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Sports

SPORTS 3/1/22 11:39pm

Women’s tennis beats UTSA in C-USA opener, falls to No. 7 A&M

By Cadan Hanson

Fresh off of a 4-0 sweep of Louisiana State University, the Rice women’s tennis team entered their first conference match of the season on Friday against the University of Texas, San Antonio. The Owls, who recently ranked No. 57 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, split their weekend matches, defeating the Roadrunners 5-0 and falling short against No. 7 Texas A&M University 1-4.

SPORTS 2/22/22 10:53pm

Women’s hoops gets first conference sweep

By Reed Myers

The Rice women’s basketball team picked up their first conference play weekend-sweep by defeating the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Florida International University. Both games saw the Owls in a neck-and-neck contest to the very end, something that has troubled the team so far this season. However, according to head coach Lindsay Edmonds, closing games has been a point of emphasis, and she was proud to see her team pull through in both games. 

SPORTS 2/22/22 10:51pm

36 runs in 27 innings: Longhorns crush Owls in Austin

By Pavithr Goli

Rice baseball was swept by the No.1 ranked University of Texas, Austin to start their season this past weekend.  In Jose Cruz Jr.’s debut as the team’s head coach, the Owls lost to the Longhorns each day of the weekend by large margins: a 7-0 defeat on Friday, a 15-1 loss on Saturday, and a final score of 14-2 on Sunday.

SPORTS 2/22/22 10:50pm

Three Owls take gold at men’s T&F C-USA championships

By Daniel Schrager

Three Owls took home gold medals as the Rice men’s track and field team placed fifth at the Conference USA championships in Birmingham, Alabama over the weekend. On Saturday, junior thrower Nick Hicks won his second straight conference title in the weight throw, while junior vaulter Natan Rivera took gold in the pole vault, edging out teammate Grant Levesque on a tiebreaker. Levesque would get a gold of his own the next day though, winning the heptathlon. According to head coach Jon Warren, while it’s tough to gauge the team’s progress during the short indoor season, he was happy with the results.

SPORTS 2/22/22 10:47pm

Simpson-Sullivan, Taylor set meet records at C-USA championships

By Cadan Hanson

Over the weekend, the Rice women’s track and field team traveled to Birmingham, Alabama for the 2022 Conference USA Indoor Championships. The Owls closed out the two-day competition with a fifth place team finish, scoring a total of 59 points. Overall, head coach Jim Bevan said he was proud of how his team competed on the biggest stage they’ve competed on yet this season.

SPORTS 2/16/22 12:02am

Superb Owls: Rice alums help design SoFi Stadium, home to Super Bowl

By Chloe Singer

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in their newly constructed home stadium. The stadium’s architectural features were on display all night long from a seating bowl pressed up against the field, to the 360-degree, 80-million-pixel video board that allowed fans to relive Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp’s game-winning touchdown, to the sharp curves of the exterior seen in aerial shots. Behind the design of the most expensive stadium ever built were two Rice Alums, Michelle Stevenson, the Senior Project Architect for the seating bowl, and Neil Prunier, the Senior Project Architect for the exterior.

SPORTS 2/16/22 12:01am

Two-way Garibay: Guy preps for sophomore season

By Reed Myers

This past season, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels made waves across the baseball world by winning the American League MVP award as both a pitcher and a batter. Fifteen-hundred miles to the east, the Rice baseball team boasts a two-way player of its own in sophomore Guy Garibay Jr., who serves as both an outfielder and a pitcher. 

SPORTS 2/15/22 11:59pm

Baseball is finally headed back in the right direction

By Ben Baker-Katz

It is hard to overstate the importance of good coaching in baseball. As Yogi Berra liked to say, “90 percent of the game is half mental,” and while no one quite knows what that means, it comes down to baseball being some combination of preparedness and confidence, not to mention the physical act of going out and performing. A good coach can go a long way toward preparing a team and making it believe in itself, and despite the fact that they have yet to play a game, it feels safe to say that Rice baseball under the command of Jose Cruz Jr. is in a much better position to succeed than it was at any point over the past three seasons. 

SPORTS 2/15/22 11:55pm

Baseball looks to buck recent trend in upcoming season

By Cadan Hanson

Following the 2021 season, which saw the Rice baseball team go 23-29-1 and miss out on the conference tournament for the first time since 1993, Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard decided that the program was in need of a change. He relieved then-head coach Matt Bragga of his duties after three seasons, and brought in Jose Cruz Jr. in his place. 

