AUSTIN, Texas – No. 2 Texas Rowing travels west to open its 2026 season at the historic San Diego Crew Classic on March 28-29. Racing will take place over a 2,000-meter course on Fiesta Bay-Crown Point Shores of Mission Bay Park in San Diego. The regatta is widely regarded as America’s premier spring regatta, featuring junior, collegiate, adaptive and masters racing.
Live results for this weekend can be found at Regatta Master. Fans can stream the event on Overnight.
Texas’ First Varsity Eight is among 11 teams that will race for the Jessop-Whittier Cup/Cal Cup Collegiate Invitational. The field includes No. 2 Texas, No. 5 Washington, No. 10 Cal, UCLA, Sacramento State, University of San Diego, University of California at San Diego, Washington State and Wisconsin. Texas will race in the first heat at Noon CT on Saturday.
The Second Eight will compete for the Women’s Collegiate 2V Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy and the Four will race for the Women’s Collegiate Varsity 4+ Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup. The Longhorns will also race a Third Eight boat in the Women’s Open 8+ Carley Copley Cup.
Recapping the 2025 San Diego Crew Classic
At last year’s San Diego Crew Classic, Texas won three grand finals and finished runner-up in a fourth. The Longhorns went up against some of the nation’s top programs, including No. 5 Washington, No. 8 California, No. 20 Notre Dame, No. 23 Southern California and No. 24 Washington State.
The Texas First Varsity Eight secured the first victory for Texas in the Jessop-Whittier Cup Invitational, edging out Washington in 6:19.318. The Huskies finished runner-up in 6:20.139, followed by third-place Cal (6:24.993), fourth-place Washington State (6:36.751), fifth-place USC (6:38.748), sixth-place Notre Dame (6:41.951), seventh-place UCLA (6:44.915) and eighth-place UCSD (6:49.475).
The Texas Four followed with a runner-up finish in the Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup, throwing down a final time of 7:07.209 in a tightly contested race with Washington. Washington narrowly won the race in 6:06.145. Cal (7:21.322) finished behind Texas in third followed by fourth-place UCLA (7:32.015).
In the Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy final, the Texas II Eight earned UT’s second win of the day after crossing the finish line in 6:29.739 to beat out runner-up Washington (6:31.341). Cal placed third in 6:36.839, followed by fourth-place USC (6:45.652).
Rounding out the weekend, the Texas III Eight dominated the Carley Copley Cup final and won it in 6:44.655. Washington finished runner-up in 6:48.141 followed by third-place Cal (6:50.353), fourth-place Notre Dame (7:11.751), fifth-place UCLA (7:16.341) and sixth-place UCSD (7:35.642).
San Diego Crew Classic
When: March 28-29
Where: Fiesta Bay-Crown Point Shores of Mission Bay Park, San Diego, Calif.
Saturday, March 28
I Eight: Women’s Collegiate Varsity Jessop-Whittier Cup Invitational
12 p.m. CT / 10 a.m. PT – Heat 1 of 2
Four: Women’s Collegiate Varsity 4+ Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup
12:56 p.m. CT/10:56 a.m. PT – Prelim
II Eight: Women’s Collegiate 2V Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy
1:04 p.m. CT/11:04 a.m. PT – Heat 1 of 2
III Eight: Women’s Open Carley Copley Cup
2:08 p.m. CT/12:08 p.m. PT – Prelim
Sunday, March 29
Sunday’s race times will be posted once available.
Athletes to Watch
Seniors Maya Meschkuleit, Marg Van der Wal and Amy Werner were named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association’s (CRCA) Athletes to Watch list prior to the season.
Van der Wal and Werner were integral pieces in Texas’ 2025 First Varsity Eight, powering the Longhorns to a third-place finish at the 2025 NCAA National Championships. Under their leadership, Texas collected its eighth-consecutive top-four finish at the national regatta. The I Eight recorded a podium finish on June 1, 2025, placing third in 6:09.848. With their efforts, the UT First Eight has posted a podium finish in six of the last seven NCAA Championships. In the final race of the national meet, the I Eight battled hard to seal Texas’ third-place team finish. Van der Wal and Werner also helped Texas capture the first-ever SEC Rowing Championship after throwing down a clutch, come-from-behind performance to win the I Eight and clinch the conference title. Texas extended its conference championship winning streak to 10-straight while winning the program’s 14 overall conference crown.
