The Iowa rowing team traveled to Austin, Texas, over the weekend for the Longhorn Invitational. Texas won the event, and Virginia came in second. The Hawkeyes finished third, defeating No. 16 Indiana.

The finish wasn’t a bad one considering the quality of teams at the meet: No. 4 Texas, No. 10 Virginia, No. 11 USC, No. 16 Indiana, No. 20 Oklahoma, No. 18 Oregon State, and Notre Dame.

The team was supposed to compete on April 27 with heats in the morning and finals in the evening, but because winds and thunderstorms were forecast for later that day, the first heats were moved up to April 26 at 6:30 with the finals on the morning of April 27.

“I think we took a good step forward as a team,” Iowa head coach Andrew Carter said in a release. “In particular, the 1V4+ had a successful two days. The crew has only been together for the past few days, so it was great to see them race as well as they did. I’m keen to see how they go after a couple of weeks under their belt.”

In its final race, 1 Varsity 4 held the lead for the first 1,000 meters, but Texas took over at the 1,250-meter mark and held on to the lead. Virginia and Iowa battled for second, but the Hawkeyes fell behind by 0.58 seconds.

The 1 Novice 8 had success in the B final on April 27. The freshman Hawkeyes started strong and kept their lead the entire race, beating Notre Dame and Oklahoma and taking first by seven seconds.

“The Novice 8+ won their final today, which was good to see,” Carter said in a release. “They raced in a combined Novice/third Varsity event, so to be out in front of some 3V crews was again a confidence-builder for our young crew. I expect those rowers to continue to progress over the next three weeks.”

The Hawkeyes’ notable 1 Varsity 8 boat placed second in the A final. At the 500-meter mark, Iowa was in the lead, but the Longhorns were only behind by two seats. When the two teams reached the halfway point, the teams were bow and bow, but in the final 500 meters, Texas grabed a four-second lead that it kept until the end. Iowa finished five seconds in front of Virginia and 10 seconds before Indiana.

“The Varsity raced pretty well also,” Carter said in a release. “They spent the first quarter of the race in front, which speaks well to their starting speed. Texas has an impressive crew again this year, so to be as tight with them as we were at the finish is a confidence-builder as we prepare for the Big Ten Championship. If we can tighten up a couple of areas of their race, I think we can find some seconds to shave off. We’ll need every second we can find for the conference championship.”

Iowa will have three weeks off from racing until it heads to the Big Ten Championships on May 19 at Devils Lake, Wisconsin.