Rowing places fourth at NCAA Championships

Sunday, May 28

Pennsauken, N.J.

7 a.m. CT / 8 a.m. ET

University of Texas

NCAA Championships

05.28.2023 | Rowing

Texas won the Four national title for the first time in program history.

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – Highlighted by a national title by the crew of the Texas Four, Rowing finished fourth in the team standings at the 2023 NCAA Rowing Championships on Sunday at Cooper River Park. Texas captured the boat championship in the Four for the first time in program history and Texas placed in the top-four for the fourth time in the last six national regattas.

"This was certainly not the overall result we were hoping for, but I'm incredibly proud of everyone on the team," said Texas head coach Dave O'Neill. "Of course, the four was absolutely fantastic, and everyone on the team is thrilled for them. They deserve to be national champions."

Stanford claimed the team title with 129 points, the first national championship for the Cardinal since 2009. Washington finished runner-up with 120 points and Princeton scored 113 points to place third. Both Texas and Yale totaled 110 points with the Longhorns breaking the tie for fourth due to a higher finish in the I Eight.

Texas Four 2023 National Champions Texas kicked off the championship with the program's first-ever title in the Four. Rowers Jane McGee, Abby Dawson, Cassandre Korvink-Kucinski and Anna Garrison and coxswain Olivia Fogarty entered the national regatta as the top seed and left no doubt that they were the crew to beat, sweeping all three of their races during the championships.

In the Grand Final, the six crews were packed tightly through the 250 meters of the race with all boats within two seats of each other. At 500 meters, Texas sat in fourth place, but picked up the pace and burst into the lead by 750 meters. The Longhorns were in command from there, increasing their advantage inch-by-inch for the remainder of the race and winning by open water with a time of 7:03.174. Yale took second with a time of 7:06.900 and Princeton crossed the line in 7:11.870 to finish third.

The Texas II Eight finished sixth in their grand final race after their race was interrupted by a gaggle of geese early in the contest. Racing out of lane five, the Horns were level with the rest of the field at roughly 250 meters and building speed when the boat's momentum was stalled due to about a dozen geese resting on the water in their lane. The loss of momentum dropped Texas a full boat length behind the pack. The Longhorns worked to regain their rhythm but was unable to catch up with the other boats, crossing the line in 6:34.439.

"The second eight had some horrible luck one minute into the race as they hit a flock of geese," O'Neill said. "That's a particularly tough spot as it's the point in the race where the boat is really moving fast, so have their momentum took a bit hit. The crew did the right thing to protest at the finish, but in the end, we decided not to move forward with it and accept the result."

Texas closed out the national regatta with a fifth-place finish in the I Eight grand final. Starting out of lane six, the far lane from the main grandstand, the Longhorns posted a time of 6:28.280, finishing one spot ahead of a Yale crew that registered a time of 6:33.158.

"Unfortunately, sometimes you don't have your best race when you need it most, and that's what happened with our first eight," O'Neill noted. "I give them a lot of credit for fighting all the way to the end. Their grit and determination got the team onto the podium, and that was really, really important."

Texas is one of two programs, along with Washington, to place in the top-four in each of the last six national regattas. The Four victory was the third boat title in program history and marked the third year in a row that a Texas boat has won a championship after the Texas I Eight captured crowns in 2021 and 2022.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Stanford – 129
2. Washington – 120
3. Princeton – 113
4. TEXAS – 110
5. Yale – 110
6. Pennsylvania – 92
7. Brown – 91
8. California – 89
9. SMU – 85
10. Virginia – 80
11. Michigan – 78
12. Ohio State – 71
13. Syracuse – 67
14. Duke – 56
15. Rutgers – 54
16. USC – 42
17. Indiana – 41
18. Northeastern – 25
19. Gonzaga – 25
20. George Washington – 17
21. Navy – 13
22. Jacksonville – 10

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
I Eight – Grand Final
1. Stanford - 6:17.154
2. Washington - 6:19.558
3. Princeton - 6:22.178
4. Penn - 6:23.860
5. TEXAS - 6:28.280
6. Yale - 6:33.158

II Eight – Grand Final
1. Stanford - 6:24.851
2. Washington - 6:26.177
3. California - 6:27.539
4. Yale - 6:27.779
5. Princeton - 6:32.031
6. TEXAS - 6:34.439

Four – Grand Final
1. TEXAS - 7:03.174
2. Yale - 7:06.900
3. Brown - 7:11.870
4. Stanford - 7:12.716
5. Virginia - 7:16.566
6. Princeton - 7:22.050

LINEUPS
I Eight: Rachel Rane (C), Kaitlin Knifton (Stroke), Susanna Temming, Anna Jensen, Etta Carpender, Sophia Calabrese, Samantha Schalk, Kelsey McGinley, Lanie Nitsch (Bow)