The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Virginia
No. 2 Rowing Preview: at No. 3 Virginia
04.30.2021 | Rowing
The Longhorns travel to Earlysville for the first time since 2017.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 2 Texas Rowing concludes its regular-season slate on Sunday, May 2 at No. 3 Virginia at the Rivanna Reservoir in Earlysville, Va. The dual is slated to get underway at 7:00 a.m. CT in what will be the final competition for both squads ahead of their respective conference championships.
Final results will be made available on TexasSports.com.
Dual Schedule
7:00 a.m. CT – 1V8
7:20 a.m. CT – 2V8
7:40 a.m. CT – 1V4
8:00 a.m. CT – 2V4
Last Time Out
In a field that included, No. 10 Alabama and No. 14 SMU, Texas swept all five A Final races at the 20th Longhorn Invite and had a one-two finish in the II Eight final.
The Matchup
This will be the first dual meet between the programs since 2017 when Texas won three of four races against Virginia in Earlysville with victories in the I Eight, II Eight and II Four. The Longhorns and Cavaliers also met in the last two NCAA Championship regattas with Texas finishing ahead in both contests. Virginia competed against Navy in multiple 1500m, untimed races last weekend, winning each race.
Conference Honors
The Texas I Eight garnered Big 12 Boat of the Week honors after dominating at the Longhorn Invite, in which it registered two sub-6:10.50 marks. The boat won both races by at least 11 seconds, including the final in which its time of 6:10.43 defeated runner-up No. 14 SMU by 11.321 seconds. In their preliminary heat, Texas' 6:10.433 mark was 22.476 seconds better than second-place finisher Notre Dame. Texas' I Eight featured coxswain Olivia Fogarty, along with Kaitlin Knifton, Francesca Raggi, Alexandra Watson, Aspa Christodoulidis, Daisy Mazzio-Manson, Anna Jensen, Lisa Gutfleisch, and Katelyn Bouthillette.
It was the second weekly honor the Longhorns have earned this season. After their performance in Michigan, the Texas II Eight was recognized as the Big 12 Boat of the Week. Texas' II Eight featured redshirt coxswain Elizabeth Romero, along with Hannah Medcalf, Amber Harwood, Jensen, Izabela Krakic, Parker Illingworth, Samantha Schalk, Alexa McAuliffe and Maria Valencia. Comprised of seven freshmen or redshirt freshmen, the boat was only 3.1 seconds slower than Texas' I Eight in similar conditions.
Texas in the Polls
Texas opened at No. 2 in the season's first USRowing/CRCA Coaches Poll on March 3, and it has held steady in the second spot in each subsequent poll. Defending NCAA champion Washington has held the top spot throughout the season, while Virginia, Rutgers and Michigan round out the top five.
Pocock USRowing/CRCA Division I Rankings – April 28
1 Washington (18)
2 TEXAS (7)
3 Virginia
4 Rutgers
5 Michigan
6 Stanford
7 California
8 Ohio State
9 Syracuse
10 Indiana
11 SMU
12 Tennessee
13 Alabama
14 Minnesota
15 Duke
16 Washington State
17 Brown
18 UCLA
19 Oregon State
20 Wisconsin
Look Who's Back
Texas' squad features several key returning members, including 2020 CRCA Division I Pocock All-American nominees senior Alexandra Watson (Leicester, Great Britain), senior Katelyn Bouthillette (Austin, Texas) and junior Kaitlin Knifton (Austin, Texas), and 2019 second-team All-American junior Francesca Raggi (Maitlan, Fla.).
Welcome to Austin
The Longhorns strengthened the squad with graduate transfer and two-time All-American Daisy Mazzio-Manson (Wellesley, Mass.). The two-time All-Ivy first-team selection (2018, 2019) received the Chris Ernst Award for excellent performance as a first-year at Yale.
Championship Pedigree
Texas has registered top-eight results in each of the last five NCAA Championship Regattas with program-best results in four, including each of the last three:
2015 – 7th
2016 – 8th
2017 – 4th
2018 – 3rd
2019 – 2nd
Defending Champions
With the 2020 season not being held, the Longhorns enter 2021 as the five-time defending Big 12 Conference Champions. In all, Texas has won nine of the 11 Big 12 Conference Championships held, placing runner-up in 2013 and fourth in 2014.
Players Mentioned
