Men Win Ten Eyke Award Again

For the second year in a row, the Husky men came home from the IRA with the Ten Eyke trophy symbolizing the team championship at the venerable regatta. Three of our crews won national titles and two finished second

The second varsity, varsity 4+ and the freshman 4+ all won gold and the varsity and freshman squads won silver. All five Husky crews cruised through Thursday's heats and Friday's semi-finals and they were all sitting well for the final face-offs on Saturday.

The undefeated and defending national champion Husky varsity boasted an 18 race victory streak going into the finals. They flew off the starting line and held the lead until the last 700 meters. Second ranked Wisconsin had been sitting back waiting for their chance and when they moved they gained four seats on the Huskies and were able to hold on to the finish. The Badgers finished in 5:31.17, the Huskies 5:32.89, and they did it with humid temperatures in the 90s and a heat index over 100.

In a great show of sportsmanship, the quoted Huskies were full of kind comments for the winners. And with both teams losing only two seniors - Heath Allen and Toby Dankbaar for the Huskies - next season has already been billed as a run-up to next June's showdown on the Cooper River. Rowing for the Huskies were Will Crothers, Heath Allen, Jessiah Johnson, Simon Taylor, Blaise Didier, Roko Svast, Toby Dankbaar, Lowell Neal and cox Katelin Snyder.

The second varsity battled California from wire to wire. At 1000 meters the crews were even, at 1500 the Huskies had a two seat lead. With a gutsy sprint, the boys came home with a six-seat victory. The UW was clocked in 5:39.30 and California in 5:41.53. The winners were Graham Oglend, Asa Bergdahl, Trevor Mollenkopf, Drew Fowler, Tad McCrea, Andrew Beaton, Steve Full, Bart-Jan Caron, and cox Micah Perrin.

The freshmen rowed a repeat of their semi-final race, with the Huskies sitting on a two seat lead until the final 500 meters. California surged ahead and held it to the line. The Bears were clocked at 5:37.37 and the Huskies at 5:37.88. Rowing for the Huskies were Hans Struzyna, Noah O'Connell, Nenad Bulicic, Anthony Jacob, Matt Zapel, Ty Otto, Bede Clarke, Trevor Walchenbach and cox Alex Chalk.

The varsity 4+ won gold for the seventh consecutive season. Our four took an early lead and held it through the 1000 meter mark. With 200 meters to go, they were down one seat to Marist but the Huskies found enough reserve to push ahead at the line. They covered the course in 6:19.96. Marist finished at 6:20.74. Our gold medal crew included Stephen Connolly, Dane Robbins, Kit Culbert, David VanBolt and cox Leah Downey.

The freshman four was the first Husky boat to take to the water on Saturday morning and they did just what they wanted to do. Gold! Most of the way down the course they held an open water advantage on the other five schools which included California, Wisconsin and Oregon State. They won in a time of 6:25.93, nearly five seconds ahead of the runner-up Bears. The freshman lineup included: Niles Garratt, Bjoern Sbierski, Tyler Emsky, Chris Rinker and cox Michelle Darby.

Michael Callahan, speaking to the press, said: We're in a good position and we're gaining even more people next year. We have a great freshman class coming up and we have some guys coming back from the Olympics, so I'm aready looking forward to next year." So are we.

Men's Freshmen Four
Photo: William West

Men's Varsit Four
Photo: William West

Freshmen
Photo: Colin Sykes

Men's JV
Photo: William West

Men's Varsity
Photo: Colin Sykes
 

For more images, please click here

Huskies Voted Into Hall of Fame

The undefeated 1997 women's crew which won the inaugural NCAA rowing championship and claimed the University's first ever NCAA team title in any sport, and the 1997 men's varsity who capped an unbeaten season with the national championship at the IRA, were elected to the Husky Hall of Fame. It was a racing weekend that all true rowing fans remember - two national titles in the same weekend can't be forgotten.

Members of the women's crew were Sabina Telenska, Denni Nessler, Kelly Horton, Katy Dunnet, Annie Christie, Jan Williamson, Tristine Glick, Kari Green, and cox Alida Purves. The group was coached by Husky great, Jan Harville.

The men's crew included Bob Cummins, Brett Reisinger, Silas Harrington, Andy Tyler, Matt Andersen, Matt Schostak, Aaron Beck, Carl Bolstad, and cox Sean Mulligan. Also winning that day were the Husky second varsity and the freshman making it the first sweep of the IRA by the Huskies since 1950. They were coached by Bob Ernst.

