Ellery Parish Sweeps Distance Free As Rice Wins Own Invitational

RICE FALL SPLASH

• Friday-Saturday, October 12th-13th
• Rice University, Houston, TX
• Short Course Yards
• Results

TEAM SCORES

1. Rice – 1082.5
2. Houston – 923.5
3. Air Force – 645.5
4. Incarnate Word – 537.5

Rice hosted their Fall Splash this past weekend, winning the meet as a team. Marie-Claire Schillinger was instrumental in leading the way for Rice, taking the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, and was on the winning 200 and 400 medley relay, as well as the winning 200 free relay. Schillinger posted a 1:03.04 to win the 100 breast, and a 2:18.53 to win the 200 breast, with freshman teammate Phillis Range coming in 2nd with a 2:18.89. Schillinger posted a 1:02.39 breast split in the 400 medley relay, where Rabea Tzenetos (58.01), Brittany Bui (55.04), and Marta Cano (52.75) combined for a winning time of 3:48.19. Tzenetos then led off the 200 medley relay with a 26.88, followed by Schillinger (29.00), Bui (25.27), and Cano (23.94), finishing in a winning time of 1:45.09. Becca Evans (24.02), Schillinger (23.69), Cano (24.09), and Lindsay Mathys (23.97) won the 200 free relay with a 1:35.77.

Brittany Bui emerged victorious in the fly events. Bui swam a 55.62 in the 100 fly, marking herself as the only swimmer in the field to break 56 seconds. In the 200 fly, Bui posted a 2:03.41, edging out teammate Lindsay Mathys (2:03.97). Ellery Parish also picked up a trio of individual events, taking the 200, 500, and 1650 freestyles. In the 200, Parish swam a 1:51.72, beating out Houston’s Zarena Brown by nearly a second. Parish won the 500 by exactly 3 seconds, notching a 4:59.04. Parish also led a 1-2-3-4 finish by rice in the mile, finishing in 17:20.48 to narrowly touch out teammates Claire Therien (17:20.55), and Sarah Nowaski (17:20.67). Rice’s Hanna Huston came in 4th with a 17:23.45.

PRESS RELEASE – RICE:

HOUSTON — The Owl trio of Brittany Bui, Ellery Parish and Marie-Claire Schillinger all won two individual events, and the team won 11-of-13 races overall, as the Rice swimmers stormed to the meet title of the of the Fall Splash Invitational Saturday afternoon on campus at the Competition Pool.

Including the five events held on Friday’s opening session of the meet, Rice swimmers won 16 of the 18 races over the two days of competition. The Owls coasted to the meet title over the four-team field with a total of 1,082.5 points. Crosstown foe Houston finished second with 923.5 points, followed by Air Force (645.5 points) and Incarnate Word (537.5 points).

Schillinger had a comfortable win in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03.04, but the Rice senior record-holder had to hold-off a challenge from true freshman teammate Phillis Range to win the 200-yard breaststroke by less than four one-hundredths of a second (2:18.53 to 2:18.89).

Parish followed Friday’s individual victory in the 500-freestyle with Saturday wins in the 200- (1:51.72) and the 1,650-free. Her mile time of 17:20.48 led a 1-2-3-4 Rice finish in the event.

Bui was sound and solid sweeping both butterfly events with a 55.62 in the 100- and a 2:03.41 in the 200. For good measure Bui also swam the butterfly leg of the Owls’ winning 200-medley relay (1:45.09).

Saturday the Blue & Gray also posted wins in the 400-free relay (3:30.42) and the sprint relay (1:35.77). Sophomore Hannah Sumbera rallied to win the 400-individual medley (4:28.06). The Rice freshman duo of Marta Cano-Minarro and Becca Evanswent 1-2 in the 100-freestyle with times of 52.36 and 52. 54, respectively.

The Owl swimmers are next in action at the University of Denver’s Dualapalooza on Oct. 19-20. The meet features three separate dual meets against Denver, Tulane and C-USA rival Florida International.

PRESS RELEASE – HOUSTON:

HOUSTON – The University of Houston Swimming & Diving team closed out the Rice Fall Invitational with a second-place finish, racking up 923.50 points. On the other side of the town, the Houston divers swept all three diving events at the first-ever Houston Diving Invitational.

“I’m proud of how we raced hard through the entirety of the meet even though we are in the midst of some of the heaviest training we will see this year,” said Head Coach Ryan Wochomurka. “We need to clean up a few things this week in practice, from an execution standpoint. We’re excited to turn our attention to Dallas next week.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cougars posted 13 podium finishes on the second day of action at the Rice Fall Invitational and 16 overall.
• Kaley Hoffman posted her first top finish of the season, winning the 100-yard Backstroke with a time of 57.75.
• Eleanna Koutsouveli won the 200-yard Backstroke with a winning time of 2:01.91.
• Gaby Jimenez posted her first top-three finish of the weekend, touching the wall at 4:29.21 for a second-place finish in the 400 Individual Medley.
• Zarena Brown posted a pair of top-three finishes in the 200 Free (2^nd, 1:52.46) and the 100 Free (3rd, 52.76).
• Angeliki Mavrantza posted a third-place finish in the 100-yard Breaststroke at 1:05.18.
• Samantha Medlin posted a podium finish in the 200 Free (3rd, 1:52.96).
• Laura Laderoute finished second-overall in the 100-yard Backstroke at 58.06.
• Monique Rae posted  a third-place finish in the 200-yard Backstroke at 2:03.31
• Rebecca Brandt finished second-place in the 200 Butterfly at 2:05.95
• Houston finished top-three in all three of the relays raced this afternoon ( 200 MR, 3^rd, 1:46.34) (200 FSR, 2^nd, 1:36.52) (400 FSR, 3^rd, 3:35.51)
• At the Houston Diving Invitational, Katie Deininger once again had a stellar outing with a first-place finish in the Platform with 213.35 points. Jaylynn Whitt finished third with 180.05 points in the event.

