The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Five from Rowing earn CRCA First-Team All-America honors, O’Neill named Regional Coach of the Year
06.05.2026 | Rowing
Maya Meschkuleit, Lucy Searle, Marg van der Wal, Amy Werner and Phoebe Wise claim spots on the All-America First Team.
AUSTIN, Texas – Following Texas Rowing's fourth NCAA National Championship over the last six years, five Longhorns were named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association's (CRCA) All-America First Team.
Texas head coach Dave O'Neill was named Regional Coach of the Year, and the Texas coaching staff was named Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.
Senior Maya Meschkuleit, junior Lucy Searle, senior Marg van der Wal, senior Amy Werner and junior Phoebe Wise were selected to the All-America First Team. All five spearheaded Texas' First Varsity Eight to an individual title while helping clinch the program's fourth overall NCAA Championship at Lake Lanier Olympic Park on May 31.
The First Varsity Eight threw down an unofficial world-record time of 5:47.706 to win gold for the 1V8 and clinch the NCAA Championship for the Longhorns. It is the fourth national title victory by the I Eight in program history and first since 2024. Texas edged out second-place Stanford (5:50.160), third-place Tennessee (5:51.450), fourth-place Virginia (5:52.398), fifth-place Yale (5:53.412) and sixth-place Princeton (6:00.056).
Van der Wal finishes her career on the Forty Acres as a three-time CRCA First-Team All-American. It's the second First-Team All-America selections for Meschkuleit, Werner and Searle and the first All-America recognition for Wise.
Under O'Neill, associate head coach Gia Doonan, and assistant coaches Nick Baker, Spencer Kales, Alexa McAuliffe, Nicole Borges and Rachel Sander, the Longhorns put together a historic 2026 season with the NCAA title and two individual boat titles. It's O'Neill's seventh Regional Coach of the Year honor while at Texas. It's the seventh Regional Staff of the Year Award for Texas.
Texas is just the second program all-time to win four titles in a six-year span, joining Brown from 1999-2004. The four national championships moves Texas into a tie for third-most all-time behind only Brown with seven and Washington with five, and equal with Cal.
The Horns have recorded a top-eight result in each of the previous 11 national regattas, including a top-four finish in each of the last nine national championships. It is the second time overall and first since 2024 that Texas has won two events at the same national championship.
The Longhorns' 130 points at this year's national regatta was well ahead of runner-up Stanford, who tallied 125 points. Tennessee finished third with 119 points followed by fourth-place Virginia (114 points), fifth-place Yale (103 points), sixth-place Princeton (100 points), seventh-place Washington (100 points), eighth-place California (89 points), ninth-place Syracuse (80 points) and 10th-place Brown (77 points) to round out the top 10.
Not only did the 130-point total match the UT program record from 2024, but it is also tied for third among all teams since 2013 when the current scoring system was established. It trails only the 132 points scored by Washington in 2017 and 2019, while Cal also scored 130 points in 2018 as part of the tie for third.
In addition to an individual title by the 1V8, Texas also won an individual title in the I Four and recorded a runner-up finish by the 2V8.
