Ava Cook was all set to attend Florida Atlantic or South Florida as a regular student, surrendering her dream of being a college rower.

And then Chris Bailey-Greene called.

Actually, he sent an email first, and then Cook and Bailey-Greene spoke on the phone. Soon, she was in Toledo, a city she had never heard of. Cook was the nascent University of Toledo women’s rowing team’s first out-of-state visitor.

On Saturday, she will be part of UT’s first-ever rowing event on the Maumee River.

“At first, I thought it was a joke. I was like, Toledo? I didn’t know where that was,” said Cook, a Palm Bay, Fla., native. “I had no idea they had a rowing program. But the area is very city life, but it’s also got some of that small-town charm. The Metroparks are really nice. I was really pleasantly sur

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