The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Michigan
No. 1 Rowing preview: No. 11 Michigan
04.13.2023 | Rowing
Texas will face Michigan in a head-to-head matchup for the third consecutive year and the first time in Austin.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 1 Texas Rowing will host No. 11 Michigan on Saturday, April 15 on Lady Bird Lake. The teams will compete head-to-head in four events over a 2,000-meter course, racing in the first and second eight boats, and the first and second four boats.
Texas will be competing on Lady Bird Lake for the first time since October 2017, when the Longhorns took part in the 5,000-meter Head of the Colorado.
Viewing can take place from various sites along the Hike and Bike Trail on the West End with the course finish line located just east of the Texas Rowing Center dock. Spectators will not be permitted to view the racing from the Mopac Pedestrian Bridge but can watch from the shoreline underneath the bridge on the north shore bank.
This weekend's matchup will mark the third consecutive year in which the Longhorns and Wolverines will meet in the regular season and the first time ever in Austin. Texas won three of four races last year, claiming dominant victories in the I Eight, II Eight and I Four, but falling in the II Four with Michigan pulling ahead just prior to the finish line. UT swept all four races in Michigan in 2021.
When: April 15, 2023
Where: Lady Bird Lake, Austin, Texas
Results: https://hookem.at/row23results
Texas Rowing Fact Book
Tentative Race Schedule
Saturday, April 15
8:30 a.m. CT – II Four
8:45 a.m. CT – I Four
9:00 a.m. CT – II Eight
9:15 a.m. CT – I Eight
Last Time Out
Texas swept eight races, including four grand finals, at the prestigious San Diego Crew Classic to retain their title in the Women's Collegiate Varsity Jessop-Whittier Cup Invitational and collect the Women's Collegiate 2V Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy, Women's Collegiate Varsity 4+ Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup and Women's Open Carley Copley Cup for the second-straight year.
The Texas First Eight extended its unbeaten string to 21 consecutive races with a head-to-head record of 76-0 since the streak began at the start of the 2021 season.
A Look at the Longhorns
The defending two-time national champion and seven-time defending Big 12 Conference champion Longhorns return three student-athletes who earned CRCA All-American recognition following last year's title run. Rowers Kaitlin Knifton and Anna Jensen and coxswain Rachel Rane lead the way for Texas. All three were integral members of the Texas First Eight that crusied to victory over Stanford in at the NCAA Championships Grand Final to capture the second title in program history.
Additionally, 2022 Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Year Grace Holland, who helped the Longhorns Second Eight to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, will be in the fold for Texas this season.
All told, 16 of the 20 rowers and all three coxswains who competed in the 2022 National Championship regatta are back.
Also returning from last year's champion First Eight boat are Etta Carpender, Susanna Temming and Sophia Calabrese, while returners from the Second Eight crew will be rowers Hannah Medcalf, Amber Harwood, Lanie Nitsch, Parker Illingworth, Marielle Corbett and Cassandre Korvink-Kucinski and coxswain Olivia Fogarty. Back from the Four is coxswain Carly Legenzowski and rowers Jane McGee, Nadja Yaroschuk and Marlowe Eldridge.
2022 U23 World Rowing Championships
Knifton, Jensen and Rane each competed for USRowing at the 2022 U23 World Rowing Championships last summer. Knifton and Jensen won gold in the Women's Four, which was comprised entirely of Longhorns, while Rane coxed Team USA's Women's Eight (BW8+) that was also crewed by Lanie Nitsch to victory. Additionally, Hannah Medcalf earned silver with Great Britain in the Women's Eight.
Also competing for Team USA at world's was Sophia Calabrese, who helped the Women's Quadruple Sculls to a sixth-place finish, and Sue Holderness, who placed eighth overall in the Women's Pair.
Marg van der Wal competed in the Women's Double Skulls for The Netherlands, helping the Dutch to a victory in the B final.
National Recognition
In 2022, Kate Knifton was recognized as the USRowing U23 Co-Female Athlete of the Year. It marked the second time a Longhorn was receive national team accolades, joining Texas Ex Fran Raggi, who was honored as the 2018 USRowing U19 Female Athlete of the Year.
Head coach Dave O'Neil was named the 2022 USRowing Man of the Year, given in recognition of outstanding contributions to men's rowing and/or to an outstanding man in rowing. Additionally, O'Neil, the record five-time CRCA Coach of the Year honoree, was also tabbed Rowing News' Coach of the Year.
Texas in the Polls
Texas holds the No. 1 in the 2023 Pocock Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Rowing Polls, receiving all 21 first-place votes. The Longhorns have held the top spot in the rankings for 14 consecutive polls.
Stanford, the runner-up at each of the last two national regattas, is ranked second, while Yale, Princeton and Washington round out the top five.
Pocock CRCA Coaches Poll Division Rankings – Week 3 (April 12)
1. TEXAS (21)
2. Stanford
3. Yale
4. Princeton
5. Washington
6. Brown
California
8. Syracuse
9. Virginia
10. Pennsylvania
11. Michigan
12. Ohio State
13. SMU
14. Duke
15. Harvard
16. Rutgers
17. USC
18. Oregon State
19. Indiana
Iowa
Championship Pedigree
Texas has registered top-eight results in each of the last seven NCAA Championship Regattas with program-best results in six, including each of the last five:
2022 – National Champion
2021 – National Champion
2020 – No regatta held
2019 – 2nd
2018 – 3rd
2017 – 4th
2016 – 8th
2015 – 7th
Defending Champions
Texas enters 2022 as the seven-time defending Big 12 Conference Champions. In all, Texas has won 11 of the 13 Big 12 Conference Championships held, placing runner-up in 2013 and fourth in 2014.
Players Mentioned
