The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 11 Rowing sweeps Big 12 postseason awards
05.27.2015 | Rowing
Sophomores Gia Doonan and Emily Froehlich join head coach Dave O’Neill in collecting the league’s top postseason honors.
IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference announced Texas Rowing as the recipient of all three postseason awards handed out Wednesday morning. League coaches selected Texas sophomore Gia Doonan as the Big 12 Rower of the Year and UT sophomore Emily Froehlich as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. First-year Texas head coach Dave O'Neill was selected as the Big 12 Coach of the Year.
Doonan becomes the second Longhorn selected as the Big 12 Rower of the Year and the first since Laurel McCaig in 2012. Froehlich becomes UT's first Big 12 Newcomer of the Year while O'Neill is UT's first Big 12 Coach of the Year since Carie Graves in 2012.
A pair of participants at the 2014 USRowing Pre-Elite National Team Camp, Doonan and Froehlich led Texas to its first ever team invitation to the NCAA Championships and helped the Longhorns to their first Big 12 crown since 2012. The duo helped the varsity eight boat handily win an individual Big 12 title and defeat its nearest competitor by over 17 seconds at the Big 12 Championships.
With Doonan and Froehlich on board, the UT V8+ defeated San Diego by 13 seconds in a dual regatta on May 2 in Austin. The V8+ placed second to help Texas to the team title at the four-team Dale England Cup (April 24-25) and took second behind NCAA Championships qualifiers Virginia, Washington State and Indiana at the Clemson Invitational.
Doonan and Froehlich also helped Texas take runner-up honors in the collegiate grand final at the San Diego Crew Classic.
O'Neill promptly led the Longhorns to their first selection as a team to the NCAA Championships after taking over the Texas program last summer. O'Neill, who led California to two NCAA team titles (2005 & 2006) and 10 additional NCAA top-four finishes, led Texas to a program-best No. 11 in the CRCA/USRowing team poll this season.
Under his tutelage, Texas swept the Big 12 Championships for the third time and for the first time since 2011.
Texas opens competition at the three-day NCAA Championship regatta on Friday (May 29) in Gold River, California.
2015 Big 12 Postseason Awards
Rower of the Year
Gia Doonan, Texas
Newcomer of the Year
Emily Froehlich, Texas
Coach of the Year
Dave O'Neill, Texas
Players Mentioned
