Rice, Illescas Earn Big Ten Weekly Awards
December 11, 2007 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Juniors Scott Rice and Jen Illescas were selected as the Big Ten Swimmers of the Week, the conference office announced today.
'Jen and Scottie are both very deserving (of this award),' said head coach Eric Hansen. 'They set the standard for our team at Texas and are well on their way to great things at the NCAA Championships in the spring.'
The Des Moines, Wash. native met two NCAA `B' times at the Texas Invitational Nov. 29- Dec. 1 in the 100-yard butterfly (48.16) and the 200-yard butterfly (1:45.15). His time in the 200-yard butterfly broke the school record; one that he had set at the 2007 Big Ten Championships. Rice owns three of the top four season-best times in these two events.
This is his fourth weekly conference honor in his career and the second for a Wisconsin men's swimmer in the 2007-08 season. Rice earned this award earlier this season on Oct. 10.
Illescas recorded an NCAA `B' time in every event she entered at the Texas Invitational. She individually swam in the 500-yard freestyle (4:48.31), the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.81) and the 200 freestyle (1:48.10). Illescas helped Wisconsin's 800-yard freestyle relay team finish second in a time of 7:23.23 and the 400-freestyle relay team take fourth place with a time of 3:21.58.
The East Elmhurst, N.Y. native owns all four season top-times in the 200-yard freestyle, three of the top four times in the 200 butterfly, two in the 500 freestyle and one in the 1,000-yard freestyle. This is her first Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honor.
'It's also exciting to know they'll both be representing (Wisconsin) at the U.S. Olympic Trials at the end of June (in 2008),' commented Hansen. 'Both have great things yet to come!'
