Texas Rows Into History as SEC’s First Conference Champions

The Longhorns took three of the six races, earning 83 points. Tennessee finished closely behind, winning the other three races and en route to 78 points. Alabama took third place with 35 points, while Oklahoma carried the last tally with 34.

“Being the first SEC championship, that certainly meant a lot,” Texas head coach Dave O’Neill said. “We had a good run in the last conference [nine straight Big 12 championships], and we wanted to kick things off right here. And big challenge, weird challenge, but really glad we came out on top. And it was a big goal for us throughout the year. I’m glad it worked out.”

Despite Tennessee taking the first two races of the day, Texas rallied to take the next two races to take the lead. After the Lady Vols stole the second varsity eight, the championship came down to the first varsity eight, with 36 points on the line for the winner.

Tennessee held a two-second lead through the first 500 meters, carrying that into the second 500. By the 1,500-meter mark, Texas separated. The Longhorns were ahead by nearly nine seconds heading to the final stretch of the race.

As the finish line approached, it was Texas crossing first. The Longhorns finished with a 6:12.420 time, claiming a win by three seconds over Tennessee. The Lady Vols narrowed the gap and came in second at 6:15.586, earning second place for the day.

“I think this is probably the most competitive conference there is right now,” O’Neill said. “I think this is probably going to be the tightest racing of any conference championship out there. So yeah, certainly happy to pull out the win.”

Tennessee opened the morning with a win in third varsity four, sneaking past Texas by two-tenths of a second. The Lady Vols earned four points with a 7:19.123, which was just enough to overcome the Longhorns’ 7:19.338. Alabama took third 40 seconds later, while Oklahoma failed to break eight minutes, taking last place.

The Lady Vols continued to get off to a strong start, stealing a win in the third varsity eight race, clearing Texas by seven seconds. Tennessee punched a time of 6:35.926 to move up to 12 points through two races.

Texas took the second varsity four race, pulling within one point of the Lady Vols. The three-second win for the Longhorns was their first of the day.

An 11-second win in the first varsity four for Texas gave the Longhorns their first lead of the morning. Texas jumped ahead with 29 points, pulling past Tennessee’s 27. The Lady Vols responded with a second varsity eight win by less than two seconds, setting up the finale for the title.

“I never thought we’d had a chance at the points completely, because as a full team, Texas has been very, very deep at the conference championships in the Big 12,” Tennessee head coach Kim Cupini said. “So to be here in the SEC and win quite a few events and have a shot at the overall team points all the way down to the wire in the varsity eight was amazing, and we fell a little short, but it was awesome to see the fight.”

Texas pulled through, summoning confetti from the stage as the Longhorns were handed the inaugural trophy.