Men's tennis
No. 10 Texas fell just short of taking down No. 1 Oklahoma in the semifinals of the Big 12 Men’s Tennis Championship on Saturday, ultimately losing to the Sooners, 4–3.
In a nail–biting finish, the score was tied at three wins apiece when Texas sophomore George Goldhoff squared off against Oklahoma sophomore Alex Ghilea in the final match of the day. Goldhoff won the first set of the match handily by a score of 6–2, but Ghilea rebounded to win the second set, 6–3. The third and final set would decide the outcome of the matchup between the Big 12 rivals.
Despite falling behind, 5–6, in the third set, Goldhoff fought off elimination by breaking Ghilea’s serve and tying the match at 6–6 to send it to a third-set tiebreaker. The momentum from Goldhoff’s break did not last, however, and he dropped the tiebreak by a score of 7–3.
“George has nothing to hang his head about,” head coach Michael Center said after the game. “His level of play continues to go up with every match down the stretch. He just came up a little bit short against a great opponent today. I’m proud of him.”
Saturday’s match featured a high-profile contest between two of Big 12’s premier players at the No. 1 singles line. No. 4 Søren Hess–Olesen took the court for Texas against No. 2 junior Axel Alvarez Llamas. In the most anticipated match of the day, Hess–Olesen fell to Alvarez in straight sets, 6–4, 7–5. The loss drops Hess-Olesen’s record to 18-4 for the year, with all losses coming against Big 12 opponents.
After being eliminated from Big 12 competition Saturday, Texas will conclude its season at the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship starting May 8. Seeding for the tournament will be announced at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
— Michael Shapiro
Track and field
At the oldest track meet in the United States this weekend, the Texas men’s and women’s track teams earned two victories.
Philadelphia’s Penn Relays posed a challenge for head coach Mario Sategna’s Longhorns — one they handled nicely. The women turned in another strong performance after an already-impressive season, winning the women’s 4×400-meter relay and the women’s 100-meter hurdles.
In the 100-meter hurdles, senior Morgan Snow, one of the veterans on the team, picked up the win with a time of 13.13 seconds. The sprinter was less than .3 seconds off her personal-best time of 12.88, but on a cold weekend, her time was plenty to secure the title.
In the heavily anticipated 4×400-meter relay, the women picked up the win with a time of 3:29.46. The group won last year’s event at the Penn Relays and came back in hopes of a repeat, which it accomplished with ease. Second-place University of Technology, Jamaica finished a full two seconds behind the blazing Texas foursome, which was led by junior Courtney Okolo’s 50.04-second anchor leg. This win is the third in five years for the lady Longhorns at the historic meet.
Texas will not have to travel this weekend as it hosts the Longhorn Invitational at the Mike A. Meyers Stadium. The meet will begin Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and last until the last 4×400-meter team crosses the finish line.
— Bradley Maddox
Women's golf
The momentum from recent, late-season improvement did not make a difference for the Texas women’s golf team as it finished in sixth place with a score of 887 (+23) at the Big 12 Championships in San Antonio this weekend.
On The Dominion Country Club golf course, junior Tezira Abe led the Longhorns, tying for 10th place with a three-round score of 220 (+4). Abe’s 10th-place finish was her best finish this season and her score, 220 (+4), tied another personal season best.
After tying for first place at her last tournament, the Ping/ASU Invitational, senior Bertine Strauss struggled to play up to her past success. She posted her worst round of the season with a 77 (+5) while scoring a 222 (+6) overall. While those numbers are atypical for Strauss, her performance was still good for 20th place.
Two strokes behind Strauss was sophomore Julia Beck, who scored a 224 (+8) for a 22nd-place tie. Two other Longhorns — junior Natalie Karcher and sophomore Anne Hakula — also contributed to the team. Karcher posted a score of 228 (+12) and tied for 28th place, while Hakula put up a score of 229 (+13) and tied for 32nd place.
Baylor easily ran away with the tournament, finishing with a score of 867 (+3) — 12 strokes ahead of second-place TCU.
— Bridget Bonasoro
Women's rowing
Texas’ 12th-ranked women’s rowing team outperformed No. 11 Indiana, Columbia and Notre Dame over two days of racing on Lake Lemon in Bloomington, Indiana, to take home the Dale England Cup on Saturday morning. The Longhorns collected 63 points over the course of the races, enough to earn them first place over Indiana, which finished with 57 points. Notre Dame finished in third with 42 points, while Columbia trailed with 18.
Texas soundly defeated all of its opponents in Friday’s races, which pitted the Longhorns against Columbia’s varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four teams and Indiana’s first and second varsity four teams in a series of dual races.
Saturday’s races featured a change in the racing format as inclement weather forced officials to abandon the dual races in favor of four-lane races, in which all four teams raced against each other. The schools competed in the varsity eight, second varsity eight, varsity four and second varsity four events.
The Longhorns began the day with a second-place finish behind Indiana in the varsity eight race to earn 27 points. The race was the last time Texas finished anything but first at the regatta. The Longhorns beat out Notre Dame in the second varsity eight race for a top finish and 24 points and then completed the day with a pair of wins in the varsity four and second varsity four races to add 12 points to their total.
“Both fours did a great job, and we’re starting to show some good depth on the team,” head coach Dave O’Neill said. “This is going to be very important as we move forward. It was a good weekend, and I’m pretty happy with the way our team raced.”
— James Rodriguez
