Men's golf
The No. 2 men’s golf team earned a split Saturday at the Red Raider Shootout in Lubbock.
The Longhorns first faced No. 23 New Mexico, which they defeated in a tiebreaker. Redshirt senior Brax McCarthy finished square with his opponent, as did freshman Doug Ghim. The Red Raiders defeated senior Kramer Hickok and freshman Scottie Scheffler, leaving sophomores Beau Hossler and Gavin Hall to win it for the team in a tiebreaker. Hossler beat senior Sam Saunders, 6-and-5, and Hall beat freshman Gustavo Morantes, 6-and-4.
In the second match of the afternoon, Texas fell to No. 10 Texas Tech. Of the six Longhorns in competition, only Hossler and Hickok won their matches. Both won, 1-up.
Next up for the Longhorns is the Big 12 Championship, held from April 27–29 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
— Caroline Hall
Men's tennis
No. 10 Texas fell to No. 7 TCU by a score of 4–1 Saturday, its second loss in as many matches. The Longhorns’ match in Fort Worth was their final regular season match of the season, and the loss dropped them to fourth in the Big 12 standings. Saturday marked Texas’ second-consecutive conference loss, both against teams ranked in the top 10 of the ITA rankings.
Texas struggled from the outset against TCU, as the Longhorns lost the doubles point as well as the first two singles matches to fall behind the Horned Frogs, 3–0. No. 5 senior Søren Hess–Olesen was the lone Longhorn to win a match, defeating No. 44 senior Nick Chappell, 6–3, 6–4.
The victory marked Hess–Olesen’s 100th win at the singles position in a Texas uniform, making him the ninth player in Texas history to reach the 100-victory mark. Hess–Olesen holds a .730 winning percentage as a Longhorn, the highest winning percentage of any Texas player with 100 career victories.
The Longhorns (18–5, 2–3 Big 12) finished under .500 in the conference for the first time since 2011–2012. In a conference with four teams ranked in the top 10 of the ITA rankings, Texas holds the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Men’s Tennis Championship, which begins Friday in Waco.
— Michael Shapiro
Track and field
Torrential rainstorms and more than a little bit of hail foiled many plans this weekend throughout the state. This proved problematic in Waco as the Michael Johnson Classic was forced to call it a day with five events remaining. But even storm fronts and nasty weather couldn’t stop Texas’ track and field team from gathering a couple more wins in what continues to be an impressive season.
Junior Courtney Okolo and senior Clint Harris won Texas’ two titles this weekend at Baylor. Okolo, who remains on the Bowerman Trophy watch list, won the 400-meter dash in a time of 50.99 seconds, the new Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium record. Her teammate, sophomore Kendall Baisden, finished second with a time of 51.22 seconds.
Harris collected his first win of the season with a winning discus throw of 55.21 meters (181-2). He qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2012–2013 in the event and will look to get some more podium time in the coming weeks as the outdoor season heats up.
Next weekend marks a major benchmark for the team as the Longhorns head to the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States. The Penn Relays, held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field, have gone on since 1895 and have been known to attract more than 15,000 participants and
100,000 spectators.
— Bradley Maddox
Volleyball
Playing in a tournament for the second weekend in a row, Texas volleyball went 2–1 in the Lone Star Classic College Showcase in Dallas on Saturday.
The Longhorns got off to a good start, defeating North Texas in two sets, but then dropped their second match of the spring in a 2–1 defeat to Texas A&M. Texas rebounded with a two-set victory over Texas Tech.
The tournament featured teams from Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
The Longhorns will close out their spring season against UTSA at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Austin.
— Jacob Martella
Women's rowing
With the spring season heating up, Texas traveled to Clemson, South Carolina, to compete in the Clemson Invitational. The No. 14 Longhorns, who are ranked nationally for the first time since 2012, defeated five top-20 opponents and posted one first-place finish.
Saturday’s morning session included three battles between Texas and No. 10 Washington State in the varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four races. Washington State edged out the Longhorns to take first place in all three races. In each race, the Longhorns finished no more than a one-and-a-half seconds behind Washington State.
In the afternoon session, the Longhorns posted a time of 6:22.8 in the varsity eight but finished second. The second varsity eight took third. The varsity four and second varsity four teams both claimed second place behind Virginia.
The Longhorns began Sunday’s competition by challenging No. 12 Indiana in the varsity eight race, eventually finishing second. The Longhorns experienced similar results in the second varsity eight race, finishing second.
The Longhorns’ varsity four boat then took the first victory of the weekend, beating out Syracuse and Indiana to finish first with a time of 7:21.4. Texas closed out the weekend with a second-place finish against Indiana in the second varsity four race.
Texas will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, for the Dale England Cup next weekend.
— James Rodriguez
