The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Virginia
No. 8 Rowing set to race No. 4 Virginia at Walter E. Long Lake
04.25.2016 | Rowing
Regatta has been relocated to Walter E. Long Lake in Austin due to increased flow on Lady Bird Lake.
RACE UPDATE (April 26, 4:25 p.m. CT: The regatta will be held at Walter E. Long Lake (Austin, TX) due to increased flow on Lady Bird Lake)
WHAT: No. 8 Texas welcomes No. 4 Virginia for a session of four races this weekend in Austin.
The regatta features a pair of top-seven team finishers from the 2015 NCAA Championships. Virginia placed fifth with 104 points while Texas followed closely behind in seventh with 99 points.
Texas and Virginia raced together in two of their three finals races contested at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Virginia placed third in the varsity eight grand final while Texas took fourth. The Longhorns placed second in the second varsity eight petite final while Virginia took sixth.
The two schools also met earlier this month at the Clemson Invitational.
WHEN:
Saturday, April 30
8:20 a.m. - Second Varsity 4+
8:40 a.m. – Varsity 4+
9 a.m. – Second Varsity 8+
9:20 a.m. – Varsity 8+
WHERE: The regatta will be held at Walter E. Long Lake (Austin, TX) due to increased flow on Lady Bird Lake
Walter E. Long Lake info HERE
LAST TIME OUT
Texas won all five of its races on the second day of the Clemson Invite (April 17). The Longhorns picked up a win from the varsity eight and nine additional top-three finishes on the regatta's first day.
CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll (April 20)
- California
- Brown
- Ohio State
- Virginia
- Stanford
- Yale
- Washington
- TEXAS
- Princeton
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- USC
- Washington State
- Indiana
- Gonzaga
- Syracuse
- Notre Dame
- Harvard
- Iowa
- UCLA
VARSITY EIGHT SELECTED AS BIG 12 BOAT OF THE WEEK
The Big 12 Conference announced last Thursday (April 21) the selection of UT's varsity eight as the Big 12 Boat of the Week.
The award was the first such honor for a Longhorns boat this season and the first since April 29, 2015. The varsity 8+ crew featured coxswain Katie Betsill along with April Brown, Gia Doonan, Emily Froehlich, Sarah Cadman, Pippa Loveard, Victoria Bujala, Mariam Soufi and Fanny Bon.
Texas knocked off the likes of No. 10 Michigan and No. 19 Syracuse in the Invite's first race, where the Horns beat the Wolverines to the finish by over a boat length. UT also defeated San Diego, Harvard and Oregon State.
Texas took third behind defending NCAA champion Ohio State and Virginia in its second race of the regatta's opening day. The Longhorns won another competitive race in the regatta's third and final session. UT knocked off No. 13 Indiana with room to spare and also defeated Michigan State, Clemson, Oregon State, Columbia and Tennessee.
LONGHORNS RIDE MOMENTUM FROM HISTORIC SEASON
Texas' momentous 2015 campaign 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 then program-best No. 7 in the USRowing/CRCA preseason coaches poll.
UT sat at No. 8 in the following week's poll before moving to No. 9 in the March 29 rankings. Texas vaulted to a program-best No. 6 in the April 6 USRowing/CRCA coaches poll before dropping to No. 8 on April 13 and remaining their last week.
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
Next month the Longhorns will go for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships at the Big 12 Championship (May 14-15) 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.
Players Mentioned
