The Murray State Rowing team traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn., on Feb. 2 for the Tennessee Indoor Championships.
The Racers took home 24 medals including 11 gold, six silver and eight bronze.
Coach Colin Neeley said the team performed better than he imagined. “I expected a lot but it went fantastic,” he said. “There were 40 total medals we could have won and we won 25 of them, beating Alabama, Auburn and University of Tennessee.”
This competition was a little different than what the team normally does. Instead of being on the water this competition took place on land and in a gym.
This type of rowing meet was more of an individual challenge said Neeley. Rowers compete on machines, pulling 2000 meters and whoever does it the fastest wins.
This was the teams’ first competition since winter break. The team members had about two and a half weeks to prepare once they got back to campus.
“We had to spend two, two and a half weeks of really intense workouts,” Neeley said. “It was awful, two weeks of hell basically, but they came through on the other side and did great. They worked hard and it paid off.”
The rowing team will next travel to Gainesville, Georgia on March 23, where it will return to the water.