Pics from Dec. 5 USRowing Camp

SAAC Collects 2000 Food Items

The Student Athlete Advisory Committee of OCU collected over 2000 food items for their annual holiday food drive. This year's collection doubles the amount of items from last year's food drive. When addressing the SAAC, Athletic Director, Jim Abbott stated, "I can't being to tell you how proud I am of your efforts. I truly believe that this will help folks less fortunate than us and I am reminded that I am truly priveleged to work with and for all of you." I could not have said it better, Jim!

Student-athlete representatives from each sport come together once a month as the SAAC to guide teams on becoming Champions of Character and to promote varsity athletics on the OCU campus. The representatives for the rowing team are Kyle Adair, Jared Hooley, Kathryn Schiro and Megan Duffy (pictured 3rd from the left in the back row).

MAPS passes

At 9:30 pm yesterday December 8th, the final numbers were counted, and it was official: MAPS passed. A record number of voters turned out for a local election and passed the initiative with 54% in favor. OCU and the OKC rowing and boathouse communities are excited about the capital improvements that will be constructed OKC and on the Oklahoma River including a whitewater park, a lighted race course, grandstands and a wind wall.

I want to personally thank all the OCU rowers for their work in promoting MAPS. Rowers went about town placing yard signs, canvassing door-to-door, and spreading the word of MAPS to the community. The OCU Rowers were so committed to the movement that Edgar Boitmanis even exclaimed, "I will have to move back to Latvia if MAPS does not pass." Good thing is passed, Edgar! I am proud of all of our rowers for believing in the Oklahoma River and Oklahoma City and investing themselves in a political campaign- a real-life political science lesson.

Vote YES! for MAPS today

All OCU rowers, friends and family who are registered to vote in OKC: Today is the day, when as a community, we will decide to continue to move our city forward by voting YES! for MAPS.

If you live in OKC, you know what MAPS is all about. I did not know about MAPS until 28 months ago when I first moved to Oklahoma. I have lived in San Diego, LA, SF Bay, Seattle, Montana, NJ, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Georgia and Miami, but I have not been prouder of any of my "hometowns" more than I am of Oklahoma City. Quite simply, this is the only city in the world that is as passionate about rowing as I am.

If you row or if love a rower, vote YES! today.

Be an OCU Champion and Join the Champions Club

Join the OCU coaching staff and becomes members of the Champions Club.

The Champions Club recently launched its 2009-2010 membership drive. The goal of the drive is to raise awareness about the Champions Club and increase membership in order to raise money for the OCU varsity athletic teams.

When OCU supporters become Champions Club members, they become more than just a fan of the program; they become part of the Oklahoma City University Athletics experience and tradition. The Champions Club tailors to each donor's interests and comfort levels. Donors can designate their money to specific programs, teams or projects- all of which ultimately benefit the student-athletes of Oklahoma City University.

Contributions to the Champions Club, which are tax-deductible, enrich the student-athlete experience at OCU by funding scholarships, facilities, equipment, team travel, and all the other tools that help student-athletes succeed on and off the field (or water!!).

"Champions Clubs members are critical to the success of OCU Athletics," said OCU Athletic Director Jim Abbott. "We're greatly appreciate of all forms of support, and I ask anyone with an interest in OCU Athletics to join the Champions Club. Any contribution will make a positive impact on our programs and our student-athletes." No donation is too small.

How do you join? Download the Champions Club brochure. Select Men's or Women's Rowing. Designate your favorite OCU Rower. Drop the form and payment in the mail. All money who donate to a specific rower will off-set their fundraising goals for the year ($300/semester or $500/year).

http://www.ocusports.com/documents/2009/11/12/2009-10_Champions_Club_Booklet.pdf?id=87

Coach Knopp joins OCU on the water for 1st Annual Club Day

The OCU Men's, Women's and Novice teams were joined on the water today by Chesapeake Boathouse Masters & Juniors and OU Club rowers for the 1st Annual Club Day on the Oklahoma River. OCU's Rowing Program Director/Head Coach also joined in the fun, racing down 2k, turning around 3 buoys, and racing back. No coxswains were harmed in the day's festivities, even though the OCU crews raced to several first-place finishes in their event categories. GO OCU!