SPORTS 2/15/22 11:14pm

Powderpuff season set to start after long delay

By Kaitlyn Crowley

After the cancellation of the 2020 women’s flag football season due to COVID-19, students across Rice have been looking forward to the return of powderpuff this year. According to Vaidya Parthasarathy, a Powderpuff coach at Wiess College, the coaches and players are just excited to be back on the field.

SPORTS 2/1/22 11:30pm

Women’s basketball takes down LA Tech for first conference win of the season

By Daniel Schrager

It took six games, but the Rice women’s basketball team was able to get into the win column in Conference USA standings on Thursday when they took down Louisiana Tech University by a score of 72-64. The game was the first conference win in the tenure of first-year head coach Lindsay Edmonds, who guided the Owls to a 5-3 record in non-conference play before the team hit a five-game skid. According to Edmonds, the win meant even more given all that it took for the team to get there.

SPORTS 2/1/22 11:29pm

Schmidt reflects on coaching career after 200th win

By Savannah Kuchar

As of last week, Rice women’s tennis head coach Elizabeth Schmidt now has 200 career wins to go along with her six conference championships and nine NCAA tournament appearances. But according to Schmidt, it’s the people with whom she’s shared these accomplishments that have made them special.

SPORTS 2/1/22 11:25pm

Men’s basketball misses opportunity to knock off second place LA Tech

By Pavithr Goli

Last Thursday, the Rice men’s basketball team traveled to the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, LA to face off against then conference co-leaders, Louisiana Tech University. The Bulldogs defeated the Owls 80-63 in the first matchup between the two squads this season. The Bulldogs were able to sustain an Owls push at the beginning of the game and put together several significant runs to put the game out of reach. According to head coach Scott Pera, the Owls played with plenty of effort, but weren’t consistent enough.

SPORTS 2/1/22 11:23pm

Both T&F teams earn top-3 spots at UH indoor meet

By Jonah Lubin

The Rice men’s and women’s track and field teams both finished near the top of the leaderboard at this past weekend’s meet at the University of Houston, as the men’s team finished second out of ten teams and the women’s team finished third. 

SPORTS 2/1/22 11:18pm

Simpson-Sullivan discusses unlikely journey to stardom

By Reed Myers

Tara Simpson-Sullivan is a star by any standard. Last June, she earned a gold medal in the women’s hammer throw at the British Championships and placed fourth in the same event at the NCAA championships. Given her recent successes, it might surprise you to learn that she didn’t even know what the hammer throw was until one fateful meet when she happened to stumble upon it. 

SPORTS 1/25/22 11:48pm

Women’s basketball falls to Charlotte in their longest-ever game

By Daniel Schrager

The Rice women’s basketball team played the longest game in program history on Saturday, falling to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in four overtimes. With Rice holding a lead in the final seconds of each of the first two overtime periods, the 49ers hit game-tying shots to keep the game alive. The deadlock was finally broken in the closing minutes of the fourth overtime, as the 49ers pulled away to an 88-83 win, dropping the Owls to 0-5 in conference play. According to head coach Lindsay Edmonds, even though the Owls didn’t get the win, they impressed her throughout the game with their grit and resolve.

SPORTS 1/25/22 11:47pm

Men’s basketball looks for statement win against LA Tech

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice men’s basketball team will play an important conference game against Louisiana Tech University on Thursday. Having won 11 and lost 7 games so far this season, the Owls will look to improve on their 4-3 Conference USA record when they play the Bulldogs, who are tied for first place in the conference, in Ruston, Louisiana. 

SPORTS 1/25/22 11:46pm

Swimming gets conference win against UNT on Senior Day

By Reed Myers

​​The Owls beat the University of North Texas last Saturday in their dual meet 175-119, to secure their first win of the season. In addition to the competition at the Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center, the Owls celebrated their seven seniors during their senior day festivities. According to senior Marta Cano-Minarro, the meet is always an emotional one, but it was different this time as she was one of the swimmers being honored.

SPORTS 1/25/22 10:56pm

From conference championships to coaching Olympians: Victor Lopez reflects on his track & field journey

By Cadan Hanson

Fifteen years after retiring as the women’s track and field coach at Rice, Victor Lopez heard his name called during the induction ceremony for the Texas Track & Field Hall of Fame. As one of the seven members in the 13th class of inductees, Lopez now stands among the likes of nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis and other Texas track and field legends. Although it is the most recent accolade for the retired track and field coach, it is just the latest of numerous awards and accolades that he earned throughout his career.

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