Senior Marg van der Wal was named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season, and five members of the No. 3 Texas Rowing team received All-SEC honors, according to a May 21 announcement from the conference office.
The recognition highlights both academic and athletic achievement among Texas rowers. Van der Wal, who is majoring in chemistry with a cumulative GPA of 3.8175, also earned SEC Rower of the Year and CRCA First-Team All-America honors in 2025. She was previously a finalist for the CRCA’s Athlete of the Year award.
Joining van der Wal on this year’s All-SEC Team are seniors Abby Dawson and Maya Meschkuleit, as well as juniors Lucy Searle and Phoebe Wise. This marks the second straight year that Dawson, Searle, van der Wal, and Wise have been recognized with All-SEC honors.
All five athletes have played key roles in Texas’ First Varsity Eight boat this season. The crew finished its regular season undefeated with victories over then No. 1 Stanford, No. 19 Michigan, No. 24 Indiana, and at the San Diego Crew Classic before finishing runner-up at this year’s SEC Championship. They have secured a No. 2 overall seed at the upcoming NCAA Rowing Championships scheduled for May 29–31 at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville.
Texas aims to win its fourth NCAA title in six years after capturing national championships in 2024, 2022, and 2021. The team finished third overall last year with a total of 118 points and has placed among the top four teams nationally for eight consecutive years.
Texas is one of twelve programs selected at-large for this year’s NCAA Championships hosted by North Georgia and Gainesville city officials later this month.
