March 18, 2010
NORFOLK, Va. - The Lady Monarch rowing team traveled on its annual training trip during Spring Break last week in Cocoa Beach, Fla. and concluded the trip by traveling to Orlando, Fla. to take on the University of Central Florida Knights.
UCF finished last season ranked third in the South Region behind Virginia and Clemson respectively, two squads that the Lady Monarchs faced during the fall season. Competing on the water were the Women's 8 and Novice 4 with each race consisting of three heats of five minutes each.
"I am proud of the progress that this young team has made in just one week of actual water time," said head coach Daniel Garbutt. "Taking on a seasoned varsity program at this time of year is a daunting task but they approached the situation with poise and passion."
In the Novice 4, the Lady Monarchs won two of three races against UCF. The winning four consisted of Mary Kent, Sara Carroll, Meredith Laverdure, Bridjette Parker and coxswain Ashley Payne.
In the three-race battle the Monarchs paced the Knights closely, finishing just three seconds behind the Knights on the final piece of the day showing improvement against the Knights throughout the contest.
The JV 8 joined the five-boat field, which included UCF and ODU's Varsity 8 boats in addition to the UCF's JV 8 boat and the Novice 8 boat that took the bronze medal in the Varsity 8 in last weeks Metro Cup. The JV 8 finished within 5 seconds of UCF in each race and ahead of UCF's Novice 8 boat in one of the three contests.
The Lady Monarchs rowing team will be back in action on March 28, 2010 at the Occoquan Sprints in Fairfax Station, Va. ODU will compete against Bucknell, Franklin and Marshall College, George, St. John's and St. Mary's College of Maryland Crew Club.
-ODU-