Record: That's a little complicated in rowing. Let's just say they won the ACC, finished 6th in the final coaches' poll and 6th in the NCAA National Championships.
MVP: Again, a little complicated in rowing. I'm going to go with the first Varsity 4, which had the best record over the course of the season. The Varsity Four didn't win just 3 of their races - they lost to California and Southern Cal in duals and then came in second behind California at the National Championships. Among their wins was a solid victory over then-#1 Princeton.
Overview: Coming off a national championship performance last year, there were some interesting expectations for the Virginia rowing team in 2011. Many were hoping for a repeat, but those close to the program also knew that the Cavaliers had lost a lot of talent from that national title team.
The 'Hoos were unmistakably competitive the entire year and kept a ranking in the top 5 through most of the spring, beating up on the likes of Stanford, Princeton, Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State - all top-ten teams at the time. Virginia would also win the ACC title - for the 11th time in 12 years - and ultimately finish 6th at the NCAA National Championships in California.
Highlight(s): I've got to go with two distinct events here. The first was the Varsity Four and Second Varsity Four beating Princeton on the Tigers' home water. The second was winning the ACC title for the second consecutive year and 11th time in 12 years.
Lowpoint(s): The Varisty Eight missing the Grand Finals at the NCAA National Championships. I kind of hope the team doesn't read this because I doubt they need to be reminded of that. But on the bright side, they bounced back and won the Petite Finals.
Future Outlook: Just like last year, we lose some talent to graduation, but we also retain a lot of talent - like all but one of the members of the Varsity Four mentioned above. There's a chance that Clemson gives us more of a push in the ACC this year just because they've been building talent quite nicely as well. But overall, Virginia should be extremely competitive on a national level once again next year.