The Rice Thresher, Vol. 94, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, August 25, 2006 Page: 28 of 32
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rice University Woodson Research Center.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
~i j. n *
vt
' A','' '
28
THE RICE THRESHER SPORTS FRIDAY, AUGUST 25,2006
*1
Searle, Heark lose
early at NCAAs.
After the men's tennis squad
fell short of a team champion-
ship with a second round loss
to the University of Texas in
the NCAA Tournament, the
18th-ranked senior tandem of
Robert Searle and Tony Haerle
tried their hand in the NCAA
doubles tournament, held May
25-29 in Palo Alto, Calif.
After defeating the defending
champions No. 15 John Isnerand
Antonio Ruiz of the University of
Georgia in straight sets, the pair
fell 7-6, 7-6 in the round of 16 to
the University of Miami's Luigi
D'Agord and Daniel Vallverdu.
The Rice duo finished with a 17-
7 record during a year that also
saw them awarded Conference
USA outstanding doubles team
honors.
Searle also competed in the
singles tournament for the
fourth-straight time, but after the
33rd-ranked senior easily handled
Oklahoma State's 13th-ranked
Daniel Byrnes 6-2,3-0 (ret.) in the
opening round, he fell in a hard-
fought marathon 6-2, 6-7, 6-7 to
Texas' 38th-ranked Callum Beale.
The loss closed Searle's stellar
SPORTS NOTEBOOK
four-year career—during which
he was ranked as high as 11th and
amassed a 104-44 record.
On the women's side, senior
Blair DiSesa was Rice's lone repre-
sentative in either the NCAA sin-
gles or doubles championships.
DiSesa, who won Conference USA
player of the year honors after
leading Rice to an improbable
conference title, was the first Owl
to play in the singles tournament
since Wendy Wood (Will Rice'86)
in 1986. She lost to Tracy Lin of
UCLA 6-1,6-2.
— Dylan Farmer
Four Owls swim at
USA Nationals
Four Rice swimmers com-
peted at the USA Swimming
National Championships Aug.
1-5 in Irvine, Calif. Juniors
Brittany Massengale and Amy
Halsey, along with sophomores
Skylar Craig and Diane Gu,
competed for their respective
club teams at the meet.
Massengale finished 54th
of 71 in the 400-freestyle and
37th of 79 in the 800-freestyle
with a time of 8:55.72. She will
compete for the United States
at the FINA Open Water World
Championships in Naples, Italy
Aug. 29-Sept. 3 as a member of
the five-kilometer team.
Halsey finished 72nd of 84 in
the 100-backstroke and 68th of
81 in the 200-back stroke with a
time of 2:22.79.
Craig finished 87th of 92
in the 100-butterfly and Gu
finished 57th of 103 in the 50-
freestyle.
Swimming starts its season
Oct. 13 in a dual meet against
the University of Denver. Rice
will host three meets this season
against SMU, New Mexico State
and Miami.
— Matt McCa.be
Rice GPA average
tops in C-VSA
Rice was awarded the Insti-
tutional Excellence Award Aug.
8 for its varsity athletes having
the highest grade point average
of the 12 schools in Conference
USA The Owl teams maintained
a combined GPA of 3.096, with
a C-USA record 9 of 17 teams
holding the top GPA for their
respective sports.
Baseball, men's basketball,
men's cross country, football,
men's golf, women's tennis, men's
and women's track and field, and
volleyball held the top GPA in
their sport.
— MattMcCabe
Rice warned about
low attendance
In the wake of a 2005 season
that saw the football team win 1
of 11 games and draw an all-time
Rice low 10,072 fans per game,
the NCAA sent an official letter
of warning to the Athletic De-
partment in early August.
The letter, which was 1 of
12 sent to division I-A schools,
cautioned the department that
another year of a home atten-
dance average below 15,000
could open the door for sanc-
tions, such as the loss of bowl
game eligibility and the removal
of Rice football's Division I-A
status.
However, athletic director
Chris Del Conte said new mar-
keting efforts, combined with
attendance at the Sept. 16 Rice vs.
Texas game at Reliant Stadium—
which can count as a home game
underNCAAprovisions—should
bolster the average enough to
avoid NCAA sanction.
— Dylan Farmer
Rice Symphonic Band
Perform the finest in contemporary and
traditional wind literature
Auditions are informal, and used for chair
placement only
Credit is available - sign up for MUSI 340
Rehearsals are 4-5:30 pm on Thursdays.
