Kerry Gugliotto
Headline:
WSU Men’s Crew to Have First Race
Summary:
Washington State University men’s crew will start a new season with an important event Oct. 24 at the Spokane River.
The all day event, Head of the Spokane, will feature teams from Gonzaga University and WSU.
“Both the men’s and women’s top varsity boats will be racing,” said Lauren Curtis, a third year coxswain for the men’s varsity team.
There will be a lot of boats racing at the event, said Mitch Williams, the commodore or captain of the team. “There will probably be three varsity eight man boats and six novice eight man boats racing.”
Last year at the Head of Spokane, one of WSU’s novice boats lost to GU by only .8 seconds. This year they plan to build on that experience and win, Curtis said.
“Gonzaga is our biggest rival, so this is going to be a great way to start off the season,” said Mark Hoffman, a third year varsity lightweight oarsman. “This season looks pretty promising. We have a lot of potential and I can see us going far.”
To prepare for the event, the crew team has six weeks of intense practice, including both morning and evening practices for three weeks, with only Sundays off, said Williams.
“We are expecting a fast season this year and hope to medal in every event at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in May, 2010,” said Williams. The team is off to a good start with about 40 new members to the men’s team alone, and 35 returning members that will make up the varsity roster, said Williams. “The squad is a lot larger this year, which will create competition among rowers resulting in fast and competitive boats that should lead to a successful season.”
Williams said last year the team put together some good races and even won the varsity four man boat for the second year in a row at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. They hope to build on last year’s season with all of the training and new rowers they have this year.
The season is comprised of five head races, or 6000 meter races, during the fall and five 2000 meter races in the spring. Spring races make up the meat of the season, and the rowers hope to start things off right at the Head of Spokane, Curtis said.
Throughout the season, the team will travel to schools like GU, the University of Washington and Western Washington University to race. They also plan to travel to Sacramento twice and San Diego once this year for additional competition.
Crew members have to raise about 80 percent of their own funds to cover their team expenses, said Hoffman. “Our team is great because all of the rowers are on the team because they want to be, not because of scholarships. This creates a great team dynamic and brotherhood among rowers.”
“Men’s crew has been at WSU since 1970 and we take great pride in our team,” said Williams. “Each crew member is incredibly dedicated and willing to put in extra effort to make this an outstanding season.”
Related web sites:
http://www.cougarcrew.com/0910schedule.php
This article was written by Kerry Gugliotto,
Contacts:
Mark Hoffman
mark.hoffman@email.wsu.edu
(206) 856-6117
Mitch Williams
mitchellvictor11@wsu.edu
(253) 709-2502
Lauren Curtis
lauren.curtis@email.wsu.edu
(360) 509-2264
No comments:
Post a Comment