The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Big 12 Championships
No. 8 Rowing Preview: Big 12 Championships
05.11.2016 | Rowing
Longhorns looking for second straight Big 12 title and automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
WHAT: No. 8 Texas heads to Tennessee this weekend for the eighth Big 12 Championship regatta. The eight participating teams will compete for an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships later this month in Gold River, California.
The Big 12 Championship features the eighth-ranked Longhorns along with Oklahoma, Kansas, Kansas State and West Virginia in addition to rowing affiliate members Alabama, Old Dominion and Tennessee.
WHEN/WHERE
Saturday-Sunday, May 14-15 (full schedule below)
Melton Hill Lake – Oak Ridge, Tennessee
CHAMPIONSHIP WEB SITE
http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210577710&DB_OEM_ID=10410&DB_OEM_ID=10410
LIVE VIDEO
Day 1
http://www.big12sports.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&catid=0&id=1688977
Day 2
http://www.big12sports.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&catid=0&id=1688978
LIVE RESULTS
http://www.deltatiming.com/results.aspx
FORMAT
The Big 12 Championship begins Saturday afternoon with two heats each of varsity eight, second varsity eight, varsity four, second varsity four and third varsity eight races. Pending Saturday's results, the eight teams advance to their respective grand and petite finals to be contested Sunday morning.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Texas has won five of the seven Big 12 Championship regattas and won the event last year in Oak Ridge. The Big 12 Championship began as a three-team regatta in 2009 (Texas, Kansas & K-State) before expanding to four with the addition of Oklahoma in 2010. The championship grew to five schools in 2013 with the addition of West Virginia to the league.
In January of 2014, the Big 12 Conference announced its invitations to Alabama, Old Dominion and Tennessee to compete at the Big 12 Championship beginning in 2015.
RACE SCHEDULE (all times Eastern)
Saturday, May 14 (heats)
2 p.m., V8, heat 1
2:15 p.m., V8, heat 2
2:30 p.m., 2V8, heat 1
2:45 p.m., 2V8, heat 2
3:00 p.m., V4, heat 1
3:15 p.m., V4, heat 2
3:30 p.m., 2V4, heat 1
3:45 p.m., 2V4, heat 2
4:00 p.m., 3V8, heat 1
4:15 p.m., 3V8, heat 2
4:30 p.m. 3V4 (exhibition)
Sunday, May 15 (finals)
9 a.m., 3V8 petite final
9:15 a.m., 3V8 grand final
9:30 a.m., 2V4 petite final
9:45 a.m., 2V4 grand final
10 a.m., V4 petite final
10:15 a.m., V4 grand final
10:30 a.m., 2V8 petite final
10:45 a.m., 2V8 grand final
11 a.m., V8 petite final
11:15 a.m., V8 grand final
Noon – awards
CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll (May 11)
- Brown
- California
- Ohio State
- Washington
- Virginia
- Stanford
- Yale
- TEXAS
- Princeton
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- USC
- Washington State
- Indiana
- Notre Dame
- Syracuse
- Gonzaga
- Harvard
- Duke
- UCLA
VARSITY EIGHT SELECTED AS BIG 12 BOAT OF THE WEEK
The Big 12 Conference announced 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. The Longhorns have remained at No. 8 in the ensuing polls.
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 have all returned 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
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
