NORFOLK, Va. – The ODU women’s rowing team began its in-water training this week, as the Lady Monarchs prepare for the 2015-16 season.
The team was out in both Varsity Eight and Varsity Four boats today for an early-morning training session on the Lafayette River.
“We, as a staff, are excited to get underway,” said head coach Dan Garbutt. “We have some young, eager girls on the team mixed with some great senior leadership.”
Garbutt, who enters his sixth year at the helm of ODU rowing, has guided the Lady Monarchs to tremendous success during his tenure. Last year, in the team’s first season in the Big 12 Conference, the Lady Monarchs recorded 13 top-five finishes and finished eighth overall at the highly competitive Big 12 Championships.
“Our junior and senior classes are a lot of the concentration of our returning varsity depth,” said Garbutt about this year’s squad. “These next two months are going to be key to try and get this team together and have success in the spring campaign.”
Leading this year’s senior class is Colleen Rennie, who earned All-Big 12 honors last season.
ODU opens it fall season with the historic Head of the Charles Regatta on the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts Oct. 18-19. The Lady Monarchs will have only one other event, the Head of the Hooch Nov. 7-8 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, during the fall.
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