Full name: Carie Brand Graves
Date of birth: June 27, 1953
Hometown: Spring Green, Wis.
High School: River Valley High School
College: University of Wisconsin '76
Graduate Degree: Harvard '85
In July of 1998, The University of Texas continued its trend of bringing the foremost coaching experts in intercollegiate athletics to the Forty Acres when Carie Graves, a three-time U.S. Olympic rower and Olympic gold medalist in 1984, was hired as Texas women's rowing head coach.
Graves, who is entering her 10th year as the Longhorns' rowing coach, led Texas to its sixth straight Big 12 Invitational regatta in 2007. She also coached junior Luise Fleischhauer to Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) First Team All-South Region accolades last season. The award marked the seventh consecutive year a Longhorn has been honored by the CRCA.
In 2006-2007, Graves guided the Horns to Texas Rowing team to four top-three finishes in the finals of the NCAA South/Central Regional, including a first-place finish in the varsity four C final, at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Longhorns finished 14th in the overall standings at the event, but placed seventh in the south region standings with 158 total points Texas added its sixth Big 12 Invitational title in 2007 and shined at the 2007 Longhorn Invitational posting 18 wins in 24 races at the three-day event.
Graves’ squad accumulated 136 points to finish 15th overall and seventh among all South Region teams at the 2006 NCAA South/Central Regional. The Longhorns’ first varsity boat claimed a first-place victory in the B finals, giving UT its lone victory at the NCAA’s. Earlier in the racing season, Texas kept its string of consecutive Big 12 Invitational wins alive, earning its fifth straight victory.
Coach Graves led Texas to its second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships in 2004, as UT's first varsity eight boat qualified after a sixth-place finish in the Varsity 8+ Grand Finals at the South/Central Regional Sprints in Oakridge, Tenn. For the second time in as many years, the Longhorns earned its highest-ever final ranking by the USRowing/ CRCA Varsity Eights Coaches poll, finishing the season ranked No. 13 in the final poll. Ruth Stiver and Julie Keedy closed their collegiate careers earning 2004 CRCA All-America honors, becoming the first Longhorns in history to receive such recognition from the CRCA. Stiver earned first-team accolades while Keedy received second-team laurels.
In just nine seasons, Graves has built UT's rowing program from the ground up. Texas has quickly established itself as a national contender, as it has finished four of the last seven seasons nationally ranked in the USRowing/CRCA Coaches Poll.
In 2002-03, Graves led Texas to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history. The Longhorns collected their third-straight All-Points Trophy by winning the unofficial Big 12 Conference Invitational on the Kansas River in Lawrence. Texas boats posted an impressive 39 first-place finishes during the 2002-03 campaign, the second most in school history. The Longhorns celebrated their storybook season with a trip to Britain to compete in the Henley Women's Regatta for the first time in the program's history.
During the 2001-02 season, Graves guided the Longhorns to a record 43 first-place finishes, a mark that still stands as the team's single-season best. She guided UT to its second-straight All-Points Trophy as the Horns won the Big 12 Invitational on its home course on Town Lake in Austin. Texas' first varsity eight squad finished its campaign ranked No. 17 in the USRowing/CRCA Poll, as the Longhorns narrowly missed their first trip to the NCAA Championships.
Graves led the Horns to their first ever Top 20 ranking during the 2000-01 season when they opened their spring campaign ranked No. 18 by USRowing/CRCA. The Longhorns finished the year with 32 first-place finishes, and also captured its first Big 12 title. The team went on to finish the year ranked No. 20 in the final coaches poll.
Recognized nationally as one of the foremost rowing coaches and clinicians in the nation, Graves spent 10 years as head coach of women's rowing at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., (1988-98) before arriving in Austin. Before coaching at Northeastern, Graves was head women's crew (rowing) coach at Harvard/Radcliffe from 1977-83. She has brought a wealth of collegiate coaching experience as well as her own international success to Texas as she built the program into one of the nation's finest.
While at Northeastern, Graves developed one of the top rowing programs in the nation, orchestrating NU's move from club status to varsity status in 1990. The Northeastern varsity eight was one of the top 16 crews to be invited to the first-ever NCAA Championships in 1997, where NU placed 12th. In 1998, Graves led her varsity eight to its second consecutive NCAA Championship appearance and a fourth-place finish. For her outstanding coaching efforts at Northeastern, Graves was recognized as 1997-98 Coach of the Year by the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges (EAWRC), an organization representing the collegiate rowing programs in the East Coast and Northeast sector of the country.
Prior to NCAA championship competition, Graves' NU squads consistently finished among the top eight varsity crews at the Eastern Sprints, which was then recognized as the strongest rowing league championships in the country.
Graves' extensive rowing experience includes 11 years as an international competitor, and selections to three U.S. Olympic rowing teams (in 1976, the boycotted 1980 year, and 1984). During her 11-year competitive rowing tenure, Graves rowed on five U.S. National Teams (1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983) and on the three Olympic teams, competing in the women's eight event. Her gold medal came at the 1984 Olympics. She also captured a bronze medal in that event during the 1976 Olympic Games. The U.S. Olympic Committee honored her as Rowing's Female Athlete of the Year in both 1981 and 1984.
Graves is a two-time inductee into the National Rowing Foundation Hall of Fame. She was selected to the Hall in 1984 as a member of the 1984 Olympic gold medalist crew and was also honored by the Hall of Fame in 1991 when she was inducted as a member of the 1980 Olympic Team.
In August of 1998, Graves was a rowing participant at the 1998 Nike World Masters Games in Portland Ore., where 25,000 athletes in 25 sports from 71 different countries competed. She helped generate national publicity for her sport as she competed with three of her sisters at the international meet. The Graves siblings, their training regimen and their Nike Master Games racing were featured on ABC TV's "Good Morning America" television show, and in USA Today.
Graves has also received recognition by her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, when she was listed No. 16 on its "Top 100 Athletes of the Century" list. Graves also was one of 11 selected as the "Century's Most Notable People" in American Rowing by the 2000-01 American Rower's Almanac.
Graves attended the University of Wisconsin (Madison) as an undergraduate, studying English. She then completed her master's degree at Harvard University in 1985, receiving a Master's of Education in administration, planning and social policy. Graves was the first inductee into UW's Women's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.
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