Texas Longhorns win 3rd NCAA rowing title in past 4 years

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns rowed to another NCAA national title Sunday, edging rival Stanford for the crown at Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio.

It’s the third championship in the past four years for the Longhorns rowing team and it’s the first time Texas has won two events at the national regatta.

Texas claimed wins in the Four and the First Varsity Eight Grand Finals, but head coach Dave O’Neill said it was the second-place finish from the Second Eight that set the tone.

“The Second Eight had their best race of the year, and we knew it’d be needed,” O’Neill said. “There were no certainties heading into the final, and we said that race was going to determine the regatta. They showed true Texas Fight, and it was a great race throughout.”

The team finished 2.16 seconds behind Stanford in the race, but it set the stage for the first eight to go out and secure a national title.

O’Neill said the team’s Four lineup was shuffled earlier in the week but it didn’t bother the Longhorns. They dominated the race and won by over four seconds ahead of runner-up Princeton. Stanford finished third in the Four, leaving the door open for the Longhorns to capitalize.

“We figured if the Four and Second Eight could give the First Eight a chance, we’d be in good position,” O’Neill said. “That’s the way it should be. They wanted that responsibility, and they stepped up in a big way.”

Texas’ First Eight outlasted the Cardinal and third-place Tennessee to claim the race, finishing in 6 minutes, 9.920 seconds. Stanford clocked in at 6:11.804 while the Volunteers finished at 6:12.156. Princeton led the race after the first 500 meters but the Tigers quickly fell off the pace to finish fourth.

O’Neill has now coached five varsity eights to national titles, the most by a single coach in NCAA history. The Longhorns have finished in the top eight nationally in all of O’Neill’s nine seasons as head coach, and there was something about this title that made O’Neill especially proud.

“That was spectacular racing by all three crews, and I could not be more proud of this team,” he said. “They did something very special today, and it all started with our first team meeting back in August. I give them a lot of credit for buying in, doing the work and making each other better every step of the way.”