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SARASOTA, Fla. – With a dominating victory in the First Varsity Eight Grand Final at the 2022 NCAA National Championship, Texas Rowing captured the national title for the second consecutive year on Sunday morning at Nathan Benderson Park. The Texas First Eight also earned a second-consecutive national title with the triumph.
Texas tallied 124 points, equaling the total of Stanford and winning the national championship due to their victory in the First Eight. It marked the second year in a row in which the Longhorns and Cardinal tied for the most points with UT winning with the First Eight result serving as the tiebreaker. The Varsity Four finished in third and the Second Eight placed fourth in their respective races.
“It was an absolute awesome performance by everyone, and I’m so proud of everyone on this team,” said Texas head coach Dave O’Neill. “We have a terrific team that goes beyond the three boats that raced here. We had to leave some very fast women off this travel squad, but it was great to see so many of them here today. It made a difference.”
The University of Texas captured the 61st national team championship (57 NCAA titles) in school history. It marked the third national title during the current 2021-22 academic calendar year, as Men’s Indoor Track and Field won the crown in March and Women’s Tennis captured the championship last week. The three national titles match the total the Longhorns won in 2020-21, and is tied for the second-most in an academic year in school history.
Trailing Stanford by three points, 61-58, and tied with Princeton and Washington heading into the First Eight Grand Final, to win the national title the Longhorns would need to finish at least one position ahead of the Cardinal and defeat the Tigers and Huskies.
“Our First Eight has been terrific all year, and they’ve stepped up to every challenge put in front of them,” O’Neill said. “After the finish of the Second Eight, we knew if the First Eight wins we win, and that’s the way it should be.”
The Longhorns jumped out in front and held a two-seat lead over Stanford at 250 meters, pushing the advantage to a half-boat length at 500 meters. Texas built upon their lead throughout the race, posting the fastest 500-meter splits throughout the 2,000-meter race, clinching the title in 6:0.733. Stanford placed second in 6:15.437 while Princeton took third in 6:17.707.
“They had a great start, and there was some real confidence when they had a two or three seat lead at 500 meters. We on the staff say they were built for 2000 meters, and their base speed was really good. For them to finish open water ahead of a really fast field says a lot about them. I couldn’t be prouder of that boat and the entire team.”
Texas’ First Eight extended their unbeaten streak to 19 consecutive races with a head-to-head record of 65-0 since the streak began at the start of the 2021 season.
UT opened the national regatta with a third-place result in the Varsity Four. UT took the early lead, taking a slight lead at 500 meters ahead of Washington and Princeton. The Tigers hit another gear over the next 250m and jumped ahead at the midway marker and extended their lead throughout the course, winning in 7:05.231. Ohio State powered past Texas and Washington down the stretch to take second in 7:06.464, while the Longhorns placed third in 7:07.187.
“The four came up in a huge way, and that performance really set us up,” O’Neill said. “We knew Stanford and Washington were going to be very fast, so getting ahead of them was really big.”
In the Second Eight, Texas placed fourth in a strong field behind Yale, Stanford and Washington. Yale was strong from the start, taking the lead in the first 100 meters and not looking back. Texas sat in fifth at the 500-meter mark and slowly chipped away at the deficit, surpassing Princeton just ahead of the midway point, but unable to overtake the top-three finishers, crossing the finish in 6:26.282.
“The level of racing in the second eight was impressive,” O’Neill said. “Our crew might have had their best race of the year, and their fourth-place finish showed that things can go either way on any given day. I’m really proud of their resilience and fight to the finish, and that set us up perfectly for the last race.”
2022 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. TEXAS – 124
2. Stanford – 124
3. Princeton – 118
4. Washington – 112
5. Yale – 102
6. California – 101
7. Brown – 100
8. Ohio State – 99
9. Virginia – 82
10. Michigan – 73
11. Pennsylvania – 72
11. SMU – 72
13. Rutgers – 64
14. Oregon State – 52
15. USC – 47
16. Duke – 45
17. Syracuse – 41
18. Gonzaga – 28
19. Boston U – 23
20. Northeastern – 17
21. Rhode Island – 15
22. Jacksonville – 7
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GRAND FINAL RESULTS
First Eight
1. TEXAS – 6:10.733
2. Stanford – 6:15.437
3. Princeton – 6:17.707
4. California – 6:18.782
5. Washington – 6:19.163
6. Brown – 6:26.592
Second Eight
1. Yale – 6:21.169
2. Stanford – 6:23.220
3. Washington – 6:24.514
4. TEXAS – 6:26.282
5. Princeton – 6:30.692
6. Virginia – 6:35.795
Varsity Four
1. Princeton – 7:05.231
2. Ohio State – 7:06.464
3. TEXAS – 7:07.187
4. Stanford – 7:08.541
5. Washington – 7:10.786
6. Brown – 7:19.229
LINEUPS
First Eight: Rachel Rane (coxswain), Kaitlin Knifton (stroke) Francesca Raggi, Aspa Christodoulidis, Etta Carpender, Anna Jensen, Susanna Temming, Sophia Calabrese, Lisa Gutfleisch (bow)
Second Eight: Olivia Fogarty (coxswain), Hannah Medcalf (stroke), Amber Harwood, Grace Holland, Kathia Nitsch, Parker Illingworth, Marielle Corbett, Cassandre Korvink-Kucinski, Caitlin Esse (bow)
Four: Carly Legenzowski (coxswain), Jane McGee (stroke), Nadja Yaroschuk, Katelyn Bouthillette, Marlowe Eldridge (bow)
