Racing up the record books: UT rowing makes history with 2nd place NCAA finish

Ramping up its program’s recent rich history for yet another year, Texas rowing set a new school record by taking second place overall at the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Ind.

The team’s high placement is the third straight season that Texas set a new record for placing at the championships, and it comes as the fourth year in a row with a top-four finish at the championships — with all three Texas boats making it to the podium in earning 125 points overall to take second place.

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“It’s a team effort together, rather than a really competitive hierarchal team where everyone is elbowing for a spot in the first eight,” senior Fanny Bon said. “I think there’s always been a huge emphasis on our team about being a ‘Texas Teammate’ and that is the number one value that our team has. We need to do this as a team and that’s where our strength is because we know we don’t have the fastest erg (times) in the country, we know we don’t have the top recruits in the country, but we do know we can be the best team in the country and that’s what we try to push for every day.”

On top of the second place finish, it’s also the first time in UT history that the rowing team had all three boats finishing in the top three spots in their respective races.

“Today was a great day for our program. We’ve worked really hard all year, and it was wonderful to see each boat on the podium,” head coach Dave O’Neill.

O’Neill talked about the seniors on the squad stepping up throughout the past to get the program to this point, especially the interconnectivity that Bon alluded to, including seniors Ashley Jacobs, Margaret Dail, Alice Bowyer, Lauren Mufarreh and Kendall Chapman, who were all part of the three boats finishing in their respective top-three.

“The seniors on this team were our first recruiting class, and they’ve taken the team on an amazing journey,” O’Neill said. “I’m truly grateful for everything they’ve given.”

Bon and Jacobs helped pace the team’s first eight-person boat, which finished second to Washington, the overall winner of championship weekend. The Longhorns were barely behind the Huskies, coming in at 6:07.971 to Washington’s 6:07.284.

This year’s class marks the culmination of four years fulfilling a new UT destiny, as the seniors were the first class to all decide that they would take the Longhorns to new heights and make the program among the elites nationwide.

“(The senior class) took a chance on Texas by coming here. We trusted the coaching staff in the sense that we believed in a program that would become a legacy instead of becoming a part of an already existing legacy,” Bon said. “I think that because we knew that we had to start from zero in order to get there, we always have been able to push ourselves further and further because we’ve always known that we don’t have anything to lose. You have to stay humble and hungry the whole way through. I think we’ve never gotten complacent as a team and that’s why we’ve been able to push ourselves so hard.”

Chapman completely agreed that the road, well waters, weren’t always perceived as the smoothest to get to this point, but that didn’t do anything but fuel the team’s desires.

“Well, it’s a really long one. Being a senior, especially on this team, and following this team from the very beginning when we came in as freshmen, not really knowing how well we were going to do, but knowing we had a good crew behind us in our coaching staff as well as great teammates, and seeing how far we could push ourselves to get that goal. In reaching every year for the top held us accountable.”

Joining Bon and Jacobs in the first eights boat were the recently-named Big 12 Rower of the Year, junior Ljiljana Josic, along with Milica Slijepcevic, Aspa Christodoulidis, Alexandra Watson, Francesca Raggi, Maria Valencia and Kaitlin Knifton.

Washington wound up with 132 points, sweeping and breaking time records in all three races for the second time in NCAA rowing history. Michigan came in third with 119 points, and Stanford and Ohio State rounded out the top five, with 116 and 105 points, respectively.

“That first eight race was probably the tightest I’ve seen at this championship, and I’ve been to quite a few now,” O’Neill said. “Three lead changes and really close finishes. Of course, we were looking for the win, but credit to Washington. They deserved to victory, and I’m cannot be more proud of what we’ve accomplished at Texas.”

Signifying not just how far Texas has come, but the perseverance of the entire squad this season perhaps better than anyone is Chapman. The Longhorn senior raced in the championships her freshman year, but the competition got so strong the past two seasons she was left out. That never deterred her, and in fact fueled herself as well as the entire team to continue pushing each other.

This year she was in the fours boat that finished third overall and shattered its previous program-best finish from last season.

“My freshman year I raced at NCAA’s in the second eight and then the past two years, my sophomore and junior years, I didn’t race at NCAA’s. The team just keeps getting tougher and tougher,” Chapman said.

Joining Chapman in the fours were fellow seniors Murphy and Mufarreh, as well as Sophie Pendrill and Claudia Detefani.

“We really are driving each other and there is a lot of competition within the team, amongst the boats,” Chapman continued. “I think something that really has been helpful through that journey on Texas is that we push each other up through that. Knowing how hard it’s going to be, knowing how competitive it is, using that whole force behind you and bringing each other up instead of bringing each other down helps us get to where we are.”

Added O’Neil, “We kept the plan really simple for the day and focused on the basics of our program. Right and pressure filled races like we had today required a ton of character, and that really showed in each boat.
The second eight grand final race was quite tight as well, with Texas taking second place just about one second behind the Huskies. The Longhorns surged ahead at the end and slipped past the Wolverines in the race’s last 500 meters to claim second place.

The second eights squad was comprised of Lindsey Devore, Katelyn Bouthillette, Dail, Payten Kooyers, Merilynn Finley, Alexa McAuliffe, Marlowe Eldridge, Susanna Temming and Bowyer.

“We kept the plan really simple for the day and focused on the basics of our program,” O’Neill said. “Right and pressure filled races like we had today required a ton of character, and that really showed in each boat.”

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