411 on the Forty — Part 2: Rowing receives high marks from CRCA

By Riley Zayas

Part 1:Tough breaks for Texas Football
Part 3:Big 12 to give men's basketball players Election Day off
Part 4:Get to know: Yuya Ito
Part 5:411OnTheForty — Part 5: This Week In Longhorn History

Despite having its entire schedule canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Texas rowing team had five athletes placed receive All-America nominations this week from the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA).

2019 Big 12 Rower of the Year Milica Slijepcevic was a shoo-in for All-America honors as the senior was named to the All-Big 12 team in both 2018 and 2019. In addition, fellow senior Alexandria Watson not only earned All-America honors but also is in the running for the Honda Inspiration Award, annually given to the nation’s most deserving female college athlete.

Watson, coxswain Maisie Sajbel, Kaitlin Knifton and junior Katelyn Bouthillette, all earned All-America honors for the first time in their college careers.

Because no season took place, no first- or second-team honors could be awarded. However, the CRCA still wanted to recognize the top competitors in the sport. Each Div. I and Div. II coach could nominate a maximum of four athletes and one coxswain, who is similar to the quarterback in football, leading the boat and shouting out instructions to their teammates.

In addition, the Horns placed six — Bouthillette, Knifton, Sajbel, juniors Kenza McKerrihan and Mick Jonkers, and senior Aine McGinn — on the CRCA Scholar Athlete Award list. Eligibility requires athletes to be in at least their second year of eligibility, be ranked in the top 50 percent of their teams in terms of performance and have compiled at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA during their college career.

In the most recent CRCA/US Rowing Coaches Poll on NCAA.com, which was released Feb. 27, Texas held the No. 3 spot, behind No. 2 Stanford and No. 1 Washington.