Rowing Claims Six Victories On Final Day Of Longhorn Invitational
The Texas Rowing team opened the spring sprint season with a dominant weekend showing at the Longhorn Invitational. The Longhorns won 27 of 32 races, including six of seven in Sunday's morning session.
UT's varsity crews claimed victory in 14 of 16 races during the three-day meet, while the novice crews took 13 wins in 16 races. Teams competed on a 2,000-meter, two-lane race course at Lady Bird Lake.
UT's second varsity eight boat highlighted the morning action on Sunday with a nearly six-second win against rival Oklahoma. Led by coxswain Rachel Donnelly, the boat of Brenna Coldren, Chelsea Burns, Melanie Eckert, Kim Gorcyca, Katarina Susac, Courtney Nicklas, Katie Trovato and Karli Sheahan took advantage of the still, but humid morning conditions to finish the race in 7:08.8, while the Sooners crossed at 7:14.3. This marked the boat's fourth win of the weekend.
The first varsity four boat of coxswain Kassandra Budzik, Taylor Parker, Tea Vrtlar, Lyndsey DuBose and Sarah Pedersen won over OU by more than 10 seconds to finish the weekend undefeated. UT crossed the finish in 8:09.2, followed by the Sooners in 8:24.4.
The second varsity four boat of coxswain Kat Tong, Abbey Wilkowski, Emily Jones, Jillian Byron and Shari Singhalso claimed a Sunday victory against the Sooners, as UT finished in 8:13.0 to OU's 8:18.9.
The first varsity eight boat of coxswain Megan Kelly, Hannah Moon, Laurel McCaig, Olivia Nail, Jessica Glennie, Jackie Gorcyca, Casey Redman, Devon Clark and Felicia Izaguirre-Werner lost its first race of the meet to OU. The Longhorns finished seven seconds behind the Sooners (6:59.5 to 7:06.7) on Sunday morning.
Led by coxswain Kenna Harris, UT's second novice eight boat began the final morning session with a win against OU. The Longhorns' boat of Heather Leighton, Katie Ogg, Jazmin Smith, Sarita Scott, Nicole Kruijs, Lauren Moberg, Brenda Morlan-Villafuerte and Lucia Mueller crossed the finish line in 7:28.5, while the Sooners finished at 8:02.8.
The first novice eight boat of coxswain Stephanie Bickford, Taylar Williams, Sky Gilmour, Sara Walton, Lauren Barlow, Alex Buck, Amy Gross, Kara Turner and Christine Young also were victorious against the Sooners. UT crossed the line in 7:20.5; OU's boat finished at 7:37.0.
The first novice four, comprised of coxswain Anna Vaught, Jessica Williams, Angela Bumstead, Jenna Shorter and Sarah Ott was the final UT crew to compete on Sunday morning, and the Longhorns defeated Kansas State. UT crossed in 8:19.9, while the Wildcats finished in 8:42.7.