Both crews will be inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame at a banquet this fall along with Husky football legend, Blair Bush, head women's tennis coach, Mary DeLay, Husky pitcher who went on to the Rangers, Indians and Brewers, Chris Magruder, one of the top goalkeepers in U.S. soccer history, Hope Solo, and first team All-American football player, Mark Stewart.

1997 Men's Varsity

1997 Women's Varsity
 

Dave McLean “Dawg Saturday” Memorial Golf Tournament

Time is running short for signing up for this great event. It is scheduled for Saturday, July 16, at Washington National and you won't want to miss this best ball tournament, dinner and auction. Click on the icon at the right and fill out the entry form.

Click here to sign-up!

Huskies Win Pac-10 Honors

Our own Heath Allen, along with volleyball standout Cristal Morrison received the 2007-08 Pac-10 Conference Medal. And then, to top off this great honor, Heath was also named Pac-10 Men's Athlete of the Year.

The Conference Medal is a signal honor awarded annually to each member institution's outstanding senior male and female student-athlete. Based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership, the award will be formally presented next spring in Los Angeles during the Pac-10 Men's Basketball Tournament.

Heath was raised in Durango, Colorado, where he participated in Nordic skiing and outrigger canoe racing. In 2002 he was a top 10 finisher in Nordic Skiing at the Junior Olympics. The following year he was the New Zealand Junior National Outrigger Canoe Champion. He rowed in the seven seat for last year's national champion varsity, represented the UW with his teammates last summer in Moscow, and held down the seven seat again this year in the current national champion lineup.

Given his high school athletic interests, it wouldn't take a wizard to figure out he had the physical makeup for rowing and the coaches were delighted when he chose to come to the University of Washington. We're happy to report that Heath is far more than just a jock. Like legions of oarsmen before him, he is a true student-athlete. He will graduate in architecture, a notably difficult major at the University, and he is doing exceptionally well.

Congratulations, Heath, on both of these awards.

In another series of announcements, Ashley Jones was named to the All Pac-10 women's rowing team, Blaise Didier was selected as Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year, and four men's varsity oarsmen were named to the All Pac-10 men's rowing team. They are Heath Allen, Will Crothers, Toby Dankbaar and Jessiah Johnson. Congratulations to you all.

And finally, Michael Callahan, our first year varsity men's coach, has been named Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

Before moving up to his present position last summer, Michael coached the Husky frosh for three years. A University of Washington graduate (1996), he was both Captain and Commodore of his 1996 team. Before coming to Washington, he won gold at the 1992 World Rowing Championships in the Junior Men's Eight in Montreal.

Michael rowed on the U.S. Men's National Team the summer before his graduation and from 1996 through 2002, and was a member of the 1999 Pan-American Games, the 2000 World Rowing Cup, and 2004 Olympic Rowing Teams.

While picking up the Ten Eyck trophy for the IRA team championship a week ago, Michael was quoted as saying: "The boathouse is doing great."

Indeed it is, Michael. Congratulations.

Heath Allen

Heath Allen and Will Crothers
Photo: Brian Jackson
Blaise Didier
Ashley Jones
Photo: Katie Gardner

Michael Callahan
Photo: Matt Lacey

Huskies At The Beijing Olympics

The Olympic rowing team names are beginning to add up and the list includes Huskies, Huskies and more Huskies. As of this writing, we know that Huskies will be rowing on the Croatian, Canadian and U.S. teams but only Megan Kalmoe has been officially named. The rest is speculation, rumor and insider information. We've got plenty of all three but it is probably best not to indulge in them in these pages.

So here is what you do. Log on to www.huskycrew.org at the end of June. In that last week, the U.S. team will have been named and we will have the full list of Huskies posted there, free from rumor and speculation.

Then plan to support them by watching or, perhaps, even attending the games. And if you do go to Beijing, take a camera and send us photos. Better still, write an article for us on the experience and we'll publish it here.

Correction

Our women work too hard over too many months to read an incorrect order of finish in these pages, but they did last month. Our apologies to the Windermere Cup rowers in the Women's Open 8 race. As a proud parent pointed out, the correct order of finish should have been: 4th varsity - first, 2nd novice - second, Lake Union - third, 5th varsity - fourth, and 3rd novice 5th. And no matter where you finished, we are proud of you too.

www.huskycrew.org
 

On The Future Of Men’s Crew – Part II

In May, 2005, we spelled out for you the fundamentals of the financial and competitive situation in which our men's program operates. In spite of continuing success on the water, the program faced an increasing shortage of funds, a shrinking active fan base, disinterest within the local media, and the specter of sinking to a second tier level for economic reasons. The story back then underscored how professional sports, shifting athletic interests, economic realities and financial shortages raised the real possibility of marginalization.