It marks the second-consecutive year in which Van der Wal landed on the CRCA’s Athletes to Watch list. The Groningen, Netherlands, native returns for her senior year in 2026 after being selected as a finalist for the CRCA’s Athlete of the Year in 2025. A two-time CRCA First-Team All-American, Van der Wal was instrumental in Texas’ 2025 SEC Championship and third-place finish at the NCAA Championships. In addition to being named a 2025 finalist for the CRCA’s Athlete of the Year, Van der Wal was also named a CRCA First-Team All-American, SEC Rower of the Year, SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, First-Team All-SEC and SEC Rower of the Week (April 16). Van der Wal is the 11th Longhorn in program history to be selected to the All-America First Team multiple times. Over the summer, Van der Wal and Texas teammate Ilva Boone (Netherlands 2-) won gold in the Women’s Pair at the U-23 World Championships in Poland.
Werner was named a 2025 CRCA First-Team All-America selection for the first time in her career. Werner also garnered First-Team All-SEC recognition last season as well.
Meschkuleit transferred to Texas from Yale during summer 2025. It marks her second-consecutive season being named to the CRCA’s Athletes to Watch list. The Mississauga, Ontario, native was a 2025 National Champion in the First Varsity Eight for the Bulldogs and sat in the three-seat of that boat, setting a championship-record time of 6:06.138. Meschkuleit earned CRCA First-Team All-America honors and Second-Team All-Ivy League accolades in 2025. She sat in the seven seat of the Varsity Eight that won a silver medal at the Ivy League Championship. She brings a plethora of international experience to the Forty Acres after rowing for Team Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics and earning a silver medal in the Coxed Eight. She made her debut for the Canadian Eight at the 2024 Rowing World Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland, guiding Canada to a gold medal. She competed at the senior World Rowing Championships for the first time in 2023, racing to a sixth-place finish in the C final of the pair with Caileigh Filmer.
The Longhorns return Amy Werner, Imy Grey, Marg Van der Wal, Ilva Boone, Phoebe Wise, Lucy McFarlane, Lucy Searle and Abby Dawsom from Texas’ NCAA Championships I Eight boat. Bronwen Holmes, Rhiannon Luke, Katherine Nordheim, Allie Alton, Amelia Gleed, Savvy Jerome and Ellie Rodriguez, who raced at the NCAA Championships in the II Eight, return. Paris West, Daniela Thiermann, Jess Colbran and Paula Becher, who raced at the national meet in the I Four, are back for the Horns this season.
In the Rankings
Texas is ranked No. 2 in the country in this week’s CRCA Coaches Poll.
Texas was ranked as the preseason No. 3 team in the country according to the poll, which was released on Feb. 11. It marked the ninth-consecutive year Texas was ranked inside the top-four in the initial poll and the 11th-straight time UT has garnered a top-eight preseason ranking.
Texas Dominance
Last season, Texas finished third at the NCAA Championships after totaling 118 points – the fifth-highest points total at a national meet in program history. The I Eight earned a podium finish after placing third in 6:09.848 while the II Eight registered a fourth-place finish in 6:17.213. The Longhorn I Four placed third in 6:59.548. Texas has finished inside the top-three in six of the last seven national meets including three national titles, all under head coach Dave O’Neill.
In 2025, Texas won the program’s 10th-straight conference title and its first as a member of the SEC. It was Texas’ 14th overall conference crown as the Longhorns placed first out of four teams in the inaugural SEC Rowing Championship (No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 24 Oklahoma and Alabama). Texas totaled 83 points to edge out second-place Tennessee, who accumulated 78 points.
Up Next
Following the San Diego Crew Classic, No. 2 Texas travels to Bloomington, Ind., to clash with Indiana on April 9.