Senior Brittany Massengale won three individual events and the Owls posted a key victory in the final race of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay, to secure a pair of team wins over Northern Colorado and host New Mexico State in the opening swim meets of the season Saturday afternoon in Las Cruces, N.M. Overall host NMSC topped Colorado State 198-102 while Rice swept the field - topping the Aggies 151-143 and UNC 183-111.

The Owl foursome of Diane Gu, Keri Hyde, Pam Zelnick and Carlyann Miller closed out the weekend double-dual meet by winning the 200-free relay with a time of 1:37.21, just three-fourths of a second ahead of 2nd place New Mexico State. The Rice relay secured a 151-143 victory over NMSU in the day's team scoring. The Owls coasted to a 183-111 over Northern Colorado.

Massengale followed up two individual wins on Friday's first day of the meet with three more wins Saturday. The senior from Alma, Ark., swept both the distance events, the 500- and 1,000-freestyle. She also added a win in the 200-free for good measure with a time of 1:53.78. The Owls dominated the distance races as Massengale, junior Caitlin Warner and freshman Sarah Korellis went 1-2-3 in the 1,000. Massengale and Warner were also 1-2 in the 500.

Junior Keri Hyde and Warner were first and second, respectively, in the 200-butterfly. Owl sophomore Justine Lin had a big win in the 200-backstroke with a time of 2:09.93, beating three NMSU Aggies who finished second, third and fourth.

Rice was performing well in the swim events, but NMSU was able to keep within striking distance thanks to one- and three-meter springboard diving events that the Owls don't compete in. The meet came down to the final event. The relay win was the team's first of the season after a pair of near-misses on Friday.

The Rice swimmers next compete at the annual Phill Hansel Dual Meets on Oct. 26-27. The meet will be held across town at the University of Houston Aquatics Center.