 Seth Huston - Program Director email
Head coach Seth Huston is in his
seventh season at the helm of the Rice Owls’ program and his
influence is easy to see. In each of his six previous years at
Rice, Huston has helped every member of the team achieve her best
personal level of success. Improvement in the individual’s
performance has made for better team results, and there is every
reason to expect more of the same from Huston’s Owls in the
years to come.
Last year was his best season yet. Huston led the Owls to a Top
40 finish at the NCAA National Championships and a second place
finish at the Conference USA meet. He coached Brittany
Massengale to All-America status in her final year of
eligibility, but the Owls’ season didn’t end with the
NCAA meet. He went on to coach Massengale and fellow
Owl Carlyann Miller into qualifying for
the 2008 United States Olympic Trials. At the end of the 2008
school year it was a Huston-coached and recruited
swimmer, Diane Gu, who was named the winner
of the Joyce Pounds-Hardy Award. The Pounds-Hardy
Award is presented to the top female student-athlete at Rice
University who achieves the most in her respective athletic
competition, academics, community service and campus involvement.
As it turns out, all the criteria for the Pounds-Hardy Award have
long-been part of Huston’s recruiting checklist.
The 2007 season was a breakthrough year. Not only did Huston
coach Rice to its highest-ever finish at a conference championship
meet (as the Owls took second at the 2007 C-USA Championships), he
coached league champions for both an individual and relay event.
In 2006 his Owl swimmers participated in the U.S.
Swimming’s Senior Nationals and, for the first time ever, a
Rice swimmer made the United States National Team and represent the
country in an international meet. After coaching Massengale to set
new school records in the 500, the 1,000 and 1650-freestyle, she
competed for the U.S. national team at the Open Water World
Championships in Italy. In no small part to her Rice head coach,
Massengale also went on to swim in the U.S. Olympic Trials in two
pool events and could compete in the international open water
events in the future.
Huston coached both Massengale and Diane Gu, then a freshman, to
qualifying for the 2006 NCAA Championships. By getting all the
members of the Blue & Gray to perform at their peak, the Owls
have stepped up with some solid dual meet wins in his tenure such
as defeating Miami on the road in Florida, LSU on the road in Baton
Rouge, and finishes ahead of Ohio State, Arkansas, TCU, Houston,
Colorado State, Nevada and Washington State at multi-team events.
The victories have certainly grabbed some attention for Rice
swimming, but Huston still has his eye on the bigger picture.
The head coach and his staff have worked hard at training the
individual athletes to reach their best, but Huston has worked
equally hard at identifying the best student-athletes across the
country and bringing them to Rice. In its annual summer wrap up of
the top high school performers in the country (a list including
both public and private schools), the National Interscholastic Swim
Coaches Association (NISCA) listed three incoming Owl recruits
among the nation’s top seniors in their respective events.
As a result, winning is nothing new to a Huston-coached team.
Prior to joining Rice in May of 2002, Huston spent eight years at
Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., where he was the head
coach of both the men’s and women’s teams. He is a
four-time Division II women’s coach of the year and has won
back-to-back Division II national championships in 2001 and 2002.
The Truman men tied their best-ever result with a ninth-place
finish in 2002.
Huston, 44, has been named the College Swim Coaches Association
of America (CSCAA) coach of the year four times and he was the Mid
East Championships coach of the year from 1995-98. He has coached
the Division II women’s swimmer of the year. Truman State
swimmers set eight NCAA Division II meet records during
Huston’s tenure, and the school produced more than 100
Division II all-Americas. While at Truman State, Huston coached 22
academic all-Americas (16 women and six men) and both teams have
posted 16 consecutive semesters as CSCAA all-academic teams.
The St. Louis native earned a bachelor’s degree in
physical education from the University of Tampa in 1988 and a
master’s from TCU in 1990, serving as an assistant swim coach
at both schools. Before landing the head coaching job at Truman
State, Huston spent four years as the head coach and program
director of Katy Aquatics in Houston, where he was named age-group
coach of the year in 1992. He built a program that produced three
top-seven finishes at the Texas Age Group Championships, numerous
state champions and a ninth-place men’s finish at the 1994
Junior National Swimming Championships.
An active participant in the U.S. Swimming program, Huston is a
member of the CSCAA as well as the American Swimming Coaches
Association. He is an ASCA certified coach, having coached swimmers
at all levels of excellence from NCAA all-Americas to Olympic Trial
qualifiers and U.S. National Team members.
Huston trains and competes in masters swimming, open-water
swimming, and enjoys cycling. He and his wife Amy have been married
for 19 years, and the couple have three children: Hobie, 15; Hanna,
13; and Eli, 9.
| 
Jason Wedlick - Head Coach - ASCA Level 3 
Jada Hallmark - Assistant Age Group Coach 
Kyle D Ediger - Assistant Age Group Coach - ASCA Level 2 
