C-USA Swimming and Diving Champs this Weekend

HOUSTON - After a lot of hours of preparation and miles of swim practice logged over the past year, Rice competes for the Conference USA title in women's swimming at the 2011 C-USA Championships across town at the University of Houston Recreation Center Natatorium this Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 23-26. The 21-event championship meet begins at 6 pm Wednesday with two relays - the 200-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle.

The championship kicks into high gear on Thursday morning. Preliminaries for the swimming events begin at 10 am Thursday through Saturday. The finals for each day's swimming and diving events are at 6 pm. C-USA students with ID may get into the meet free of charge. Admission prices for the event are: $5 for single-session tickets for youths (or a youth's full-session pass for $10); and $10 for adults per session (a full-session pass for adults is $25). Tickets are available at the UH natatorium an hour before the start of that day's session.

The Owls had another sound-and-solid season under head coach Seth Huston, now in his ninth year at the helm of the Rice program. Coach Huston is looking forward to the challenging task ahead. Where some may be looking at the current C-USA league-leaders for each event, Huston has his eye on the bigger picture.

"The conference has improved a lot and is much deeper then just a couple of years ago," coach Huston said. "Earning our way into event finals will be a key to our team finish. We are not placed very well in our pre-conference rankings, but we traditionally have made some big gains and swim our season-best times at the CUSA Championships. I am very confident that we will be moving up and scoring more points then the rankings would project. This is what we prepare for as a team all season. 

"We love to have our conference championships held at U.H.," Huston added. "We are very familiar and comfortable with the facility. I think cutting out the travel time and keeping our surroundings the same - where the girls get to stay at home in their respective Colleges - is good for our team. When we swim close to home we typically swim very well.

No doubt about it, the conference meet is an emotional time for the seniors. Rice has had the tremendous good fortune of having five standout seniors elevate the program the last four (and in one case five) years. Seniors Erin Mattson and Karen Gerken have won individual C-USA Championships in their events. Fellow seniors Ashten Ackerman, Kait Chura and Sarah Korellis have scored for the team at conference and set a high standard in the pool and in the classroom. That veteran group is brining along the Owls' talented freshman class, who is competing in their first C-USA Championship.

Thanks to the seniors, Huston thinks it's been a good mix. The Rice rookies are ready. Up-and-down the roster the team has been looking pretty fast.

"I think our freshmen get it," Huston said confidently, "that it's a big meet this week. They have been pretty big contributors to the team all year. Several of them are pretty seasoned veterans of championship swimming so they know the routine and importance of swimming fast in prelims and racing in finals.

"We have been a little faster in-season then in years past," Huston concluded. "We have had to step-up in a couple of our dual meets, and we have had a number of season-best performances popping up in the last few weeks -- which is where we like to be at this time of the year."

2011 C-USA Swimming & Diving Championship Schedule
WED., FEBRUARY 23
Diving Preliminaries - 3 pm
1-Meter Diving (Men)

Finals - 6 pm200-Yard Medley Relay
1-Meter Diving (Men)
800-Yard Freestyle Relay

THUR., FEBRUARY 24
Preliminaries - 10 am500-Yard Freestyle
200-Yard Individual Medley
50-Yard Freestyle
Diving Preliminaries - 1 pm
3-Meter (women)

Finals - 6 pm500-Yard Freestyle
200-Yard Individual Medley
50-Yard Freestyle
3-Meter Diving (Women)
400-Yard Medley Relay

FRI., FEBRUARY 25
Preliminaries - 10 am400-Yard Individual Medley
100-Yard Butterfly
200-Yard Freestyle
100-Yard Breaststroke
100-Yard Backstroke
Diving Preliminaries - 1 pm
3-Meter (Men)
1-Meter (Women)

Finals - 6 pm200-Yard Freestyle Relay
1-Meter Diving (Women)
400-Yard Individual Medley
100-Yard Butterfly
3-Meter Diving (Men)
200-Yard Freestyle
100-Yard Breaststroke
100-Yard Backstroke

SAT., FEBRUARY 26
Preliminaries - 10 am200-Yard Backstroke
100-Yard Freestyle
200-Yard Breaststroke
200-Yard Butterfly
1,650-Yard Freestyle Preliminaries & Finals
Diving Preliminaries - 1 pm
Platform (Men & Women)

Finals - 6 pmPlatform Diving (Women)
200-Yard Backstroke
100-Yard Freestyle
200-Yard Breaststroke
200-Yard Butterfly
Platform Diving (Men)
400-Yard Freestyle Relay