KU chooses not to renew women’s rowing coach Carrie Cook-Callen’s contract
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LAWRENCE — Kansas women’s rowing is going to need to find a new head coach.
Travis Goff, KU’s athletic director and vice chancellor, announced Wednesday that Carrie Cook-Callen’s contract is not going to be renewed. The decision ends a lengthy tenure at the helm for Cook-Callen, who was named the program’s second-ever head coach in 2017 after a stint as an assistant coach at the school.
There will now be a national search for the next head coach of the program, which finished the 2024-25 campaign with a third-place finish — among six teams — at the Big 12 Conference championship event earlier this month.
“We are thankful for Coach Cook-Callen’s contributions to Kansas Rowing, both as a student-athlete and as the head coach for the past eight seasons,” Goff said in a KU release about Cook-Callen, a former rowing athlete at the school. “She has represented the University of Kansas and Kansas Athletics in an impactful fashion, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
Goff has already made a number of head coaching hires at Kansas since he took over Kansas Athletics in 2021, including Dan Fitzgerald (baseball), Lance Leipold (football), Lindsay Kuhle (women’s golf) and Nate Lie (women’s soccer). Each member of that group has enjoyed early success during their tenures in Lawrence.
Matt Ulmer, Goff’s hire for women’s volleyball, is currently preparing the team for its first season with him leading the way. Ulmer arrived following the retirement of Ray Bechard.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas women's rowing coach Carrie Cook-Callen’s contract not renewed
