March 7, 2005

Spring is almost here. For the Dayton Flyers rowing team, that means finally getting out of the weight rooms and back into the water.

The team--which sports the largest senior class in UD history with 11--looks to build on the unprecedented success of the fall squad beginning with a March 19 spring training showdown against Bucknell at Russell Lake in Elberton, Georgia.

Last fall, the team posted the strongest finish at the Head of the Charles regatta in school history by placing 11th in the 50-team field. At the Head of the Tennessee, both the nationally ranked lightweight eight and the lightweight four finished in first place while the openweights took home a pair of top-ten finishes in the Championship 8.

The deep Flyers will also seek to develop a novice team that in the 2004 took to the water for the first time in collegiate competition and found themselves with two eight's in the top five at Head of the Tennessee.

UD looks to continue this recent success under the watch of first-year head coach Mike Farrey, who was promoted from his assistant position in February. Farrey will be assisted by Jim Catanzarite, Anne Feight, and Mitch Vossler.

After spring training, the Flyers head to Lake Harsha in Cincinnati for a meet with Indiana University and the University of Cincinnati. On April 3 the Flyers get their only home date of the season, a contest with Duquesne at Dayton's own Island Park Boathouse. Following that, it's the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Assocation (SIRA) regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the final tune-up before the Atlantic 10 conference race in Cherry Hill, NJ.

The three most competitive boats will then be sent to the last meet of the season, the Dad Vail regatta in Philadelphia on May 13.