Duke head coach for nine years, will leave the program at the end of this season to spend more time with family.
Duke’s remaining tournaments include the ACC Championships on May 17-18 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the NCAA Championships on May 31-June 2 in Bethel, Ohio.
“I would like to thank all of the amazing students, parents and coaching staff who have been so instrumental to the program’s success and have made my time at Duke so special,” Cooke Carcagno said in a statement. “We have a great group of students this year who have really worked hard to get to where they are now, and I’m excited to see how they finish out the season.”
Cooke Carcagno was hired Duke’s second head rowing coach on July 28, 2015, following a seven-year stint on the coaching staff at the University of Wisconsin. Cooke Carcagno led Duke to its first NCAA Championship appearance in her debut season and received numerous awards, including CRCA National Staff of the Year, CRCA Region 3 Staff of the Year, CRCA Region 3 Coach of the Year, and ACC Coach of the Year.
“We thank Coach Cooke Carcagno for her commitment to Duke over the past nine years, as she has lifted our rowing program to unprecedented success on the water,” said Nina King, Duke Vice President and Director of Athletics. “We wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
In Cooke Carcagno’s first eight years as head coach, Duke qualified for five NCAA Championships, including a current streak of four consecutive appearances. The Blue Devils have been ranked in the weekly CRCA Top 20 poll since March 2019 and have finished in the top three at the ACC Championships six times, including second place finishes in 2016, 2019, and 2021. Cooke Carcagno, who was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2019 and again in 2016, has coached ten CRCA/Pocock All-America rowers at Duke, including three-time selection Megan Lee.
Last season, Cooke Carcagno led Duke to its best NCAA Championship finish, 14th with 56 team points. In their last four visits, the Blue Devils finished 17th in 2016, 16th in 2019, 2021, and 2022.
Cooke Carcagno, a native of Los Gatos, Calif., was a former All-America rower at Cal and a member of the US National Team from 2004 to 2007. She and her husband, Simon Carcagno, have three sons.
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