Rowing preview: Fighting Nutria
Feb. 11, 2012
Texas at the Fighting Nutria ABOUT THE RACE The Fighting Nutria is a local rivalry race between The University of Texas Rowing team and the UT men's club team, Texas Crew, to highlight who worked hard over winter break. Whoever earns the most points (pre-determined points system) wins the Fighting Nutria trophy for their respective boathouse. The race is managed by the Austin Rowing Club via volunteers, and hooks onto the Winter Warrior race amongst the city clubs. This is a head race style format with the boats starting at approximately 8 a.m. (Central) and launching every 20 seconds, chasing (and hopefully passing) the boats ahead of them for the entire 8km of the river, east dam to west dam. The course runs from Red Bud Island in the east to Bird Island in the west near the western Longhorn Dam. The course runs under all seven bridges of Lady Bird Lake and can be easily viewed by fans and spectators from any of the bridges. The varsity men's eights will start first with the varsity women's boats chasing them, followed by the novice men's and women's eights. The city club boats from Austin Rowing Club, Texas Rowing Center, and Rowing Dock follow after a break and are judged separately from the college crews. This is the last long-distance head-style race that Texas competes in before beginning the NCAA-format sprint distance of 2km. LONGHORN NOTABLES * Texas concluded its fall 2011 racing season with three wins on the final day of the Head of the Hooch (Nov. 6), posting victories in the open 2-, open 8+ and championship 1x. Sophomore Sydney Boyes won the championship 1x among a field of 10 entries, clocking a time of 19:32.0. The tandem of Felicia Izaguirre-Werner and Jacqueline Gorcyca claimed the open2- victory with a time of 19:19.0. UT's varsity entry in the women's open 8+ also was victorious, as the crew of coxswain Megan Kelly, stroke Taylor Parker, Jessica Glennie, Olivia Nail, Anna Thomson, Lauren Studey, Tea Vrtlar, Devon Clark and Courtney Nicklas clocked a time of 16:44.4. On the first day of action at the Head of the Hooch (Nov. 5), Texas' first varsity eight comprised of coxswain Megan Kelly, stroke Melanie Eckert, Laurel McCaig, Jacqueline Gorcyca, Jessica Glennie, Devon Clark, Anna Thomson, Sydney Boyes and Felicia Izaguirre-Werner finished second with a time of 16:04.4, just two tenths of a second behind Tennessee's first-place boat (16:04.2). The second varsity eight boat of coxswain Emily Lantz, stroke Taylor Parker, Casey Redman, Olivia Nail, Kim Gorcyca, Hannah Moon, Karli Sheahan, Katie Trovato and Courtney Nicklas placed fourth in the championship eight with a time of 16:27.9.
* Texas notched victories in the open eight and second novice eight races at the Head of the Colorado on Lady Bird Lake (Oct. 29). The Horns also added eight other top-five finishes at the regatta. In the open eight, Texas first varsity eight boat of coxswain Megan Kelly, stroke Melanie Eckert, Laurel McCaig, Hannah Moon, Jessica Glennie, Jacqueline Gorcyca, Kim Gorcyca, Sydney Boyes and Felicia Izaguirre-Werner finished first, clocking a time of 16:09.4. * At the Head of the Charles (Oct. 23), the Longhorns notched a pair of top 20 finishes, posting a fourth-place finish in the championship four and a 15th-place showing in the championship eight. The championship four boat comprised of coxswain Emily Lantz, Taylor Parker, Chelsea Burns, Olivia Nail and Kim Gorcyca registered a time of 19:18.201. Texas' championship eight crew clocked a time of 17:04.127. * The Texas Rowing team kicked off its 2011 fall racing season at the Head of the Oklahoma (Oct. 1) with three top-five finishes, including a win in the collegiate four. The Longhorns' first