Old Dominion University’s women’s rowing team finished in fifth place at the Big 12 Rowing Championship, which took place on May 17 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida.
The event marked the end of the season for Old Dominion, with the team earning a total of 26 points—its highest ever in the championship. Head coach Brian Conley said, “I’m so incredibly proud of this team. We had a lot of struggles this year that they overcame and rose above. The 26 points the team earned this year are the most points we’ve ever achieved and that is a credit to the work they put in.”
The Monarchs competed in three races during the morning session. In their first race, a 1V4+ event, Old Dominion placed sixth with a time of 7:58.358. UCF won that race with a time of 7:10.098 while Kansas finished second with a time of 7:24.338.
In the second race, Old Dominion’s 2V8+ boat finished fourth with a time of 6:57.488, ahead of West Virginia and Kansas State but behind UCF and Kansas. The final race for ODU was the 1V8+, where they narrowly missed fourth place to West Virginia by less than half a second and ultimately finished fifth.
Coach Conley said after competition concluded, “The seniors finished on a high note and have laid a good foundation for the team to continue to build upon. Every boat raced amazingly and put ODU’s name in the minds of the other teams. I look forward to the future of the team as we continue what we started four years ago!”
UCF swept all five races at this year’s championship to win back-to-back titles with an overall score of 81 points; Kansas came second with 61 points followed by Tulsa (53), West Virginia (36), Old Dominion (26), and Kansas State (20).
The results cap off what Coach Conley described as an important building year for Old Dominion’s program.
