The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Longhorn Invite
No. 1 Rowing preview: Longhorn Invite
04.29.2022 | Rowing
Texas is set to host the Longhorn Invite at Walter E. Long Lake.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 1 Texas Rowing will host the Longhorn Invite, set for Saturday, April 30 at Walter E. Long Lake. Several of the top teams in the nation are set to compete as the Longhorns will race against No. 10 Ohio State, No. 14 Virginia, No. 16 SMU and RV UCLA.
When: Saturday, April 30
Where: Walter E. Long Lake, Austin, Texas
Results: Results will be available on HereNow with updates also provide on Twitter at @LonghornInvite and @TexasRowing.
Race Schedule (Updated April 29)
(Schools listed in lanes 1 through 5)
9:36 a.m. CT – III Eight: Texas C, Texas B, SMU, Virginia, Texas A
9:48 a.m. CT – II Four: UCLA, SMU, Virginia, Ohio State, Texas
10:00 a.m. CT – I Four: UCLA, SMU, Virginia, Ohio State, Texas
10:12 a.m. CT – II Eight: UCLA, SMU, Virginia, Ohio State, Texas
10:24 a.m. CT – I Eight: UCLA, SMU, Virginia, Ohio State, Texas
Last Time Out
Texas Rowing swept four races against No. 4 Princeton and No. 16 Rutgers at Lake Carnegie in New Jersey on Saturday, April 23. Texas' First Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Four boats remain unbeaten through the first four competitions of the season. The First Eight has won 14-straight races dating back to the start of last season.
Racing in good conditions with a slight headwind of five mph, Texas' second eight opened the morning in dominating fashion with an impressive 14-second victory, crossing the line at 6:32.0, followed by Princeton at 6:46.2 and Rutgers in 7:04.7.
That result was followed by a close race in the first eight, with Texas topping Princeton by four seconds, 6:18.6 to 6:22.6, while Rutgers placed third in 6:39.6.
In the Varsity Four race, Texas took an early lead that grew to over a length by the midway point of the 2,000-meter course. Princeton made some gains over the final half of the race and closed in on the Longhorns, but Texas came away with the victory in 7:16.9 to the Tigers' 7:19.7. Rutgers placed third with a time of 7:45.8.
The Second Four closed out the sweep with a time of 7:21.5, 12 seconds ahead of Princeton (7:33.8) and an 18-second margin over Rutgers (7:39.8).
A Look at the Longhorns
The defending national champion and six-time defending Big 12 Conference champion Longhorns return four student-athletes who earned CRCA All-American recognition following last year's title run. 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. All five were integral members of the Texas First Varsity Eight that powered past Stanford and Washington over the final 750 meters of the Grand Final to capture the first title in program history.
All told, 15 of the 20 rowers and all three coxswains who competed in the 2021 National Championship regatta are back in the fold.
Also returning from last year's champion First Eight boat are Lisa Gutfleisch and Susanna Temming, while returners from the Second Eight crew will be rowers Katelyn Bouthillette, Amber Harwood, Parker Illingworth, Hannah Medcalf, and Samantha Schalk and coxswain Elizabeth Romero. Back from the Four is coxswain Olivia Fogarty and rowers Marlowe Eldridge, Cassandre Korvink-Kucinski and Lanie Nitsch.
A Look at the Buckeyes
Ohio State is racing its fifth regatta of the season and third on the road. The Buckeyes won four races the last time out at the Big Ten Invitational in Sarasota, Florida. Prior to that, the Buckeyes tallied victories in 15-of-16 races in the Ohio State Invitational at the Griggs Reservoir. This is Ohio States third season under the direction of head coach Kate Sweeney, who guided the Buckeyes to a sixth-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Championships and a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships last year.
A Look at the Cavaliers
Virginia is racing in its fifth regatta of the year and fourth of the spring. The Cavaliers last competed at the Big Ten Invitational on April 16 at Nathan Benderson Park and registered a second-place finish in the Third Varsity Eight, third-place in the Second Varsity Four and fourth-place finishes in the Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Four against No. 2 Stanford No. 6 Michigan and No. 8 Ohio State.
A Look at the Mustangs
SMU will be competing in its fifth regatta of the year and will face the Longhorns for the second time this season. In their last regatta, the Mustangs posted six top-three finishes across eight races in four events on Lake Las Vegas at the PAC-12 Invitational on April 9-10. In March, SMU hosted Texas at White Rock Lake with the Longhorns collected eight victories across two days of racing.
A Look at the Bruins
UCLA will be competing in their fourth regatta of the year and will race against Texas for the second time this season. The Bruins last competed on April 16 when they defeated Loyola Marymount in four races on Ballona Creek in Marina Del Rey, Calif. Texas last raced against UCLA at the San Diego Crew Classic, where the Longhorns won 5-of-5 races against the Bruins across three events.
Conference Honors
Texas Rowing's First Varsity Eight was tabbed the Big 12 Boat of the Week honors for the second time this season, the conference announced on Wednesday. The Longhorns received the weekly award, the final one of the season, after traveling to New Jersey and defeating No. 4 Princeton and No. 16 Rutgers at Lake Carnegie last Saturday morning. Texas won or earned a share of the Big 12 weekly honor in each of the three weeks a UT boat was eligible this season.
