Rice Athletics Heritage Athletic Highlights • Baseball Owls won the 2003 College World Series, the first NCAA team title for Rice. • The 1946 football Owls were Southwest Conference co-champions and went on to defeat Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. • In 2000, Rice won an unprecedented six Western Athletic Conference titles. The Owls were victorious in women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s indoor and outdoor track and field, and baseball. Morris Almond with Utah Jazz owner Larry • A total of 15 baseball Owls have gone in the first Miller. round of the MLB draft. • Trevor Cobb won the Doak Walker Award in 1991 as the nation’s top running back. He was a two-time all- America and a three-time most valuable player for the Owls. • Morris Almond, was the 25th pick in the first round by the Utah Jazz in the 2007 NBA Draft. He became the first Rice Owl to be selected in the first round since Ricky Pierce was the 18th overall pick in the 1982 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. Almond is one of 20 men’s basketball players to play professionally since 1992. • Team captain Larry Izzo has won three Super Bowl rings as a member of the New England Patriots. More Football player Darryl Grant (Rice, than 50 Owls have played in the NFL. ‘80) was inducted in the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame in • Rice’s women’s basketball team has been to the “Big February 2007. An 11-year defensive force in the NFL, Grant Dance” twice after winning the 2000 and 2005 WAC Cham- wears two Super Bowl pionship to earn the league’s NCAA automatic bid. Marla Championship rings as a Brumfield was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in 2000 Washington Redskin (1983 & Sammy Waldron became Rice’s 1988). first All-America in volleyball in and spent three years in the WNBA. 1995. • Rice has won individual national titles in men’s tennis (two singles and two doubles), women’s tennis (doubles), men’s track and field and women’s track and field. • The Owls have won a total of 71 conference titles. • 495 Owls have earned All-America honors. • Rice has been represented at 11 Olympic Games by 19 different athletes, dating back to the 1928 games in Amsterdam. The Rice baseball team won the 2003 NCAA title to capture the school’s first team championship in any sport. 4 Rice Athletics Heritage Regina Cavanaugh was a six-time NCAA champion and eight-time all- America in the shot put while at Rice. Larry Izzo won three Super Bowl rings Fred Hansen winning the gold medal as a member of the New England in the pole vault at the 1964 Tokyo Patriots. Olympics. Mike Wilks, now with the Seattle SuperSonics, got his first NBA championship ring after his Spurs defeated the Pistons in 2005. Norm Charlton, a former Rice pitcher, won a World Series ring with the Cincinnati Reds in 1990. Former Rice slugger Lance Berkman has been the Astros MVP three times and led Houston to its first-ever World Series appearance in 2005. Rice running back Trevor Cobb with Doak Walker and his award. 5 2006-07 Athletics Review The 2006-07 athletic year proved to be exciting and fruitful for the Rice Owls as several teams advanced to post-season action and individual achievements were abundant. It was a year of firsts for the women’s track and field squad as it captured its first-ever Conference USA indoor championship in February and its first-ever C-USA outdoor championship in May at the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium. The Rice baseball team continued its dominance as it earned its second-straight C-USA regular season title (22- 2) and for the second year in a row the C-USA tournament crown. The Owls also competed in their 13th-consecutive NCAA tournament and advanced to the College World Series for the second-consecutive time and sixth overall. The Owls finished the season with the second-highest win total in the nation at 56-14 and a final number-three national ranking. The Rice football team finished the season 7-6 and for the first time since 1961, participated in a bowl game when it faced Troy in the 2006 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Earning high honors and placing second in C-USA championships were women’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s tennis, and the Morris Almond simply produced one of the greatest women’s swim team. The second- seasons ever in the history of Rice basketball in 2007. place finish by the swimmers is Almond was named Conference USA Player of the Year the highest-ever in the history as he averaged a league-record 26.4 points per game, while also averaging 6.6 rebounds. He was a first round of Rice swimming. pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz. Advancing to an NCAA championship