The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
06.15.2015 | Rowing
Gia Doonan, Emily Froehlich, and Pippa Loveard earn All-America honors while head coach Dave O’Neill and his staff take home top national honors, as well.
AUSTIN, Texas – The Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) announced Monday evening the selections of Texas sophomores Gia Doonan, Emily Froehlich and Pippa Loveard to the 2015 Pocock All-America Team. Additionally, the CRCA selected UT head coach Dave O'Neill as its National Coach of the Year and lauded his coaching staff as the National Staff of the Year.
Doonan and Froehlich earned first-team All-America selections while Loveard collected a second-team selection. Doonan and Froehlich join Ruth Stiver (2004) as the only first-team All-Americans in program history.
"It's nice to be noticed with these awards, especially when there are many deserving individuals and staffs out there," O'Neill said. "I'm really glad there's so much recognition spread around the entire program, and this is truly a reflection of the tremendous work by many people. We looked to bring out the best in each other and get better every day, and I think we did a great job with that. It's fun heading to practice when you get to work with so many talented and hard-working individuals, and I hope everyone else feels the same."
Doonan, Froehlich and Loveard helped the Texas varsity eight boat to a school-best fourth place at the 2015 NCAA Championships last month. The Texas trio, who also helped Texas win the varsity eight race at the Big 12 Championships, had earned CRCA All-Region honors last month prior to their All-America selections.
Big 12 Conference coaches voted Doonan as the league's Rower of the Year and Froehlich as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.
Student-athletes must have rowed in at least 75% of their team's spring races and be nominated by their respective institutions for All-America status. The nominated student-athletes are selected to the first and second teams based upon their varsity eight boat's national finish, their two-kilometer ergometer score and their coach's nomination.
Now a three-time selection as the CRCA National Coach of the Year (1999, 2005, 2015), O'Neill led Texas to a seventh-place finish in its first team appearance at the NCAA Championships. The seventh-place showing at the 22-team regatta marked the top finish ever for a Big 12 Conference rowing program at the NCAA Championships.
Under O'Neill, Texas won its first Big 12 team title since 2012 and swept the Big 12 Championships for the first time since 2011. Joining O'Neill on the CRCA National Staff of the Year are assistant coaches Mary Lenington and Mara Allen, special assistant Wendy Wilbur, rigger boatman James Sands, graduate assistant Danielle Bartz and volunteer coaches Haley Adams and Natasia Giles.
The CRCA also announced Monday the selection of former Texas head coach Carie Graves as an inductee into the CRCA Hall of Fame. Graves launched the Texas program in 1998 and led the Longhorns for 16 seasons before announcing her retirement following the 2013-14 season.
Under Graves, the UT varsity eight qualified individually for the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Championships. Graves led the Longhorns to four Big 12 team titles.
