coach Jim Bevan decided that he will send a portion of his team to the Saturday race. Other teams at the meet should include HBU, Texas Southern University, Pan-American University, Prairie View A&M University and a few more to-be-determined schools.
(10/03/08 12:00am)
Last weekend the volleyball team began conference play against some familiar opponents: the University of Texas-El Paso, the team Rice eliminated from last season's Conference USA tournament, and Tulane University, the team that subsequently defeated the Owls in the next round. This time around, the results were the same, with Rice defeating UTEP before losing in four games to Tulane. This week Rice finally returns home from a month-long road trip with three matches in Fox Gym. On Friday, the Owls play Southern Methodist University at 7 p.m. Last season, SMU swept the first meeting of the two teams, and Rice responded by sweeping the second match. The Owls will face off Sunday at 1 p.m. with the University of Tulsa, last season's C-USA tournament champion. The Golden Hurricane defeated Rice twice last season. The Owls play again Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. against McNeese State University, a non-conference opponent known for scrappy play.
(09/19/08 12:00am)
Ranked 18th nationally in the preseason U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll, the cross country team was scheduled to compete last weekend at the Texas A&M Invitational. The meet was postponed due to the storm and will take place this weekend instead. The Rice Invitational, scheduled to occur this Saturday at the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium, was canceled because of the team's new plans.Despite the delay of the season's start because of the hurricane, head coach Jim Bevan is not worried about the change in schedule and, in fact, feels the competition at Texas A&M will be even stronger because of it.
(09/12/08 12:00am)
Even though the volleyball team competed in unfamiliar territory this past weekend, the Baylor Classic tournament in Waco was full of reunions. Rice played the University of Texas-San Antonio for the second consecutive week and head coach Genny Volpe faced off against Weber State University head coach Al Givens, who coached her during her college career at Texas A&M University. The Owls hope to build on their success this weekend when they travel to Nacogdoches, Texas, for the Ladyjack Invitational, hosted by Stephen F. Austin University. The Owls square off today against the University of Oklahoma at 11 a.m., and will quickly follow up that match with a second one against Creighton University at 4 p.m. On Saturday, Rice will tussle with SFA at 2 p.m. Volpe said this tournament will be full of strong competition.
(09/12/08 12:00am)
Last season the women's cross country team had a standout record, winning both the Conference USA and the regional championships on their way to finishing 16th overall at the NCAA national meet. Despite the loss of some key performers, head coach Jim Bevan believes this year's team can improve on last season's success. "If we stay healthy, we can be a better team than we were last year," Bevan said.
(09/05/08 12:00am)
The day I moved back on campus a few weeks ago, I wore a New York Yankees t-shirt. I wasn't trying to make a statement or be an obnoxious Yankees fan; it just happened to be the shirt I wore that day. That afternoon, as I was walking with my parents across the Wiess College Acabowl, a friend of mine yelled from the fourth floor balcony, "Yankees suck!" My dad, a lifelong Yankees fan, muttered to himself, "The truth hurts," demonstrating that this season, more than any in recent history, has been rough for Yankees fans everywhere.
(09/05/08 12:00am)
With hurricane Gustav nowhere to be seen in the West University area last weekend, the volleyball team stole a sizable share of the limelight. The Owls went home Friday night with two convincing wins over opening-day opponents University of Louisiana-Lafayette and University of Texas-San Antonio, sweeping both home matches by 3-0 scores. Unfortunately, Rice's fortune dimmed with Saturday's 3-0 loss to the University of Michigan, but the squad returned to center-stage Tuesday with a four-game win at Sam Houston State University. This weekend, the Owls were scheduled to travel to the Louisiana State University Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge, Louis., but the tournament was canceled after Gustav made landfall close by. The team will play in the Baylor Classic at Waco, Texas, instead, squaring off with host Baylor University, Weber State University and, once again, UTSA.
(08/29/08 12:00am)
At the conclusion of the Beijing Olympics Sunday night, the United States medal count stood at 110: 36 gold, 38 silver and 36 bronze. While no Rice graduates won medals at these games, two former Rice athletes competed.
(08/29/08 12:00am)
With the first match of the season looming large on its schedule, the volleyball team hosted their first annual Meet and Greet session Wednesday afternoon. The purely social event was held at Fox Gym, and several supporters of the team, including staff, sponsors, Rice faculty, students and team parents, attended. Head coach Genny Volpe started things off with team introductions and explained the team's newest fundraising effort "Block for Bucks." This season, team supporters can pledge a certain amount of money per block, with the final end-of-season donation amount based on the pledge and the number of team blocks. Last season the Owls had a Conference-USA leading 279 blocks.
(08/22/08 12:00am)
After losing close match after close match last season, the volleyball team ended the season feeling they fell short of their potential. After a whole summer stewing on their numerous missed chances, this season's squad has plenty of motivational fire to finish the season at the top of the conference. A big part of the team's transfor-mation will come from the incoming freshman class. The three freshmen - Ashleigh McCord, Megan White and Yuan Lin - each contribute to the team in a different way. McCord, with her extremely competitive nature, adds power to Rice's already strong set of middle blockers. She also has the ability to play multiple positions, giving head coach Genny Volpe more versatility with her lineups. Additionally, McCord comes in with a raw athleticism as impressive as any player on the team.
