NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion women’s rowing wrapped up competition against High Point and Temple this weekend at the Lafayette River in Norfolk, Virginia.
“Lots of racing for us today,” said ODU head coach Brian Conley. “It was good in the sense that we learned why consistency at practice matters when we race and race multiple times. The 2V8+ against High Point was our big highlight of the day. Winning by being consistent in their effort. The 1V8+ had a really strong first race where they stayed tough after being down off the start. They pushed back hard and came up just short.”
ODU opened the day at 8 a.m. in the 2V4+ race, the Monarchs placed third with a time of 8:53.38 behind two Temple boats who finished 7:58.66 and 7:57.87, respectively. The 1V4+ took place shortly afterwards and ODU faced Temple one-on-one and came up second to the Owls’ finish time of 7:58.43. A 2V8+ race commenced following suit and ODU fell short to Temple, the Monarchs ended with a final time of 7:09.55 but Temple finished with a time of 6:58.68. At 9 a.m. the 1V8+ race set off and ODU had its best showing of the morning, finishing with a time of 6:47.51 but Temple edged the victory with a time of 6:47.09.
After a short break, competition resumed at 10:50 a.m. where ODU came in second against pair or High Point boats in a 1V4+ race. The Monarchs finished with a time of 8:20.22 ahead of High Point’s 2V4 boat’s time of 8:24.6 but behind their 1V4+ who clocked a time of 8:03.71. A 2V8+ race took off after the prior's completion and ODU came in first against the Panthers with a finish time of 7:19.12 to High Point’s 7:24.31. The final race of the day saw a tight contest between the two school’s 1V8+ boats, High Point grabbed the victory with a time of 7:08.18 but ODU was right behind them with a time of 7:10.92.
Senior Ellen Gortz, the coxswain for ODU’s 1V8+ boat, provided a quote after the competition ended: “I think the biggest take away from this super exciting weekend is the importance of every meter throughout the entire race. Because you’ll never know the margin until it’s over, and you can never make it back up after. Leave out on the water with no hesitation the first time.”
Sophomore Hannah Roderick was in the six seat in ODU’s 2V8+ winning boat and she also provided a quote after the day’s conclusion: “I believe that the boat's improvement from the first to the second race was due to the motivation and drive for a win. I also think the instant response to the coxswain calls helped us bring in the victory.”
UP NEXT:
The Monarchs will be in Cherry Hill, New Jersey from April 11-12 to compete in the Knecht Cup on the Cooper River.