No. 1 Rowing tops No. 6 Michigan in three races

Saturday, April 9

Belleville Lake, Mich.

University of Texas

Michigan

04.09.2022 | Rowing

Texas won three of four races at the two-time defending Big Ten Champions.

BELLEVILLE, Mich. – No. 1 Texas Rowing had three boats claim victories against No. 6 Michigan on Saturday morning at Belleville Lake. 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.

"We did a good job today, as this was an important step in our season," said Texas head coach Dave O'Neill. "Michigan is a very good team; they're well coached and always race hard, so we expected to be challenged. Our second four had a tough race, but they'll learn from it and getter better. It's clear there are things we can improve upon with the other three crews, as well."

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.

The Second Four kicked off the morning with a second-place finish. The crew took an early lead in the race and had a bit of open water at 750 meters, but a few poor strokes led to a loss of momentum and Michigan pulled ahead. Texas was able to regain the lead, but the boat lost its rhythm after another series of bad strokes. Michigan capitalized and caught Texas just prior to the finish to earn the close win.

Texas' First Four followed with a victory, taking an early lead and had open water at the halfway point and maintained that margin to the finish.

In the Second Eight race, Texas took an early lead and had a length at 500m with the boat increasing the lead at the midway mark. Both crews traded bad strokes in the second half although Michigan's momentum took a bigger hit after catching crab, along the Longhorns to cruise to an easy victory.

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. Texas then started to move and held a length lead at halfway, increasing the margin to the finish.

"I was impressed with the base speed of the first eight," O'Neill said. "We have a really good stroke in Kate Knifton; she sets a calm yet aggressive rhythm, and she really stepped up today. Grace Holland also deserves a lot of credit. Today was her first race with us, and she really rose to the challenge this week of switching sides and stepping right into the boat."

Next up, the Longhorns travel to New Jersey to face No. 5 Princeton and No. 13 Rutgers on Lake Carnegie on Saturday, April 23.

RESULTS
First Eight
1. TEXAS – 6:09.80
2. Michigan – 6:17.40

Second Eight
1. TEXAS – 6:27.50
2. Michigan – 6:38.94

First Four
1. TEXAS – 7:09.50
2. Michigan – 7:13.53

Second Four
1. Michigan – 7:07.95
2. TEXAS – 7:08.60
3. Michigan (3V4) – 7:13.99

LINEUPS

First Eight: Rachel Rane (coxswain), Kaitlin Knifton (stroke) Susanna Temming, Etta Carpender, Anna Jensen, Aspa Christodoulidis, Grace Holland, Sophia Calabrese, Lisa Gutfleisch (bow)