
COVID-19 cancellations cut student athletes’ seasons short, postpone dreams
As a result of a new NCAA provision passed on Monday, all collegiate student-athletes who compete in spring sports will be granted an additional season of eligibility.
As a result of a new NCAA provision passed on Monday, all collegiate student-athletes who compete in spring sports will be granted an additional season of eligibility.
Rice men’s basketball will begin the Conference USA tournament tonight when they take on Florida International University at 6:30 p.m. in Frisco, Texas at the Ford Center at the Star. The Owls have already seen the Panthers once this year, culminating in a 92-78 Rice victory back in January.
Rice women’s basketball will look to defend its Conference USA title when the team plays its first game of the C-USA tournament tomorrow. The Owls’ opponent is not yet known, as they will be playing the winner of Wednesday’s game pitting Marshall University against the University of Southern Mississippi.
After winning a match against Prairie View A&M University on March 2 in which the Rice men’s tennis team convincingly won the doubles point and all six singles matches, the Owls lost 1-6 to No. 3 University of Texas, Austin.
Michelle Fokam triple-jumped 13.32 meters at last week’s Conference USA Track and Field Championships — soon, she’s hoping that her triple jump will land her over 6,600 miles away. That’s because Fokam, a three-time NCAA All-American finishing up her senior season, has her sights set on Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
The Rice men’s basketball team will conclude its regular season this week with a pair of matchups, first facing the University of Southern Mississippi in a Wednesday road game before returning home on Saturday to match up against the University of Texas, El Paso in the Owls’ season finale. Rice’s seniors — forwards Tim Harrison and Robert Martin and guards Ako Adams and Addison Owen — will suit up for their final game in Tudor Fieldhouse.
On Saturday, Rice Athletics announced the signing of a new member of the men’s track and field team: Santiago White, from Sugar Land. The athletic department prepared a typical day of signing festivities: a press conference, some short speeches, an official backdrop for photos. But one thing was different: Santiago is 9 years old.
Rice women’s basketball plays two crucial games at home this week, one against the University of Texas, El Paso on Thursday and the other against Old Dominion University on Saturday. Rice and Old Dominion are tied for the best record in Conference USA, which means that if both teams win their respective Thursday games, the Sunday matchup will decide both the conference champion and who gets the No. 1 seed in the C-USA tournament that starts next week.
In each of the past five years, Rice swimming has lost the Conference USA first place title to Florida International University. This week, they hope to break this streak at the conference championships, hosted in Atlanta.
Some players might not be old enough to remember it, but when the Rice baseball team faces Missouri State University for a three-game series this weekend, it will serve as a rematch of the first game in the 2003 College World Series. For Rice, that game — an Owls win — sparked a run that culminated in the first and only College World Series title in program history. For Missouri State, that game represented the closest that the Bears have ever been to a College World Series title.
Last weekend, the Rice women’s track and field team won the Conference USA Indoor Championships for the first time in ten years, and only the fourth time in the history of the program.
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.