The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
02.16.2022 | Rowing
The defending NCAA Champions begin a season atop the national rankings for the first time in program history.
AUSTIN, Texas – Defending NCAA National Champion Texas Rowing has been picked No. 1 in the 2022 Preseason Pocock Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Women's Rowing Polls presented by USRowing.
The Longhorns received 19 of the 25 first-place votes to retain the No. 1 ranking for the third consecutive poll. It marked the first time in program history that the Longhorns earned the top spot in the preseason poll.
Stanford, the runner-up in the team standings at the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Rowing Championships, ranked second in the poll and received the other six first-place votes, while Washington, Michigan and Virginia rounded out the top five.
The six-time defending Big 12 Conference champions return four student-athletes who earned CRCA All-American recognition during last year's national championship season. Rowers Aspa Christodoulidis, Kaitlin Knifton, Francesca Raggi and coxswain Rachel Rane lead the way for Texas, as well as 2021 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Anna Jensen.
Texas will begin the season in California on March 26-27 at the San Diego Crew Classic. Racing takes place in Mission Bay Park on Fiesta Bay-Crown Point Shores in San Diego.
Pocock CRCA/USRowing Division I Preseason Rankings – Feb. 16
1 TEXAS (19)
2 Stanford (6)
3 Washington
4 Michigan
5 Virginia
6 Ohio State
7 Brown
8 Rutgers
9 California
10 Princeton
11 Syracuse
12 Yale
13 SMU
14 Duke
15 Alabama
16 Wisconsin
17 Washington State
18 Tennessee
19 Oregon State
20 Indiana
