No. 8 Rowing Preview: Longhorn Invitational

WHAT: No. 8 Texas hosts San Diego and No. 17 Notre Dame in this week's Longhorn Invitational, a two-day regatta featuring two-lane, head-to-head racing on a 2,000-meter (2 km) course.

WHERE: Lady Bird Lake – Austin, Texas
*Spectators can view races from the Roberta Crenshaw Footbridge beneath the Mopac Expressway. The races begin west of Mopac and progress east past the bridge.

WHEN:
Friday, March 25 (one session) and Saturday, March 26 (two sessions)

Longhorn Invitational Race Schedule
Friday, March 25 (all times Central)
4:20 p.m.
2V4+ San Diego vs. Notre Dame
4:30 p.m.
2V8+ Texas intrasquad race
4:40 p.m.
1V4+ San Diego vs. Notre Dame
4:50 p.m.
1V4+ Texas intrasquad race
5:00 p.m.
2V8+ San Diego vs. Notre Dame
5:10 p.m.
V8+ Texas intrasquad race
5:20 p.m.
V8+ San Diego vs. Notre Dame

Saturday, March 26
Session One?
8:20 a.m.
Texas 3V8+ vs. Texas 4V8+
8:40 a.m.
2V4+ Texas vs. Notre Dame
9:00 a.m.
1V4+ Texas vs. Notre Dame
9:20 a.m.
2V8+ Texas vs. Notre Dame
9:40 a.m.
V8+ Texas vs. Notre Dame

Session Two
11:10 a.m.
Texas 3V8+ vs. Texas 4V8+
11:30 a.m.
2V4+ Texas vs. San Diego
11:50 a.m.
1V4+ Texas vs. San Diego
12:10 p.m.
2V8+ Texas vs. San Diego
12:30 p.m.
V8+ Texas vs. San Diego

CRCA/USRowing Preseason Coaches Poll (March 22)

Ohio State
California
Brown
Virginia
Washington
Michigan
Yale
TEXAS
Stanford
Washington State
Princeton
Indiana
Wisconsin
USC
Louisville
Syracuse
Notre Dame
Harvard
Gonzaga
Duke

LONGHORNS RIDE MOMENTUM FROM HISTORIC SEASON
Texas' momentous 2015 campaign has already created another milestone before the Longhorns' first official regatta of the spring. Fresh off of its breakthrough season under its then first-year coaching staff, Texas ranked a program-best No. 7 in the CRCA/USRowing preseason coaches poll. UT sits at No. 8 in the latest poll released Tuesday (March 22).

The Longhorns ranked as high as No. 11 last season before posting a program-best seventh-place team finish at the NCAA Championships, which marked the top finish ever by a Big 12 school in the event. The 2015 season yielded three All-America Longhorns in the form of Gia Doonan, Emily Froehlich and Pippa Loveard, who all return this season.

Doonan and Froehlich earned first-team All-America selections and joined Ruth Stiver as the only first-team All-Americans in program history. Loveard earned second-team honors on the Pocock Division I All-America Team.

Doonan also was named the 2015 Big 12 Rower of the Year while Froehlich was selected as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. The three All-Americans helped the Texas varsity eight boat to a school-best fourth place at the 2015 NCAA Championships.

Last season, Texas won its first Big 12 team title since 2012 and swept the Big 12 Championships for the first time since 2011.

The CRCA (College Rowing Coaches Association) lauded UT head coach Dave O'Neill as its National Coach of the Year, good for O'Neill's third such honor. The CRCA bestowed O'Neill's staff with its National Staff of the Year award, as well.

The staff included 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. Lenington has since been promoted to associate head coach.

UPCOMING REGATTAS
Texas ventures to southern California next week for the annual San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay. Two weeks later, the Longhorns head for the east coast where they will take part in the annual Clemson Invite.

Texas will play host to No. 4 Virginia in a one-day dual on April 30 on Lady Bird Lake. The Longhorns will go for an automatic bid for the NCAA Championships two weeks later at the Big 12 Championship in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The NCAA Championships return to Lake Natoma in Gold River, California, for a second straight year. The national championship is set for May 27-29.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Gia Doonan

Emily Froehlich

Pippa Loveard