is not easy, but the following Rice Owls athletic teams competed in post-season action: men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s track and field (indoor and outdoor), swimming, and the men’s tennis team advanced for the fifth- straight time. The women’s bas- ketball team also earned its second-straight bid to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. Senior Ben Harknett made his first appearance to the NCAA Pablo Solares placed fifth in singles the mile at the NCAA Indoor championship Championship and ninth at the in 2007. NCAA Outdoor in the 1500m. During his career, he helped the Owls to the 2004 Western Athletic Conference crown, a pair of Conference USA second-place finishes and four- consecutive NCAA team championship bids. 6 2006-07 Athletics Review Rice Owl baseballer Joe Savery, a Baseball’s Joe Savery was selected as the pitcher and first baseman, shined as one of the top two-way performers 2007 C-USA Male Athlete of the Year, in addition in the country in to being named C-USA Player of the Year and 2007, earning consensus first team All-America. Ryne Tacker consensus first earned C-USA Pitcher of the Year, while Ryan Berry team All-America honors. Savery, the 2007 Player of the picked up C-USA Freshman of the Year and Year for C-USA baseball, was among National Freshman Pitcher of the Year by the four finalists for the 2007 Dick Collegiate Baseball. Howser Trophy given to college Morris Almond, as selected by the baseball's top player. league’s head coaches, was named the He was selected by the Philadelphia C-USA Player of the Year in men’s Phillies in the first round of the basketball and additionally he earned AP Major League Baseball draft as the All-America honorable mention. His 26.4 19th overall pick. Savery's versatile talents helped earn Rice a second- scoring average set a C-USA record and also straight trip to the College World was the nation’s third-highest average. Series where the team finished third Ben Harknett, ranked 38th in the nation, in the nation. received a bid to the NCAA tennis champion- ship and it marked the fifth-consecutive year Individually, Rice coaches and athletes for an Owl to compete in the singles continued to be a shining beacon for Rice championship. University. Jim Bevan earned C-USA indoor Rice senior Pablo Solares ran a and outdoor coach of the year accolades, lifetime best 3:40.22 to break his while the Owls’ baseball mentor, Wayne own school record and finish ninth Graham, for the second-straight year at the NCAA Track & Field earned the C-USA Keith LeClair Coach Championships in the 1500m. He of the Year honor. previously placed fifth in the NCAA indoor championships in the mile to earn All-America status. Rice senior Funmi Jimoh finished fifth in the long jump (21’ 1.25") at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Champion- ships to receive her first All-America accolade. Meanwhile, junior distance ace Marissa Daniels raced to a lifetime best in the 10,000 meters late Thursday, taking 11th with a 33:57.37 and earning her first all-America honors. Marissa Daniels, women’s cross country, Dominique Karas, women’s tennis, Aaron Robson, men’s cross country, Luke Stadel, men’s track & field, and Callie Wells, women’s track & field were selected as Scholar Athlete of the Year for their respective sports. C-USA Scholar Athlete of the Year awards are presented to the top student-athletes in each conference-sponsored sport. The award is based on academic achievement (GPA), athletic achievement and service. The five awards put the Owls at the top of the league. Rice Owl Funmi Jimoh placed fifth in the triple jump at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championship. 7 This Is Rice Nestled on 285 acres in the shadow of the world’s largest medical complex and just moments from the thriving heart of downtown Houston, Rice University is a beacon of educational excellence. Our fac- ulty, curriculum, research and students have achieved worldwide renown, and consistently recognized by such magazines as U.S. News & World Report, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine and Fiske Guide to Colleges as one of the best values in higher education. Students receive a pre- mier education at an affordable cost in one of the nation’s leading business, scientific, medical and cultural centers. Highlights With its dual commitment to excellent teaching and pathbreaking research, Rice attracts extraordinary professors dedicated an excellent undergraduate education and The common thread that unites such both to working with undergraduates in foster collaborative relationships with other diversity is the collective pursuit of excel- the classroom and to advancing knowledge institutions and the city of Houston.