OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – The Old Dominion rowing team fought through adversity to finish in seventh place at the Big 12 Rowing Championship taken place on Melton Lake. For the second-straight year, the Monarchs finished ahead of West Virginia. Junior Taylor Phy was named to the All-Big 12 Rowing Team for the second-straight season.
Prior to competition, the Old Dominion rowing team endured an unforeseen situation, which caused the coaching staff to work out the matter immediately, also causing the lineup to change more than once, even placing a coxswain as a rower in the 3V8 boat. Head coach Dan Garbutt credits his coaching staff for the way they dealt with the extenuating circumstances.
“This has been an unbelievably challenging last month of our season with finals, end of classes, graduation, and dealing with non-stop adjustments from health issues and scheduling issues," explained head coach Garbutt. "It's been all we can do to patch work boats together for continuity between boat classes. To say I was nervous going into the weekend about momentum is an understatement, I was terrified. I asked the team to do an awful lot in terms of stepping up and focusing on executing and they were able to do that."
Three boats competed in the Petite Final on Sunday morning, including the IV4, 2V8, and the IV8. Finishing ahead of the Mountaineers with an 8:08.674 time, the Monarchs finished in seventh in the first four Petite Final. The 2V8 boat finished behind WVU with a 7:28.785 time. Rounding out the Petite Finals was the first eight (7:05.349) boat that beat out WVU by just over one second.
In the 3V8 Grand Final, ODU finished in last with an 8:04.269 time.
"To say they took care of business going through this adversity is an understatement. I’m really proud of them and how they walked away from this situation. The team, who is made up of a majority of underclassmen, was able to act with composure and represent themselves and the university well."
Big 12 Rowing Championship Team Scores
1. Texas 137
2. Oklahoma 109
3. Kansas State 99
4. Kansas 71
5. West Virginia 47
Big 12 Rowing Automatic Qualifying Team Scores
1. Texas 48
2. Oklahoma 38
3. Tennessee 37
4. Kansas State 31
5. Alabama 23
6. Kansas 21
7. Old Dominion 10
8. West Virginia 8
2018 All-Big 12 Rowing Team
Nicole Lane, Alabama
Kaelyn Thierolf, Kansas
Kennedy Felice, K-State
Mattie Warner, K-State
Ruby Hays, Oklahoma
Abby Lange, Oklahoma
Maria Pergouli, Oklahoma
Katja Ruebling, Oklahoma
Sophire Salt, Oklahoma
Taylor Phy, Old Dominion
Pari Baker, Tennessee
Alex Dawson, Tennessee
Ana Pelic, Tennessee
Fanny Bon, Texas
Emily Froehlich, Texas
Ashley Jacobs, Texas
Ljiljana Josic, Texas
Milica Slijepcevic, Texas
Mariam Soufi, Texas
Carly Ledbetter, West Virginia
ODU Lineups
1V8
Ave' McFadden (cox)
Taylor Phy
Monica Jory
Irena Tobola
Charlotte Petfield
Alexa Williams
Jillian Moran
Olivia Taylor
Jemima Lockie
2V8
Monique McNealy (cox)
Danielle Yoxthimer
Francesca Gonzalez
Emma Dobson
Jameela Lamb
Margaret Fluharty
Madeline Doherty
Courtney Moore
Haley Crispell
1V4
Morgan Dee (cox)
Erin Welsh
Amanda Ruck
Autumn Murley
Naomi Trader
3V8
Talya Cohen (cox)
Autumn Smith
Kenya Thomas
Brooke Ripley
Emily Havrilla
Autumn Broxson
Jessica Lanz-Ramirez
Maya Lewis
Emily Sheetz