Rowing
Texas rowing completed its regular season in dominant fashion Saturday, winning all three of its dual races against the University of San Diego.
A crowd of fans lined up along the footbridge underneath Mopac to watch the Longhorns compete on Lady Bird Lake in their only home regatta. Saturday’s regatta was also Texas’ last of the year before the Big 12 Championship on May 16–17.
In the varsity eight race, Texas jumped to an early lead and held on for the remainder of the 2,000 meters. The Longhorns finished 13 seconds ahead of the Toreros with a time of 6:30.4.
“I think we did a really good job of maintaining our lead and pulling out even further ahead,” senior captain Casey Redman said. “This win was just motivation to keep getting faster and keep working harder in practice. Every race has given us that extra push that we need to keep taking steps forward.”
The second varsity eight crew also built upon a strong start to beat out the Toreros. The Longhorns finished in 6:40.9, nearly eight seconds better than San Diego’s time.
“I think one of the biggest things I take from today is our second eight,” head coach Dave O’Neill said. “We made some adjustments to the second eight and that second eight is better than it has been in the past. I think we have that one figured out.”
The varsity four race was closer than either of the other two races, with Texas and San Diego neck and neck for most of the race until the Longhorns edged out the Toreros. Texas finished with a time of 7:19.1.
The Longhorns continue to work toward their goal of reaching the NCAA Championship. Saturday’s three races are the same races featured at the championship, and Texas will look to put on a strong showing at the Big 12 Championship in hopes of advancing to the national competition. However, O’Neill said even if his team fails to win the automatic bid by winning the Big 12 Championship, he believes Texas could still have a chance.
“I feel we’ve done well enough in the regular season already that even if we stumble at Big 12s, we still could get an at-large invite to the NCAA Championships,” O’Neill said. “I give our team a lot of credit. They’ve stepped up really well the last few weeks.”
— James Rodriguez
Track and field
As the semester comes to a close, the Texas track and field team is looking to ace the final test of the season.
At Mike A. Myers Stadium on Saturday, head coach Mario Sategna’s group swept both the men’s and women’s brackets at the Longhorn Invitational. The team excelled at the final meet before conference championships and other opportunities, picking up seven wins over the course of the day.
The men’s squad, which edged out Akron by 8 points, had three wins on the day. Sophomore hurdler Spencer Dunkerley-Offor posted the second-best time in the NCAA this season in the 110-meter hurdles. His wind-aided time of 13.54 seconds is his personal best and puts him in contention at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in two weeks.
The women crushed the competition, beating second-place Akron by more than 80 points thanks to four victories. The 4×100-meter relay team of senior Morgan Snow, freshman Caitland Smith, junior Morolake Akinosun, and sophomore Kendall Baisden took the event with a time of 45.31 seconds. Snow and Baisden each nabbed individual titles as well, with Baisden taking the 100-meter dash and Snow besting the competition in the 100-meter hurdles.
Texas will now have two weeks to rest up before heading to Ames, Iowa, for the Big 12 Outdoor Championships from May 15–17.
— Bradley Maddox