Racing in good conditions with a five mph headwind, Texas posted a time of 6:18.6 to defeat previously unbeaten Princeton (6:22.6) by four seconds and Rutgers (6:39.6) by 21 seconds. In the race, Texas and Princeton moved out in front early and were about even at the 500-meter mark of the 2,000-meter course. The Longhorns surged and held a one-length advantage over the Tigers at the midway point and built the lead to open water as they approached the final 500 meters, holding the lead through the remainder of the race.
The Texas First Eight featured junior coxswain Rachel Rane, as well as senior Kaitlin Knifton, senior Francesca Raggi, sophomore Anna Jensen, senior Etta Carpender, senior Aspa Christodoulidis, senior Susanna Temming, junior Sophia Calabrese and redshirt senior Lisa Gutfleisch.
The First Varsity Eight earned UT's second Big 12 Boat of the Week honor of the season following a standout victory over No. 6 Michigan, winning by over seven seconds on at Belleville Lake, Michigan, with a time of 6:09.80.
Texas and Michigan's First Eight's traded the lead in the first 500m, with the Longhorns holding a half a second advantage a quarter of the way through the race. The Longhorns then started to move and held a length lead at halfway, increasing the margin to the finish despite a direct tailwind of approximately 10 mph that created rough water over the second half of the race.
The Texas First Eight featured coxswain Rane, as well as Knifton, Temming, senior Etta Carpender, Jensen, Christodoulidis, sophomore Grace Holland, Calabrese and Gutfleisch.
Prior to that, the Third Varsity Eight earned a share of the Big 12 Boat of the Week honors, splitting votes with Tennessee's First Eight to collect the program's first weekly conference award of the season following a dominant weekend at the San Diego Crew Classic.
The Texas 3V8 won the Carley Copley Cup on Sunday at the San Diego Crew Classic. Featuring four freshmen racing in the prestigious San Diego event for the first time, UT won both its preliminary heat race and the championship final. During the final, the Longhorns were dead-even with California at the 600-meter mark when they caught a boat stopping crab (when a rower loses control of their oar). The crew fought back to win by open water with a time of 6:49.724, 5.345 seconds ahead of the Golden Bears. During their heat race the previous afternoon, the Longhorns won in impressive fashion, registering a time of 6:41.124 and defeating California by 6.863 seconds.
Texas' III Eight featured sophomore coxswain Elizabeth Romero, along with junior Jane McGee, junior Rachel Craycroft, freshman Taryn Kooyers, freshman Andrijana Mijailovic, freshman Harriet Wallace, freshman Nadja Yaroschuk, senior Susanna Cassidy and junior Grace Edgar.
Longhorns Start Fast
In their first competition of the season, the Longhorns traveled to Dallas for a two-day contest against the then 13th-ranked SMU Mustangs at White Rock Lake. Texas swept all six races, with the First Eight, Second Eight and Four claiming victories on each day of the trip. For the First Eight, the two victories extended the unbeaten streak for the boat to 10-straight races. The Second Eight was dominant in both of their races, taking charge from the start of each and extending their lead throughout. Texas' Four got out fast in their first race and won by 14.49 seconds, then overcame an early deficit on the second day and eventually pulled away for a win by 18.8 seconds.
Two weeks later, Texas swept through the prestigious San Diego Crew Classic on March 26-27 on the Fiesta Bay-Crown Point Shores of Mission Bay Park. Racing against many of the top-ranked programs in the country, including Pac-12 powerhouses No. 3 Washington, No. 9 California and No. 16 USC, the Longhorns remained unbeaten through the first two competitions of the season after winning both the heats and finals races of the Collegiate Varsity Jessop-Whittier Cup Invitational (First Eight), Collegiate 2V Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy (Second Eight), Collegiate Varsity 4+ Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup (First Four), and Women's Open 8+ (Third Eight).
Texas followed that by claiming three victories against No. 6 Michigan on Saturday, April 9 at Belleville Lake in Michigan. Racing in cold conditions with an increasing tailwind throughout the races, the Longhorns won three of four events to top the Wolverines in Michigan for the second-straight year. The crews competed with a direct tailwind of approximately 10 mph that created rough water over the second half of the 2,000-meter races. Texas collected wins from the First Eight, Second Eight and Four, with all three boats remaining unbeaten this season.
Texas in the Polls
The Longhorns opened the season as No. 1 in the 2022 Preseason Pocock Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Women's Rowing Poll and have maintained the position throughout the season. Texas claimed 24 of the 25 first-place votes in this week's ranking and has held the top spot for 10 consecutive polls. Stanford collected the other first-place vote and is second in the poll and Yale is ranked third. Princeton and Brown round out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Pocock CRCA Coaches Poll Division I Rankings – Week 7 (April 27)
1. TEXAS (24)
2. Stanford (1)
3. Yale
4. Princeton
5. Brown
6. Michigan
7. Washington
8. Penn
9. California
10. Ohio State
11. Syracuse
12. USC
13. Duke
14. Virginia
15. Oregon State
16. SMU
17. Rutgers
18. Indiana
19. Tennessee
20. Washington State
Championship Pedigree
Texas has registered top-eight results in each of the last six NCAA Championship Regattas with program-best results in five, including each of the last four:
2021 – 1st
2020 – No regatta
2019 – 2nd
2018 – 3rd
2017 – 4th
2016 – 8th
2015 – 7th
Defending Conference Champions
Texas enters 2022 as the six-time defending Big 12 Conference Champions. In all, Texas has won 10 of the 12 Big 12 Conference Championships held, placing runner-up in 2013 and fourth in 2014.
Players Mentioned
