ORLANDO - Returning from a three-week break, the UCF rowing team will travel to Decker Lake in Austin, Texas for the Longhorn Invitational.
In addition to the Black and Gold, the Longhorn Invite will feature five teams over the two day span. The Texas Longhorn hosts are coming off their third NCAA Championship win of the past four years. The crew has been sitting in the No. 1 position of the Pocock CRCA Poll for the entirety of the spring season thus far.
The two-day event will also feature more ranked competitors in No. 2 Stanford and No. 22 Oklahoma. This will mark the first time all season the three crews will participate in the same event.
No. 2 Stanford is coming off a week-long break after a clean sweep at Redwood Shores two weeks ago. Consequently, their II Eight was given the honors of ACC Crew of the Week for the week of April 15. The crew has consistently been placed at No. 2 in the CRCA Poll all season.
No. 22 Oklahoma is coming off a weekend at the Big Ten Invitational finishing in the top three seven times and the top two twice. The Longhorn Invitational will be the first time the Knights will face the Sooners and Longhorns as members of the SEC.
The Knights will also take on the SMU Mustangs at this weekend’s event. A familiar foe, the Black and Gold frequently competed against the Mustangs prior to joining the Big 12.
Also making the trip to Decker Lake is the Canadian National Team. The Team Canada crew recently won silver in the Women's Eight at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The National Team will only compete on Saturday morning.
This will be Head Coach Mara Allen’s first time returning to Austin, Texas since serving as an assistant and associate coach for the Longhorns for eight years. Allen aided in Texas’ back-to-back NCAA Championship wins in 2021 and 2022.
The Knights head to Austin following the release of the CRCA Poll on Tuesday where they were placed at No. 15 for the third consecutive week. The crew sat in this week’s poll with 1228 points.
Heats are slated to begin at 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday with the first UCF boat competing at 5:15 p.m. Racing for the Black and Gold will begin with the II Four, followed by the I Four, II Eight and finally the I Eight.
A and B Finals racing will begin in the morning the next day, starting at 8:45 a.m. ET on Saturday. The first scheduled race the Knights will be competing in is the I Four at 9:15 a.m.
All racing times are subject to change due to inclement weather in the Austin area.