Old Dominion University Women's Rowing

Brian Conley enters in second season as the Old Dominion Women's Rowing coach after successful first season taking sixth place in the American Athletic Conference Championships. One member of the rowing team was named to the All-Conference team. The highest finish of the year was in the Murphy Cup when the Varsity 8 team took fifth place in the Grand Final. Old Dominion University has hired Brian Conley as its head rowing coach, Director of Athletics Dr. Wood Selig announced on July 27. Conley joins ODU after spending the previous 12 years as the head coach of both the men's and women's programs at Lehigh. Conley is the third head coach in program history. "Brian is a seasoned head coach poised to take over the ODU Women's Crew program and continue our pursuit of national prominence in the sport of rowing," ODU Director of Athletics Dr. Wood Selig said. "Brian has excellent academic and leadership credentials and I am confident our student-athletes will respond well to his leadership." Conley led Lehigh on a steady rise, leading the team to the program's best finish ever this past season. Lehigh finished in fourth place at this year's Patriot League Championship and prior to that he led the team to its best ever finishes in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, Lehigh's 26 points were most in school history at the Patriot League Championships. The Mountain Hawks followed in 2018 by tying for fourth with 33 points. Lehigh won the first two medals in program history, as the Varsity Four and

Henry Leonardi joined the Old Dominion Rowing team in September of 2024. Leonardi joined ODU after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach for the Bucknell club rowing team. Henry Leonardi enters his first season as assistant coach for Old Dominion in 2024-2025. Before ODU, Leonardi served as the assistant coach for the Bucknell University Men's Rowing team from 2019-2024. During his tenure at Bucknell, Leonardi drove the recruiting process, developed walk-on athletes and assisted in nearly all aspects of day-to-day operations. As the lone assistant on the staff, Leonardi worked alongside the head coach to manage nearly 50 athletes. Under Leonardi's leadership, Bucknell established itself as one of the fastest club programs in the country, finishing a program-best sixth in team points at the ACRA National Championship in 2022, 2023 & 2024. During this stretch, Bucknell won the Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference Championship all three years, scoring more points than any varsity program in attendance. In charge of the bottom half of the roster, Leonardi coached the Bucknell third varsity eight to national titles in 2022 and again in 2024, capping off an undefeated spring. In 2024, Leonardi was voted the ACRA National Assistant Coach of the Year. While at Bucknell, Leonardi also served as recruiting coordinator. Leonardi recruited at least 12 athletes out of high school every year, culminating in a program-best 17 commits in 2023. By the end of his tenure, the Buckne