OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Old Dominion University Rowing finished in fifth place at the American Athletic Conference Championships on Sunday at Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
“I’m really proud of our team. We had a lot of new people on the team this year and today the team raced and performed better than we had last year in all boats. It’s not the results by any means that we are satisfied with, but now we are in conversations about being able to compete,” ODU Head Coach Brian Conley said. “We talk a lot about buying into the process, but in order to buy-in you have to believe. You have to believe in yourself, in your teammates and in the work that each of us is putting in is supporting our goals. I think if anything that we walk away from this season with is that this team now is believing we CAN compete and we CAN be a team people worry about.”
In ODU’s first race of the day they placed fifth in the Varsity 4+ with a time of 8:20.41.
The second Varsity 8+ nabbed a fifth-place position with a time of 7:16.81.
The Varsity 8+ came in fifth in the final race of the day with a time of 6:58.14.
“It is a young team and the few seniors we have really contributed this year to our success. Catherine Wilson really started to figure out how strong she can be and how effective she can be. Sheyla Daniels and Emma Spinelli might be back next year, but the work they put in this year was impactful on and off the water. They both brought up others on the team in many small ways they kept bringing people up and supporting them and that is what makes a good team become a great team. I’m excited about the future of the program and the foundation this team has laid for those that follow.”
The ODU Lineup
Varsity 8+
8 – Lucy Brennan
7 – Sydnee Blackburn
6 – Sofia Bespalova
5 – Nicole Knight
4 – Jo Copeland
3 - Maddie Enns
2 - Helen Schuette
1 – Haven Habhab
2nd Varsity 8+
8 – Oliva Kruse
7 – Catherine Wilson
6 – Lily Baumann
5 – Jinjoo Noh
4 – Bekah Kimman
3 – Callie Crook
2 – Emma Spinelli
1 – Nikki DiBacco
C – Ellie Gortz
Varsity 4+
4 – Alexis Durand
3 – Kendall Freeman
2 – Kaila Smith
1 – Afton Stahl
C – Sheyla Daniels