SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York - This past weekend Marist men's rowing Coach Campbell Woods was presented with the Joy of Sculling Collegiate Coach of the Year award at the annual Joy of Sculling Conference in Saratoga Springs, NY. Woods is currently in his fourth year at the helm of the Marist men's rowing program.

The Joy of Sculling is a Rowing Coaches conference originally founded by famous coach and rower Jim Joy. Joy contributed to several university teams including the University of Western Ontario, MIT, Yale, and Wesleyan as well as spent time with the Canadian National as the technical director during the 1980's. Jim became the head coach at Hobart and William Smith in 1989 and started the annual Joy of Sculling Coaches conference in 1992. Coaches awards are nominated and voted on by attending coaches.

The award comes on the back of an exceptional rowing season which saw the Marist men return to the IRA National Championships with the varsity eight for the first time since 2007. The 2018 crew also achieved fifth at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta, third at the Murphy Cup Regatta, fifth at the Kerr Cup Regatta, and second at the National Invitational Rowing Championships. At the IRA, the Marist Men reached the fourth level final which was unfortunately canceled due to weather.

"I am honored to have received the award", says Woods "Rowing and coaching has been an important part of my life for the past 15 years and I am humbled to join the company of the fine coaches who have earned this award in the past 25 years, many of whom were coaching already when I was just starting rowing as a novice!"

"This award is a tribute to the many labors and efforts that went into the 2018 campaign at Marist. While not visible to the rest of the rowing community, the ideas and energy that carried Marist to the IRA last season were germinated with a young crew in 2016 who were ranked in the bottom half of the nation. The crew that placed second at the NIRC Regatta by less than a second in 2018 contained seven of the same athletes who placed 15^th at that same event two years earlier."

"The past three years have been some of the most exciting and rewarding in my coaching career. I'd like to thank the Marist athletes. Their passion for the sport, willingness to sacrifice, and refusal to acknowledge limitations are a testament to their generation of rowers, and they continue to inspire me on a daily basis to work as hard as they do. I owe my gratitude to the stream of energetic coaches that have worked with our program including Kyle Peabody (BU), Reid Miller(UMass), Matthew Scott (Syr), Tom Sanford (UPenn), and especially Joshua Stratton (Syr) who has become an essential component in our success and my partner in working with the Marist Men. In addition, Marist rowing friends, alumni, and families have been extremely helpful and encouraging on our journey and they all share a piece of this award for their efforts in supporting the crew. Finally, I owe my thanks to my wife Alyssa who has suffered my irregular hours and coaching obsessions all while giving me unyielding support and belief through all of the ups and downs of the rowing seasons. We are looking forward to another fast year here at Marist!"

Other honorees at the conference included: Jason Steele (WPI): Women's College Coach of the Year, Dave Reichman (SYR): Men's University Coach of the Year, Lori Dauphiny (Princeton): Women's University Coach of the Year, Jeremy Michalitsianos (Montclaire, HS) Junior Coach of the Year, Steve Hargis (US Jr. National Team): International Coach of the Year, and Bebe Bryans (Wisco): Outstanding service award.

The Marist men have continued their string of successful races this fall with a fourth place finish at the Navy Day Regatta and maintaining a fifth place position at the Head of the Charles in October. The crew is currently in their winter training period as they prepare for the 2019 season.