UConn To Join The CAA As An Associate Member In Women's Rowing
Rob Washburn
RICHMOND, Va. (December 4, 2019) - The Colonial Athletic Association will add the University of Connecticut as an associate member in women's rowing beginning with the 2019-20 season.
“It is with open arms that the CAA welcomes the UConn Women’s Rowing program to our Conference,” expressed CAA Commissioner Joe D’Antonio. “We are excited about the opportunity to provide the UConn rowing student-athletes with an exceptional championship experience, and look forward to working with the UConn athletic administration and Head Rowing Coach Jen Sanford.”
The CAA has conducted a championship in women's rowing since 2009. UConn will join Delaware, Drexel, Eastern Michigan, Northeastern and Villanova to give the CAA six conference members.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Colonial Athletic Association and its member schools for offering a great home to our women’s rowing program,” UConn Director of Athletics David Benedict said. “This partnership makes a lot of sense for UConn and the CAA and I’m already looking forward to our team competing for the CAA Championship in New Jersey this spring!”
The 2020 CAA Rowing Championship will be held May 17, 2020 on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J. The CAA champion will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.
“I am very excited for UConn rowing to become a member of the CAA,” UConn head coach Jen Sanford said. “We will race many of the conference teams during the regular season, which will give us a better gauge of what we will need to accomplish to win the conference championship and earn an automatic bid to NCAA’s. This is very attainable and the team is very excited and motivated to work hard toward reaching this goal. I’m looking forward to working with the coaches and administrators from other CAA schools and I think this will a great fit for UConn rowing.”
Northeastern has captured the past six CAA rowing championships, but last year’s event was one of the most competitive in league history with second-place Drexel just two points back.