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Rice runner Grace Forbes is ready for the next step in her racing career

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Grace Forbes has come a long way since arriving at Rice. No matter the stage, she continues to show up and impress.

When Grace Forbes lines up for the 5000m at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday night in Fayetteville, Ar. she’ll already have accomplished reached a milestone that runners across the nation could only dream of achieving. But after taking home conference titles in the mile and the 3000m races last season, she’ll arrive as a bonafide contender on one of the sports’ biggest stages.

For Forbes, it’s part of a process and a legacy that has permeated her family for generations. Her Grandpa was an 800m runner. She wears one of his sweatshirts as for good luck before every event she runs. Her dog is named Pheidippides, a nod to the soldier who ran 25 miles from Marathon, Greece to Athens, thus inspiring the name for the sport she loves.

A runner deep in her bones, Forbes hasn’t gotten caught up in the moment. “I’m not putting too much pressure on myself,” she said in the week leading up to the meet. “I just want to go out there and do the best I can, try and make Rice proud and my parents proud.”

Podcast: Former Rice football star Christian Covington talks football, Marvel

A freshman by classification, Forbes has outpaced even her own expectations. Thanks to the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, she has the chance to be a national qualifier five times, a feat few will ever be able to duplicate.

Still, Forbes works with diligence and focus. “I hadn’t really expected these times,” she admitted. “But I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work, trying to do everything the right way. And as time progressed my times got better.”

After competing in the NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday, she’ll travel to Stillwater, OK for the 2021 Cross Country Championships where she’ll run the 6K. “I’m just trying to have some fun out there,” she said, taking in all that’s transpired in her racing career. No matter the result, Forbes certainly has been appreciative of the journey. And she’s just getting started.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Northern Illinois and Kansas State Preview

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Rice baseball returns to Reckling Park this week to host a pair of teams from further north than last week’s all-Texas Shriner’s Classic.

It was a mixed bag for Rice baseball last weekend. They won one of their three games at the Shriner’s Classic, defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by run rule while falling to Sam Houston and Texas State. The Owls will get another crack at the Bobcats later in the season, but for now it’s time to turn the page to a mini-invitation on their home field.

Rice will host Northern Illinois and Kansas State it what was meant to be the second multi-team gathering at Reckling Park this season. The first, scheduled to be against Washington, Arkansas-Little Rock and Houston Baptist, was turned into a three-game series with Houston Baptist because of the Winter Storm.

Oddly enough, Rice got another crack at HBU on Tuesday, dispatching them behind a marvelous outing from Brandon Deskins. The sophomore pitcher racked up 11 strikeouts in six innings, earning his first win of the season.

Weekend Notes

Times: Friday 5:00 p.m. | Saturday 4:00 p.m. | Sunday 10:30 a.m. / 2:00 p.m.
Venue: Reckling Park
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal

Projected Rice Baseball Starters

Friday | Blake Brogdon (0-2, 8.31 ERA)
Saturday | Roel Garcia (1-0, 2.77 ERA)
Sunday AM | Mitchell Holcomb (1-1, 9.26 ERA)
Sunday PM | TBD

Kansas State (Saturday / Sunday PM)

Kansas State is 8-4 on the season after picking up a pair of midweek wins over South Dakota State. They opened the year with a win over Oregon State in the Sanderson Ford College Classic and also have a series win over Western Michigan so far this season.

The Wildcats will be a strong test for the Owls’ pitching. They hit .276 as a team and have four regulars with an OPS better than 1.000. Outfielder Dylan Phillips boasts a .381/.500/.594 slash line. The pitching has been strong as well, buoyed by starters Connor McCullough and preseason Co-Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Jordan Wicks.

Northern Illinois (Friday / Sunday AM)

Like Rice, Northern Illinois is no stranger to weather cancelations. The storms that swept across the country in mid-February canceled NIU’s opening series against Memphis. They’ve played two series since, both on the road. They won once of three games against Evansville and were swept in a four-game series at URGV, which strangely enough, contained zero nine-inning games.

First baseman Kam Smith and centerfielder Brady Huebbe have done their part. smith is hitting a staggering .435 while Huebbe has a team-high six extra-base hits and a .810 slugging percentage. The bullpen has been better than the rotation thus far. Look for Paul Tuerlli and Tristan Michaels to be the first line of defense when NIU gets into a jam.

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Rice Basketball: UAB Blazers outlast Owls in C-USA quarterfinals

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Rice basketball saw their season come to an end with a quarterfinals loss to UAB in the Conference USA Tournament.

Perhaps more so than any other season Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera can remember, this past season was filled with highs and lows. Whether by injury, COVID-19 precautions or both, the Owls were very rarely at full strength.