Several long-time members of the Washington Rowing Stewards board understood those challenges and had a series of private meetings to discuss ways to deal with them. Along with several new members in the group, they set a new direction. The plan focused on improved communications with you and a resolve within the group to find the money necessary to keep Washington at the elite level forever. The results so far have been encouraging. There are many ways to measure results and we want to share several of them with you.

First, last, and always, success will be measured by races won on the water but everyone in the program has insisted from the beginning that it be done with true student-athletes in the same manner it has been for decades. Stated another way, we agreed that we would not "hire" short-term athletes in order to succeed. As we mentioned earlier this year in these pages, 7 of the top 16 athletes in the men's program were walk-ons. What happened? Bob Ernst, Michael Callahan and the staff stepped up their recruiting not just in rowing circles but among the Northwest's top high school athletes. The two consecutive Ten Eyck trophies should be all we need to say on that issue.

But there are other ways to measure success, too. The program continues to graduate 100% of its athletes and those athletes maintain grade point averages that are among the highest in the Athletic Department and are higher than the general student population. We believe that the education they receive at Washington, combined with the physical and mental discipline and skills they learn on the water, prepares them for life's challenges by giving them an advantage on most people their age and even most people who graduate from the University.

The resurgent women's program highlights how the staff is able to focus on deficiencies and take the actions necessary to turn those deficiencies around. The results for the women this year were far better than anyone closely connected to the program would have believed possible. Give credit to both the coaches and the athletes for this one. We see nothing but great races in the future for the women's program.   

Your interest is another way to measure success. Four years ago, we had about 1300 names on our contact list. By the end of this year we hope to have tripled that number through our Class Stewards program. Our website, www.huskycrew.org receives thousands of hits every week and tens of thousands on race weekends. The Varsity Boat Club banquet is sold out every year, Class Day has become huge, the dual races well attended. The Windermere Cup remains one of the rowing world's premier events. We have good turnouts for our Husky football tailgate and the new Dave McLean Memorial Golf Tournament is destined to become a continuing classic. Look for another event this fall, one that will connect you directly to the athletes and their parents. You are becoming more active, more in tune with the program and, as you are, you are becoming integral to its success.

The last three years also have seen a remarkable resurgence in public visibility. Just a year ago in conversation with a well-known sports reporter, we were educated in the economics of sports reporting and in the reasons why rowing was unlikely to receive coverage in the Seattle Times or PI beyond an occasional paragraph or two. But success generates interest. On the first day of the IRA, the Times ran a major article on its first sports page along with a quarter page picture, and followed that up with another first page article on Sunday. If we didn't know better, we might have thought we were back in the 1940's or 1950's when every race received the same sort of notice.    

And then there is financial support. Yes, we know we talk too much about it in these pages but it is your financial support that makes it all possible. It draws great coaches who are able to recruit great student-athletes who, in turn, win races and excite a great fan base. Although you may have grown tired of our appeals, your response led to everything that has been accomplished in the last three years.

In those "smoky back room meetings" four years ago, we understood that stepped up recruiting would lead to an immediate need for donated dollars so we agreed to focus on fundraising. Three years ago our annual appeal brought in twenty to thirty thousand dollars. This year the number was $172,000. Three years ago we had a $2 million endowment total that produced about $100,000 for scholarships. Today we have $6 million in endowments which will produce about $300,000 for scholarships next year.

The fact is that we still fall far short of the financial support alumni give to California and the East coast powerhouses. But we're closing the gap. And we don't need to match them dollar for dollar; we need only to raise enough to run the program our way and in a manner that promises continuity into the future. We'll have more for you on this in the fall; it is enough to say now that we know where the finish line is and, with you in the boat with us, we know we're going to get there quickly.

It has been an amazing ride this year. We have reestablished the old rowing truth that if a school wants to compete at the highest level, it will have to go through the Washington Huskies to succeed. How can you not love that fact? Our program is strong and growing stronger and it needs to be said that it all comes back to you. So, when you hear the call next fall, be sure to respond so we can keep this thing going.

Look for the next edition of your Husky Crew Newsletter in October. In the meantime, work hard, play hard, and win all your races.

John Wilcox

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