Jan. 30, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

IRVING, Texas - Rice defeated Conference USA rival Houston by a score of 225-117 and fell to SEC power LSU, 216-119 in swimming action last weekend. The Owls are 9-4 in dual meets heading into next week's final regular season meet of the year.

SWIMMER OF THE WEEK (1/29)
BRITTANY MASSENGALE - Rice
So., Alma, Arkansas (Alma)
Massengale swept both distance events in a two-day, double-dual meet against SEC power LSU and C-USA foe Houston over the weekend. She coasted to a victory in the 1,000-free with a time of 10:04.68 and then came back to win the 500 with a mark of 4:54.50. The Alma, Ark., native also swam the 400-IM for the first time since her sophomore year and posted a time of 4:29.41, the best time by an Owl this season and the sixth-best mark in Conference USA. The weekly award is the sixth of Massengale's career, her third in 2007-08 (Oct. 16, Jan. 23).

DIVER OF THE WEEK (1/29)
COURTNEY FORCUCCI - Houston
Fr. Fort Mill, S.C. (Fort Mill)
Forcucci was the Cougars' leading performer against No. 24 LSU and Conference USA rival Rice. The freshman swept both diving events to enjoy two of the Cougars' three event wins. She won the 3-meter springboard with a season-best 332.03 point to finish nearly 40 points ahead of her closest competitor. Forcucci then won the 1-meter competition with 293.85 points. Her total was more than 13 points ahead of second-place finisher. This is Forcucci's second weekly honor in 2007-08 (Nov. 6).

2007-08 WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
O9	S- Angela San Juan Cisneros, SMU
O16	S- Brittany Massengale, Rice
O23	S- Amanda Duncan, East Carolina
	D- Christie Icenhower, East Carolina
O29	S- Anja Carman, SMU
	D- Audra Egenolf, SMU
N6	S- Sasha Schwendenwein, Houston
	D- Courtney Forcucci, Houston
N13	S- Michaela Sceli, Marshall
	D- Siobahn Schuurman, Marshall
N20	S- Jennifer Blackman, SMU
	D- Christie Icenhower, East Carolina
D4	S- Jennifer Blackman, SMU
	D- Lacey Truelove, Houston
J9	S- Petra Klosova, SMU
	D- Audra Egenolf, SMU
J15	S- Pam Zelnick, Rice
	D- Britney Yancey, SMU
J23	S- Brittany Massengale, Rice
	D- Ginni van Katwijk, Houston
J23	S- Brittany Massengale, Rice
	D- Courtney Forcucci, Houston

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Conference USA will name a Swimmer and Diver of the Week throughout the regular season. The Athlete of the Week awards are selected by the media relations department and announced every Tuesday throughout the season.

2007-08 C-USA TOP TIMES
For a list of the top C-USA Women's Swimming and Diving times/scores, please go to: https://secure.sportssystems.com/ScoreReporting/cusa/sportID/1/g/w

2008 C-USA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2008 C-USA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship and Men's Invitational is slated for February 27-March 1 in Houston, Texas. The four-day event will be hosted by Houston at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. All five C-USA women's swimming and diving programs will participate in the championship, while East Carolina, SMU and Hawai'i will participate in the men's invitational.

C-USA RECAP (Through Meets of Jan. 28)
EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina suffered its first loss of the year, 167-131, to Duke on Saturday.

The Pirates (7-1) won their first seven dual meets of the season before suffering defeat.

The women's 400-yard medley relay team of Rebecca Perry, Stephanie Harper, Amanda Duncan and Jenna Stewart set a Minges pool record with a time of 3:50.84.

Stewart swept the sprint freestyle events with a first place finish in the 50-yard (24.58) and 100-yard (53.21) races.

Junior Alli Miller won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.77, while Perry won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:04.07.

Freshman Stephanie Harper captured first place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.20.

East Carolina will conclude dual meet competition at home on Saturday, Feb. 2, with a tri-meet against Marshall, Chowan and Wingate.

HOUSTON
For the second straight day, Houston freshmanCourtney Forcucci claimed top honors in a diving event to lead the Cougars during the final day of a tri-meet against No. 19 LSU and Conference USA rival Rice on Friday.

Forcucci scored 293.85 points on the 1-meter springboard to finish more than 13 points ahead of her closest competitor. The Fort Mill, S.C., native was the only diver to record at least 293.00 points in both events after winning the 3-meter competition Friday evening.

