The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Virginia
No. 3 Rowing Preview: No. 12 Virginia
04.27.2017 | Rowing
Longhorns wrap regular season at Virginia after vaulting to school-best No. 3 in latest national poll.
WHAT: No. 3 Texas completes its 2017 regular season this weekend with a single-day dual at No. 12 Virginia. The Longhorns and Cavaliers will race a varsity eight, second varsity eight, varsity four and a second varsity four.
WHEN:
Saturday, April 29 – 10 a.m. ET
WHERE:
Rivanna Reservoir – Earlysville, Virginia
TEXAS CRACKS CRCA/USROWING TOP-FIVE
Three weeks after cracking the top-five of the CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll for the first time, Texas has reached new heights yet again. Fresh off of a tremendous all-around performance that yielded a team title at the Clemson Invite, the Longhorns moved up two spots to a school-best No. 3 in this week's national poll.
Texas climbed to a program-best No. 5 in the CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll three weeks ago on the heels of its strong showing at the San Diego Crew Classic.
The Longhorns tied their then-school record of No. 6 in the previous poll before ascending to new heights to No. 5 nationally on April 5. Texas has remained at No. 5 in the two national polls released since.
Texas entered the top-five after winning the varsity 8+ grand final for the first time ever at the San Diego Crew Classic (April 2). UT won the second varsity 8+ grand final for the second time in three seasons, and its four boat added a runner-up finish in San Diego. The Longhorns' novice 8+ recorded a win in its grand final, as well.
CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll (April 25)
- Washington
- California
- TEXAS
- Michigan
- Ohio State
- Yale
- Princeton
- Stanford
- Brown
- Wisconsin
- Iowa
- Virginia
- USC
- Washington State
- Syracuse
- Indiana
- Duke
- Harvard
- Michigan State
- Oklahoma
TEXAS WINS CLEMSON INVITE TEAM TITLE
Texas won three of its five "A" finals races and knocked off the three-time NCAA champion in the varsity eight final on its way to the team title last weekend at the Clemson Invitational.
UT claimed two of the three NCAA Championship-level finals contested and logged another win in the third varsity eight final. Texas won the team title with 130 points and knocked off the likes of top-12 foes Ohio State, Virginia and Wisconsin.
THREE FOR THREE
The Big 12 Conference announced two weeks ago the selection of Texas' varsity eight as the league's Big 12 Boat of the Week. It marked the third such selection for a Longhorns boat in as many weeks. UT became the first league member to win the honor three consecutive times in a season.
DOONAN, BOWYER WIN MEDALS AT WORLD U-23 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Texas senior Gia Doonan helped the United States win a pair of golds gold while UT sophomore Alice Bowyer paced Great Britain to a silver medal last August at the 2016 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
A two-time All-American at Texas, Doonan helped the U.S. lead from wire-to-wire in the women's 8+ final, as the Americans won gold and covered the two-kilometer course in 6 minutes, 36.90 seconds.
Bowyer, coming off of a strong freshman season on the Forty Acres, helped her native Great Britain to silver in the same race, as Team GB edged Russia for second at 6:44.06.
Doonan also helped the U.S. win gold on in the women's 4-, as the Americans took the victory at 6:27.280. The medals yielded by Doonan and Bowyer were the first medals ever secured by Texas rowers at a World Rowing U-23 Championship.
A LOOK BACK AT 2016
ALL-AMERICA TRIO RETURNS FOR TEXAS
Last June, the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) announced the selections of Texas' Gia Doonan, Emily Froehlich and Pippa Loveard to the 2016 CRCA Division I Pocock All-America Team.
Doonan, the 2015 Big 12 Rower of the Year, earned her second first-team All-America selection in as many seasons. Loveard picked up her second consecutive selection to the second team while Froehlich collected second-team honors after earning first-team honors in 2015.
Texas matched its program-best of three All-Americans in a single season after completing the feat last season with the selections of Doonan, Froehlich and Loveard.
Last May, Doonan, Froehlich and Loveard helped the Texas varsity eight boat record the first finals win by a Texas or Big 12 Conference boat at an NCAA Championships regatta.
The Texas trio helped the V8+ place seventh overall at the 22-team NCAA Championships with its convincing victory in the six-boat petite final (consolation final) and contributed to UT's eighth-place team finish.
With Doonan, Froehlich and Loveard aboard, the Texas V8+ won its second straight Big 12 individual title, as the Longhorns captured their second straight Big 12 team title and sixth overall in the eight-year history of the Big 12 Championships.
TEXAS REWRITES SCHOOL RECORDS, PLACES EIGHTH AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Texas posted school-record finishes from two of its three boats and notched its second straight top-10 team finish last May at the 2016 NCAA Championships
Texas finished in eighth place at the 22-team NCAA Championships with 98 points. California won the team title with 129 points and Ohio State, who had claimed the previous three team titles, took second at 126 points.
The Longhorns opened the third and final day by posting the program's top NCAA Championships finish in the fours. Texas placed third in the fours petite final (consolation final), up a couple of spots from the previous school record of fifth place in the petite final at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
Texas held second behind Yale at the 1500m mark at 5:27.773, though a late charge from Princeton bumped the Longhorns to third at the 2000m finish. Yale won the fours petite final at 7:15.440 while Princeton took second at 7:17.904 and Texas placed a close third at 7:17.940.
UT sent its II Eight (second varsity eight) to an NCAA Championships grand final for the first time in program history. The Longhorns placed fifth in the six-boat final at 6:35.285, the top finish ever for a 2V8 at Texas and the second top-five finish ever for any Longhorns boat at an NCAA Championships regatta.
Texas' I Eight (varsity eight) gave UT its first finals victory at an NCAA Championships regatta. The Longhorns led from start-to-finish in the I Eight petite final (consolation final) and crossed the 2,000m finish line first at 6:24.496 while Washington settled for second at 6:25.145.
UPCOMING REGATTAS
The Longhorns will go for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships at the Big 12 Championships May 13-14 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The NCAA Championships migrate from the west coast to the east coast this season. The three-day event is set for May 26-28 in West Windsor, New Jersey.
Players Mentioned