HOUSTON PODIUM FINISHES

200-yard Medley Relay
3. Laura Laderoute, Peyton Kondis, Victoria Tillman, Zarena Brown – 1:46.34

400 Individual Medley
2. Gaby Jimenez – 4:29.21

200 Freestyle 
2. Zarena Brown – 1:52.46
3. Samantha Medlin – 1:52.96

100 Breaststroke
3. Angeliki Mavrantza – 1:05.18

100 Backstroke
1. Kaley Hoffman – 57.75
2. Laura Laderoute – 58.06

200 Freestyle Relay
2. Mykenzie Leehy, Laura Laderoute, Zarena Brown, Katie Power – 1:36.52

200 Backstroke
1. Eleanna Koutsouveli – 2:01.91
3. Monique Rae – 2:03.31

100 Freestyle
3. Zarena Brown – 52.76

200 Butterfly
3. Rebecca Brandt – 2:05.95

400 Freestyle Relay
3. Mykenzie Leehy, Laura Laderoute, Samantha Medlin, Zarena Brown – 3:35.51

WHERE TO WATCH
All home meets will feature live results through the Meet Mobile App available in the Google Play store and the App Store.

UP NEXT
Houston will head to SMU where it will matchup with both the Mustangs and North Texas on Oct. 20 for an 11 a.m. meet.

PRESS RELEASE – INCARNATE WORD:

HOUSTON — The University of the Incarnate Word women’s swimming and diving teams continued their season in Houston this weekend.

RESULTS
UIW took second in the 400-yard Medley relay, with a time of 3:50.73. The team consisted of Natasha Fung (junior), Mariana Ruvalcaba Cruz (sophomore), Cassandra Phillips (sophomore) and Zlata Demchenko (junior). The Cardinals 800-yard Freestyle relay team of Mariana Ruvalcaba Cruz, Zlata Demchenko, Hannah Rowley and junior Taylor Steele also shined, taking third with a time of 7:47.08.

Sophomore Cardinal Hannah Rowley had a solid 500-yard Freestyle swim, finishing seventh with a time of 5:04.52. Later in the competition schedule Ruvalcaba Cruz went 2:09.75 for the 200-yard IM finals, and took second in 100-yard Breaststroke with a time of 1:04.46. Zlata Demchenko took fifth in the 100-yard Freestyle, coming in at 53.37.

Cassandra Phillips was a top finisher in the 100-yard Butterfly, coming in second with a time of 56.00. In 200-yard Butterfly, Phillips took fourth with a time of 2:06.18.

The Cardinals concluded the weekend’s swimming competition in fourth with 537.5 points.

On the diving side, junior Valencia McDonald finished Saturday’s platform competition in ninth with 148.90 points. In the 1m and 3m championships, freshman Kaylee Frantzen was UIW’s top scorer, posting scores of 192.20 (10th) and 206.55 (8th).

UP NEXT
The men and women’s teams are set to host Trinity University Oct. 26 at the Ann Barshop Natatorium.

PRESS RELEASE – AIR FORCE ACADEMY:

HOUSTON, Texas – The Air Force Academy women’s swimming and diving team wrapped up action in Texas at both the Rice Invitational, as well as the Houston Diving Invitational, Saturday afternoon, Oct. 13. After two days of action, the Falcons finished in third place out of four teams.

At the conclusion of the 18 event meet, Air Force totaled 654.5 points overall. The host Rice Owls won the event with 1082.5, while Houston placed second with 923.5, and Incarnate Word finished behind Air Force, with 537.5. After five events to open the meet yesterday, the remaining 13 events were split up into two sessions today.

Air Force’s day was highlighted by a pair of top 10 times in program history, one in the 100 butterfly, and the other in the 200 breaststroke. Junior Esther Min finished with a 56.11 in the 100 fly, which is the tenth fastest in Academy history, and was good for a third place finish. The other time came courtesy of freshman Caroline Wittich in the 200 breast, clocking in with the Academy’s tenth best time of 2:20.78, and a fourth place finish in the event.

Min followed up her 100 fly time with another top five finish in the 200 fly, as she took fifth with a 2:06.60. Air Force’s other top five finishes came via sophomore Kylie Stronko, as she took fifth in both the 100 (58.41) and 200 back (2:06.47).

There were three relays throughout the day, in which Air Force had solid finishes in all three. Starting the day with the 200 medley, the Falcons claimed fifth with a 1:47.34. Later on in the 200 free relay, the Blue and Silver took third and sixth. In the final event, the 400 free relay, Air Force had a sixth place time.

Over at Houston’s campus, the divers concluded the weekend with the platform event. Freshman Krystal Irwin continued her great weekend with her second runner-up dive, this time earning a score of 202.10. Junior’s Eve Fowler and Kayla Wofford took fourth and seventh, respectively, with dives of 175.85 and 157.50, while freshman Emily Munn took tenth with a 124.75.

The Falcons will now have an off day on Sunday before getting back into action on Monday, Oct. 15, for an abbreviated dual against Nebraska-Omaha. The meet with the Mavericks is set to begin at noon.