Owls Lead After Day One at Owl-A-Pooluza

HOUSTON – The Rice swim and dive team sits atop the leaderboard after the first day of competition at the Owl-A-Pooluza, held Friday at the Rice Competition Pool.

The Owls lead the team standings with 463 points, followed by Houston with 461 and TCU with 353.

Rice opened the meet with a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as Lily Archibald, Bella Zhang, Avery Karacz and Ava Portello clocked a time of 1:33.22.

Reese Cole earned a runner-up finish in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:03.02 and later placed third in the 100 butterfly.

Ava Hamblett finished third in the 100 backstroke (56.28), while Zhang claimed third in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.89) and first in the 100 freestyle (51.04). Karacz followed closely in second in the 100 free (51.41).

Archibald secured Rice’s first individual win of the day with a victory in the 100 butterfly (54.42). Ella Dyson capped off the individual events with a first-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:01.10).

The Owls also captured the 200 medley relay title, as Hamblett, Siiri Einio, Archibald and Karacz combined for a time of 1:42.52. Rice closed out the swimming portion of the meet with another relay win in the 200 medley (1:44.80), featuring Abi King, Cole, Catherine Eland and Lizzie Zadel.

In diving, Antonina Harned placed third in the 1-meter event with a score of 241.65.

“We had a great first session,” Rice head coach Seth Huston said. “I was really happy with how our relays performed. The team came out with great energy, and it showed in the way they raced and supported each other.”

The Owls will be back in the pool at 10 a.m. on Saturday.