The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
No. 2 Rowing sends all three boats to A/B semifinals at 2025 NCAA Championships
05.30.2025 | Rowing
Texas opened the 2025 NCAA Championships with two victories and a runner-up finish during heats.
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – No. 2 Texas Rowing won two heats and finished runner-up in a third at the 2025 NCAA Championships at Mercer Lake Friday, advancing all three boats to Saturday's A/B semifinals. It marks the eighth-consecutive year Texas has finished inside the top-two in each of its heats at NCAAs.
"These three days of racing are always tough, and this year looks to be even more so," Texas head coach Dave O'Neill said. "We had a good showing today although there's a lot of room for improvement."
The Texas First Varsity Eight, the No. 2 overall seed, started the morning with a runner-up finish to Yale in Heat 2. Yale jumped out to an early lead and won in 6:12.632 followed by the Longhorns, who finished in 6:15.396, third-place Indiana (6:18.701), fourth-place Penn (6:26.262) and fifth-place Oregon State (6:30.119).
"Our First Eight has some good speed, even though they lack experience. They learned plenty this morning, and we have a pretty good handle on what changes we need to make moving forward. The semis are always brutal, but they are prepared for a good effort tomorrow."
The Longhorns took home their first victory of the day thanks to the Second Varsity Eight, the No. 4 overall seed, who won Heat 4 in 6:17.257 and downed runner-up Yale (6:19.807). Syracuse (3rd-6:23.170), Dartmouth (4th-6:39.865), Boston U (5th-6:47.395) and Rhode Island (6th-7:00.110). Texas was clean off the line and charged to an early lead, fending off second-place Yale throughout the 2,000-meter course.
"The Second Eight was fantastic, and they're a much improved crew from a few weeks ago. The stern pair of Rhiannon Luke and Katherine Nordheim have been setting an aggressive rhythm, and it was good to see them put it together in action in a well-rower heat."
Texas concluded heats with a victory by the I Four, the No. 4 overall seed, in Heat 4, crossing the finish line in 7:03.603. Yale (2nd-7:05.288), Harvard (3rd-7:12.122), Dartmouth (4th-7:15.840), Northeastern (5th-7:33.360) and Rhode Island (6th-7:57.895) followed suit. The Horns began the race a few feet ahead of No. 5 seed Syracuse. Yale then overtook Texas in the middle-1,000 meters of the race but the Bulldogs' lead didn't last as the Longhorns closed in and regained their lead in the final 500 meters, winning by just over a half-boat length.
"The Four had a terrific back-and-forth race with Yale. In some ways there were some questions about our Four, but we also knew what to expect. Today was first race for Nadja Yaroschuk since early March, and she did a terrific job. Obviously, that's a new combination, and they're well situated for the racing ahead."
Texas continues the 2025 NCAA Championships with the A/B semifinals on Saturday beginning with the I Eight at 7:48 a.m. CT. The II Eight (lane 3) will race in the A/B semifinals at 8:24 a.m., facing California (lane 1), Virginia (lane 2), Stanford (lane 4), Tennessee (lane 5) and Syracuse (lane 6). The Texas I Four (lane 3) closes out A/B semifinals at 9:24 a.m., dueling with Tennessee (lane 1), Princeton (lane 2), Stanford (lane 3), Syracuse (lane 4) and Harvard (lane 5). The final two days of the NCAA Championships can be streamed on NCAA.com/liveschedule. Live results and heat sheets can be accessed at Regatta Timing.
Lineups:
I Eight: Amy Werner (Cox), Sue Holderness, Imy Grey, Marg Van der Wal, Ilva Boone, Phoebe Wise, Lucy McFarlane, Lucy Searle and Abby Dawson.
II Eight: Bronwen Holmes (Cox), Rhiannon Luke, Katherine Nordheim, Phoebe Robinson, Allie Alton, Amelia Gleed, Savvy Jerome, Taryn Kooyers and Ellie Rodriguez.
I Four: Paris West (Cox), Nadja Yaroschuk, Daniela Thiermann, Jess Colbran and Paula Becher.
Players Mentioned
