On March 8-9, SMU, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas-Austin competed in their first scrimmage of the 2025 spring season on White Rock Lake. The scrimmage was split into two days, giving athletes the ability to make changes and improvements to take into the second day of racing.
The two days were organized into six different events consisting of varsity 8+, junior varsity 8+, varsity 4+, junior varsity 4+, third varsity 8+ and third varsity 4+, with each team competing in every event except the third varsity 4+ which only UT and OU raced. The Longhorns came out strong both days finishing first in every event, proving that their efforts that led them to win the 2024 NCAA D1 national rowing championships are still very much alive.
While No. 21 SMU didn’t beat No. 1 UT in any event, the team rowed competitively, making moves when necessary, like in the last 500 meters of the junior varsity 8+ race on Sunday. The boat, coxed by senior team captain, Josephine Wilson, made a successful sprint allowing them to cross the finish line ahead of OU, making up for their loss the previous day. Going into the scrimmage execution and focus were a priority, Wilson said.
“On Saturday, we really just wanted to go out and have a very calm, collected race and we did that and we had good margins on UT and OU, and then today [Sunday] we felt like we could be just as calm but a little more aggressive,” Wilson said. “We definitely had a tougher race with conditions and OU was definitely really pushing us and had the lead on us most of the course, but at the end the girls did a really good job of pulling together and just finding that higher gear together, and we ended up winning the race by a good bit, so that was really fun.”
Fans and athletes alike gathered in numerous places along the race course to show support for the team. Encouraging phrases like “Let’s go Mustangs,” were yelled aloud as a SMU boat neared the finish line.
With successes in every event, it was clear that UT is once again setting the stage for another successful season. Athletes like junior Alex Taylor who coxed the UT third varsity 4+, are not only proud of their performance this weekend, but excited to see where this season takes them in the future.
“I think our team did really well overall, I think we have a lot of good things going for us right now,” Taylor said. “But I think we also have a lot of improvements to make and it’s really exciting for the season to come.”
The proudness seen in the SMU athletes regarding their performance was reflected by head coach Chase Graham. Combining confidence with unity allowed SMU to make a comeback on Sunday, Graham said.
“I think they performed really well as a team, they were really unified, you know we didn’t have everything go our way last night, so it was great to have a quick turnaround to this morning and see how they responded,” Graham said. “It’s a young group, I think they did a great job with that response. Came out and had some successes today where we didn’t last night and you know, definitely learn some things moving forward, but overall pretty pleased with the progress.”
While these races were a good base point to build off of, SMU’s real goals lie in the ACC and NCAA Championships at the end of May.
“[Our goal is to] have a great team performance at the ACC championships, get a bid to NCAA Championships, and just get these guys having their best races of the year in May,” Graham said.
