NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion Women's Rowing team competed in its first regatta of the year hosting Saint Joseph's and Monmouth on Saturday on the Lafayette River in Norfolk.
The Monarchs went 1-3 against Saint Joseph's in races. The varsity four finished in 8:28.32 to defeat Saint Joe's. The Varsity eight finished their race with a time of 7:14.10 and the second varsity eight team finished with a time of 7:45.21. The second varsity four finished their race with a time of 8:53.71.
"The race had some challenging conditions at the starting line for all the crews. In our first set of races against St. Joe's, you could see in most of the Old Dominion boats that the effort was there to want to go fast, but our nerves of our first spring race got the best of us in the V8+ and 2V8+," said head coach Brian Conley.
"The 2V4+ and V4+ had great close races all the way down the 2000-meter course with the Varsity 4+ pulling off the only win against SJU. This is great for the team because it shows we have some pressure for the eights to go faster and it is something we need to keep us honest about our daily effort," Conley stated.
Old Dominion went 2-0 in varsity eight races against Monmouth. The first varsity eight team finished with a time of 7:08.95 and the second varsity eight team finished in 7:30.26.
"The second set of racing with Monmouth showed that having one other race under our belt matured us quickly to know how to race better. Both the V8+ and 2V8+ had significantly better performances. The 2V8+ lost a heartbreaker in the last 300 meters of the race," said Conley.
"The V8+ showed what they have been doing in practice and won by a good margin over a Monmouth crew that showed some good speed this past fall. I know we have more speed in every boat and that is what we are going to work to find and develop the rest of this spring. It was a great improvement overall from last year and there is still more to come. I am looking forward to the rest of the season!"
ODU is back in action on Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30 at the Sunshine Imitational in Sarasota, Florida.
ODU Rowing Competes In Spring Opening Regatta Against Saint Joes and Monmouth