(Tuesday and Thursday in the the spring)
Questions? Contact Chuck Throckmorton at:
(800) WHY - RICE (or) (713) 348 - 2346
cthrock@rice.edu
Music Everywhere (ME), single genderless Rice student organization, seeking
college-age major and non-major music lovers of all experience (e.g. musicians,
composers, patrons, inventors) who enjoy meeting like-minded peers, chamber
ensemble study (informally or formally through MUSI 340 Section 2: Chamber Music
for Non-majors), free coaching, campus performances, outreach concerts, innovative
music, long walks on the beach, and some sweet music-lovin'.
Contact by phone (713 348 2346) or by e-mail (cthrock@rice.edu).
£iee ton Smo
- Two different jazz ensembles: A Big Band and a Jazz Combo
- Auditions are informal, and used to place students in the jazz
ensemble that most matches their interests and abilities
- Each ensemble performs at least twice each semester.
Performances and rehearsals feature the opportunity to
interact with the top jazz professionals in the city of Houston.
- Jazz instructor Larry Slezak is the leading tenor player in
Houston.He performs regularly with the national touring
musical arts, Broadway shows, and with the Houston
Symphony.
- Credit is available- Sign up for MUSI 342
$
Questions? Contact Larry Slezak at:
(800) WHY - RICE (or) (713) 348 - 2346
tenorone@rice.edu
cws
From page 24
Owls have a great shot at return-
ing in 2007, with CWS experience
under their belts.
"It's incredibly difficult to get
to Omaha," Graham said. "We're
certainly aspiring to that since we
have a great returning class."
The Owls advanced to the
CWS with a super-regional win
in three games over the Univer-
sity of Oklahoma June 10-12 at
Reckling Park. Rice's lone loss to
the Sooners in the super-regional
series came as result of a com-
plete-game effort by Oklahoma's
Daniel McCutchen, who has since
been suspended 50 games by
Minor League Baseball for using
illegal performance-enhancing
supplements.
The American baseball Coach-
es Association voted Graham the
South Central Region Coach of
the Year. It was the third time that
he had been named a regional
coach of the year. Graham led the
Owls to their 11th consecutive
championship and first in Confer-
ence USA with a 22-2 conference
record.
"It's always meaningful when
your peers vote for you," Graham
said. "I didn't vote for myself.
This year, I felt like voting for
the Prairie View coach [Michael
Robertson.]"
Rice had three all-Americans
on its 2006 team, including
Degerman as a starting pitcher,
St.Clair as a relief pitcher and
sophomore shortstop Brian
Friday. Degerman and St.Clair
were both finalists for the awards
given out for their respective
specialties — Degerman for the
Clemens Award and St.Clair for
the Stopper of the Year Award.
Savery, who was hampered by
a nagging shoulder injury, under-
went successful shoulder surgery
and is expected back healthy by
January.
MEN
From page 24
ninth hurdle, and while trying to
regain position, he accidentally
knocked over the tenth hurdle
with his hands. That disquali-
fied him in the event and ended
any hopes for an Ail-American
finish.
Though he notched consecu-
tive four th-place finishesin the final
two events—the pole vault and the
1,500 — Walsh said the fall in the
hurdles is what he will remember
the most.
"My family was in the crowd,
and I saw my mom and dad crying,"
Walsh said. "I was just really shaken
because I knew my dream of [being
an] Ail-American was just gone, so
for the rest of the meet I competed
for pride, and it turned out to be
a great meet. ... The hurdles will
definitely be haunting me the rest
of my life."
NCAA
From page 24
who went to nationals came close to
making Ail-American. Sophomore
Callie Wells did not make the finals
of the 1,500 meters despite running
a personal-best time of 4 minutes,
22.36 seconds in her preliminary
heat. Sophomore Marissa Daniels
and junior Kate Gorry failed to
qualify for the finals in the 10,000
meters, finishing 15th and 19th,
respectively Bevan said the experi-
ence gained at the national meet,
however, should help them in the
coming years.
"Just making it to nationals is a
big accomplishment," Bevan said.
"Everyone except for Krystal is
coming back next year, so perhaps
it'll bode well for them having more
experience.''
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Brown, David. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 94, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, August 25, 2006, newspaper, August 25, 2006; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443059/m1/28/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.