Chris Mullins was out for a stretch during the middle of the season. Travis Evee missed time. Max Fiedler suffered a broken nose that slowed him for a stretch. Mylyjael Poteat wasn’t available this week and Cam Sheffield had to leave Thursday’s game with an injury.  But they persevered.

It was hard not to think about how far they’d come when they upset Marshall to advance to the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament. Pera remembered.

“We lost 71 percent of our scoring from last year, our top five scores,” he recalled, before making a striking claim, “And we’re better.”

Read More: Rice Football spring practice notebook – Week 1

Pera didn’t mean that as a slight to those who have since moved on. But it’s hard to argue with the results. Wednesday’s upset of Marshall marked the first time was a moment Pera says he’ll cherish for a long time. But it wasn’t the only proof of growth, and that includes a season-ending quarterfinals loss to UAB on Thursday night. The loss stung because Rice had the lead with eight minutes to play. Then it disappeared.

Max Fiedler had a team-high 18 points. Quincy Olivari had 16. Rice shot 50 percent from three and 46 percent from the field. For all the good, Rice couldn’t overcome UAB’s dominant performance on the glass. The Blazers hauled in 16 offensive boards. Rice had one. In Pera’s own words, “That’s not a good stat.”

When push came to shove, UAB had more left in the tank. “Down the stretch their veterans made plays. We kind of fell flat and ran out of gas,” Pera said, noticeably choked up from his postgame conversations with the team.

Coming up short against one of the better teams in the conference won’t be how this team is remembered. There’s plenty of time to reminisce on that front. For now, Pera and his team can exhale and regroup. The loss stings, but the Owls truly believe their time is only just beginning.

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Rice Women’s Basketball 2021: Owls explode past FIU in CUSA Tourney

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Rice women’s basketball picked up where they left in Conference USA Tournament, roaring past FIU to advance to the semifinals.

What ended as another dominant conference win didn’t start that way. Rice women’s basketball found themselves trailing 23-14 at the end of the first quarter in their opening game of the Conference USA Tournament against FIU. The Panthers were fresh off a first-round win over Southern Miss and came out of the gates red-hot.

Head coach Tina Langley didn’t call a time out to settle her squad down. She didn’t hesitate to take Nancy Mulkey out of the game and cycle through the Owls’ rotation. Instead, she stuck to her guns and trusted her experienced team to figure things out.

Over the span of the next quarter and a half, Rice outscored FIU 45-14.

Read More: Rice Football spring practice notebook – Week 1

“Resiliency” was the word Langley used in the aftermath of the Owls’ fourth consecutive Conference USA Tournament win. This team doesn’t often get punched in the mouth, but when they do, they respond well. Lauren Schwartz exploded with a career-high 27-point performance. Jasmine Smith and Sydne Wiggins put on a clinic of their own, dishing out 11 of the Owls’ 26 assists, a tournament record.

Rice held FIU to seven points in the third quarter. By the time the Panthers had recovered, it was too late. After shooting 63 percent from the field in the first quarter, FIU would finish the game at a paltry 36 percent. They made 10 shots in the first quarter, but just nine shots in the second half. Once more, the Rice defense slammed the door.

Rice women’s basketball is scheduled to play Old Dominion at 5:30 p.m. Friday on Stadium. The Monarchs advanced to the quarterfinals following upsets of 3-Seed North Texas and 2-Seed Charlotte

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 71 – 2020 Season and WandaVision with Christian Covington

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Former Rice football defensive lineman Christian Covington returns for his third podcast appearance to recap his NFL season and discuss WandaVision.

This week’s edition of The Roost Podcast synced up well with the final episode of Marvel’s new show, WandaVision. Naturally, we had to bring on former Rice football player and current Marvel super fan Christian Covington.

We had a lot to catch up on since Covington had last joined the show. He talks about what it was like to be traded the week before the season started, how he’s adjusted to life in Cincinnati and what it was like playing football in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. The last time Covington was on, we drafted and debated every Marvel movie. If you’re an MCU fan, be sure to check that episode out. Then give a listen to Episode 71.

Episode Notes

  • Housekeeping
    • Plan on hearing more from The Roost Podcast in your feed every other week as we continue our interview series. We’ll have some returning guests and hopefully a few new Owls to talk with over the next few months.
    • Please support us on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes spring football practices, currently underway.
      Become a Patron!
  • Christian Covington joins the show to discuss…
    • Being traded a week before the season
    • The challenges of playing for a new team amidst COVID-19 protocols
    • SPOILERS: WandaVisions thoughts and reactions
    • Future Marvel productions on the way

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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