varsity four boat of coxswain Megan Kelly, Jacqueline Gorcyca, Laurel McCaig, Sydney Boyes and Felicia Izaguirre-Werner clocked a time of 14:50.103 to win the collegiate fours race. Texas' second four crew of coxswain Rachel Donnelly, Taylor Parker, Karli Sheahan, Hannah Moon and Courtney Nicklas placed third in the race, posting a time of 15:19.941. UT's first varsity eight crew of coxswain Kelly, stroke J. Gorcyca, Izaguirre-Werner, Boyes, McCaig, Moon, Nicklas, Parker and Sheahan placed second in the collegiate 8+ with a time of 13:26.145. * Last spring, Texas won its third-straight Big 12 Rowing Championship and captured its first Conference USA Rowing title. In conjunction with the C-USA championship, head coach Carie Graveswas named the C-USA Coach of the Year, while senior stroke Jennifer VanderMaarel was tabbed as the C-USA Rowing Athlete of the Year and freshman Sydney Boyes garnered C-USA Newcomer of the Year accolades. Additionally seniors Tajana Lovric, Sally Tunell and Jelena Zunic joined VanderMaarel on the all-conference squad. * At the 2011 C-USA Championship, Texas won the overall title with 48 points with runner-up Tennessee totaling 42 points after placing second in all three scoring events. Oklahoma (32) finished third overall, with a bronze medal in the Second Varsity 8 race. UCF (31) placed fourth and Tulsa (26) finished fifth after bronze medals in the Varsity 8 and Varsity 4, respectively. * Last April, Texas won the third annual Big 12 Rowing Championship, marking its third-straight conference title after capturing the previous seven Big 12 Invitational crowns. Texas won the conference championship, totaling 111 points, while Oklahoma finished second with 85 points, Kansas claimed third with 67 points and Kansas State finished fourth with 54 points. The Longhorns' won all five of their races, winning the first varsity eight, second varsity eight, first varsity four, first novice eight and second novice eight. The Longhorns' first varsity eight crew of coxswain Megan Kelly, stroke Jennifer VanderMaarel , Laurel McCaig, Jacqueline Gorcyca, Jessica Glennie, Jelena Zunic, Anna Thomson, Sydney Boyes and Felicia Izaguirre-Werner won its race handily, posting a time of 6:47.7 to best Oklahoma (6:57.9), Kansas State (7:02.5) and Kansas (7:03.5).
University of Texas Lineups Collegiate Varsity Eight First Varsity Eight: Coxswain Rachel Donnelly, stroke Jacqueline Gorcyca, Laurel McCaig, Olivia Nail, Chelsea Burns, Katarina Susac, Tea Vrtlar, Taylor Parker and Felicia Izaguirre-Werner Second Varsity Eight: Coxswain Megan Kelly, stroke Jessie Glennie, Brenna Coldren, Casey Redman, Devon Clark, Hannah Moon, Kim Gorcyca, Sydney Boyes and Courtney Nicklas Third Varsity Eight: Coxswain Emily Lantz, stroke Lyndsey DuBose, Sarah Pedersen, Abby Wilkowski, Karli Sheahan, Taylor Dorsey, Lauren Studey, Jillian Byron and Emily Jones
Collegiate Novice Eight Bow #14: Coxswain Kassie Budzik, stroke Taylar Williams, Christine Young, Kara Turner, Amy Gross, Alex Buck, Angela Bumstead, Sara Walton and Lauren Barlow Bow #15: Coxswain Stephanie Bickford, stroke Brenda Morlan-Villafuerte, Sarita Scott, Sarah Ott, Sky Gilmour, Jazmin Smith, Kim Magnus, Jessica Williams and Lauren Moberg Bow #17: Coxswain Kenna Harris, stroke Nicole Kruijs, Caroline Beltran, Heather Leighton, Julia Colman, Alline Kane, Lucia Mueller, Sam Jackson and Corey Timmerman Bow #18: Coxswain Anna Vaught, stroke Whitney Glick, Katie Ogg, Angela Harris, Edima Essien, Jenna Shorter, Lauren Deschner, Erissa Hinshaw and Madeline Stalheber
Collegiate Novice Four Bow #20: Coxswain Caitlin Mantooth, Michele Segroves, Hannah Ritchie, Kaetie Turner and Casey Timmerman |
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