The Buzz
“Aim small, miss small.”
The 2013 ODU Women's Rowing team features a mix of veterans and newcomers. ODU returns just 2 seniors that are in their top 16- Paige Madison and Chelsea Trice. They begin their second season in Conference USA. Coach Dan Garbutt lost 9 seniors last year and has 19 sophomores and 28 freshmen that will contend for lineup spots this year and add depth.
He's the Boss
Garbutt begins his 4th season as head coach and 6th overall season with Old Dominion.
ODU will race for the first time in the Head of the Charles (Oct. 18-19). All other races this fall ODU has top 5 finishes to defend.
Missing Piece
The Lady Monarchs start a new season without an important rower from their 2012 team:
--2013 Rowing All-Conference USA Team member Maeghan Pardy graduated.
Returning Players
Old Dominion features 5 seniors on a current roster of 65 competitors. Only 5 rowers return, which were on last year’s Varsity 8.
Captains Paige Madison and Miranda Brown are excited about the upcoming season and look forward to helping the Lady Monarchs go farther this season.
New Faces
ODU added two new Assistant Coaches Joe Palmer (Head of Recruiting) and Laura Miller (Novice Coach) to their staff. New additions to the 2013 team include: Carlie Cohen, Diana Howat, Emily Hughes, Shannon La Sala, Erin O'Connell, Sabrina Paulsen, Keolewa Puhl, Kim Shifflett, Kennedy Stafford, Kara Stephan and Elizabeth Waltz. More than half of the top 16 girls are sophomores or freshmen.
“Our second year of racing in CUSA will be with a large number of freshman novice rowers in the mix which is most exciting due to growth potential of the squad,” said head coach Dan Garbutt. “I am eager to see how our new staff can improve upon last seasons effort.”
Second year in the C-USA
This will mark the second season Old Dominion University will compete in what is considered one of the top conferences in the NCAA. Programs including: Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Kansas, Kansas State, West Virginia, UCF, Tulsa, Alabama and SMU are the ten other members of Conference USA.
Progress in the Water
This past April Old Dominion University placed second in the Varsity 8 at the San Diego Crew Classic. Last October, ODU took first in the Frosh/Novice Eight race in the Head of the Schuylkill and in early November finished first in the Frosh/Novice race in the Head of the Hooch. Coxswain Lydia Cleveland and rowers Marisa Fruetel, Keira Flanagan, Colleen Rennie, Raven Howser, Ashley Nardiello, Brett Wolff, Lauren Wright and Jenna Sterling will defend the Commodore Cup and their gold medal later this year.
Quoting the Coaches
“You want to build a culture where people want to come and be a part of something great,” said assistant coach Joseph Palmer. “If you want to achieve greatness you have to go through a place of suffering.”
“We can’t be content to be in the middle of the pack,” said head coach Dan Garbutt. “There is an expectation that any athlete can win on any given day. The only way to get into the top 20 is if we continue to raise our own bar.”
Key Dates
Old Dominion University will begin the 2013 fall competition schedule with a home meet against the University of North Carolina and the Naval Academy in the Oyster Cup this Saturday, October 5. The races will start at 11 a.m and 1:30 p.m. More information will be available this week on the actual race.
Thirteen days later the Lady Monarchs will compete for the first time in the prestigious Head of the Charles in Boston, Massachusetts. ODU will look to develop its young rowers for the Conference USA championships in May.