Junior Andrea Pa'lmai led the Cougar swimmers after winning the 400-yard individual medley during the final individual event of the day. The Budapest, Hungary, native finished more than four seconds ahead of her closest competitor.

The Cougars dropped both meets to their rivals, falling 240-102 to the 19th-ranked Tigers and 225-117 to Rice. LSU swept the two-day meet with a 240-102 win over Rice.

With the losses, the Cougars lost their fourth straight and fell to 8-7 overall in dual meets this season.

The Cougars return to action next weekend with their final two meets of the regular season. UH faces No. 4 Texas A&M at 5 p.m., Friday and New Orleans at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Student Rec Center Natatorium.

MARSHALL
Marshall dropped its meet at Ohio on Jan. 22 by a score of 182-131.

Senior Michaela Sceli swept the 100 and 200-yard butterflies and finished just off of her school record times.

Jenny Johnnsson finished third in the 200-yard IM and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle, but saved her best performance for the 500-yard free where she turned in a new personal best time of 5:13.29 and a second-place finish.

Junior Kayla Truswell through a slow start in the 100-yard butterfly to finish second and won the 200-fly in 2:09.70.

The Herd will have one more meet to prepare for the Conference USA championships when it travels to East Carolina on Feb. 2.

RICE
Senior Brittany Massengale won the 500-yard freestyle and posted the Rice swim team's best time of the year in the 400-individual medley to lead the Owls on the final day of competition in a double-dual meet against LSU and Houston Saturday afternoon across town at the UH Recreation Center Natatorium.

Rice defeated Conference USA rival Houston by a score of 225-117 and fell to SEC power LSU, 216-119.

An easy winner in the 1,000-yard freestyle on Friday night, Massengale won the 500 on Saturday in similar form. The senior from Alma, Ark., took the lead after the first 200 yards and coasted to a win with a time of 4:54.50, a full six seconds ahead of second place. She then came back later in the meet for her season debut in the 400-individual medley and notched the Owls' best time of the year in the event (4:29.21) to take second place among a field of 10 entries.

Sophomore Angela Wo swam a career-best 2:08.59 to take fourth in the 200-butterfly. Junior Carlyann Miller finished third in the 100-freestyle (52.42) and then swam the third leg of the Owls' winning sprint relay to close out the meet.

The double-dual meet was the third of four-straight weeks of competition for the Rice swimmers.

The Owls are 9-4 in dual meets heading into next week's final regular season meet of the year, at home against the University of New Orleans on Friday Feb. 1 at 5:00 p.m.

SMU
No.13 SMU took on its first conference opponent of the season, beating Rice 123-75 Jan. 18 at Perkins Natatorium.

The Mustangs won nine of the 11 events, shutting the Owls down. SMU started strong by picking up a win in the first event. The 200 medley relay squad of Anja Carman, Devon Callaghan, Angela San Juan Cisneros and Candace Blackman touched in at 1:44.12.

SMU finished third in the 1000 free, with Federica Felloni clocking a season-best time of 10:33.92. The Mustangs then finished one-two in the 200 free, with Petra Klosova in first (1:51.27) and Callaghan in second (1:54.33).

In the 50 free, SMU again finished one-two, this time with C. Blackman taking the top spot with a mark of 23.66 and Jennifer Basel in second with her season-best time of 23.79. Basel then turned around and won the 400 IM outright, finishing the course in 4:23.19.

Newcomer Maroua Mathlouthi picked up second in that event, touching in at 4:23.80.

SMU coasted by C-USA rival Houston on Jan. 19 at Perkins Natatorium, 140-91, winning 11 of 13 events.

The Mustangs again showed why they are the favorite to win the conference title, as they won the first five swimming events before dropping the one-meter diving competition.

The afternoon kicked off for SMU with the 200 medley relay team of Carman, Devon Callaghan, San Juan Cisneros and Klosova winning their event handily, clocking a time of 1:44.49. The Mustangs also took second in that event, as Gabriela Soza, Tamara Sambrailo, Elzanne Werth and Anna Ziverts touched in at 1:48.86.

Britney Yancey reclaimed the top spot on the three-meter board, amassing 311.40 points, beating second-place finisher Lacey Truelove by over 15 points.

The Mustangs are off for the next few weeks, but return to the pool to host No. 16 Texas at Perkins Natatorium on Feb. 9 at 12:00 p.m.