OCU Rowers and Parents Recognized at Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation Volunteer Recognition Dinner

There were 7 OCU Rowers and 4 OCU Rowing parents recognized for outstanding contributions to the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation and Cheasapeake Boathouse for the 2009 calendar year at a reception on Friday, November 20th. Please extend a big thank you and congratulations to: Kyle Adair, Megan Duffy, Nick Hagen, Dinah Harjo, Jimmy von Peters, Jakob Thomasen, Katie Sondag, Joe Hill, Patrick Hurley, Kayla Hurley and Sally Riesenberg for making the OKC Rowing community a success.

OCU Men Bring Home Hardware from Head of the Hooch

The men's team raced to three first, three second and two third place finishes this weekend at the Head of the Hooch, the second largest regatta in the country. Set on the Tennessee River, the 5k/3.1 mile race course through downtwon Chattanooga welcomed more than 1500 crews with high school, collegiate and masters rowers racing over the two day weekend.

In the Men's Quad (4x), Jimmy von Peters, Edgars Boitmanis, and Drew McNichols teamed up with Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation rower, Hugh Tullos to capture gold while teammates, Josh Steenburgh, Matt Mahon, John Riesenberg and Brice Heinen took bronze in the same event.

Boitmanis and von Peters brought home another gold in the Men's Championship Double (2x) with McNichols and OKCBF's Tullos taking silver. Boitmanis and von Peters also took silver and bronze in the Men's Championship Single (1x).

Mahon teamed up with Nick Hagen to take silver in the Men's Pair (2-) while the eight members of the men's squad led by coxswain Jacob Fox took gold in the Men's Open Eight (8+).

A special thank you to Matt Mahon's parents, Kathleen and Pat, for making the drive from St. Louis to support the team. OCU had its own special fan club as almost a dozen members of the von Peters family came to the banks of the Tennessee River to cheer on Jimmy and his fellow Stars!

OCU Women Take Two Silvers at Nation’s 2nd Largest Regatta, Head of the Hooch

Jane Imfeld and Kathryn Schiro took silver in the Women's Championship Double (2x). Imfeld also took silver in the Women's Lightweight Single (1x). The women also raced top-level DI programs from the southeast and central states in the Championship Eights (8+), Championship Fours (4+) and Open Pairs (2-) and took on elite level scullers in the Championship Single (1x). All women performed well after enduring a 15 hour bus ride from Oklahoma City to Chattanooga, TN Thursday night.

Thanks to Cindie Meyer for making the trek from Norman, Oklahoma; and Julia Branch and Joe Hill from Alabama for showing up at every regatta to support the OCU Rowers with food and good cheer!

Coxswain Throw

Traditionally, when a crew wins a race they also earn the honor to throw their coxswain in the water at the conclusion of the regatta. Not only did the OCU Men's Championship 8+ win in Wichita, they tied the course record. Pictured below is Jacob Fox, before, during and after his watery reward!

OCU Rocks Wichita

The Rowing Team roared down the 1.7 mile race course at Sunday’s Frostbite Regatta.

The Men's team won gold in the eight, quad, single and double; silver in the single, pair, and double and bronze in the four and double. The Men's 8 also tied the official course record of 7:34 set in 2002 by Marietta College in the same event.

OCU’s Women’s Rowing Team dominated small boats at the Frostbite, winning gold in the pair, double and single and a silver in the single.

The OCU Novice team also joined in the fun, racing in the Women's Novice four, the Men's Open quad and the Mixed eight events, showing improvements from their racing debut at the Boot of the Oklahoma.

Great day at the races, rowers! Let's rest up for the Hooch!

Images from the Charles

Women's 4+ racing, Hugh, girls rigging at Riverside Boat Club, Men's 2- warming (?) up, proud coach Melanie!

Watch OCU at Head of the Charles

Tune in to the live webcast and watch our OCU crews do battle at the world's largest race, the Head of the Charles in Boston. Hugh and Drew race in the Champ 2x, which starts at 2:47, and Brianna leads Brittni, Hydi, Kat and Sarah in the Collegiate 4+ at 3:35. Log-on early to download the software, then watch the race and listen to the commentary. GO OCU!

http://www.hocr.org/2009HOCR/live_webcast.asp

Video from Spetember 28th

Hi,

here is a video from September 28th practice when we did some quad racing.

You can access it directly at http://www.youtube.com/ocurowing

OCU Men's practice footage 10/7/09

OCU Men's practice footage 10/7/09

Boot of the Oklahoma!

Need a hotel room at the Hooch??

The varsity rowers will be traveling and competing at the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, TN November 5th-8th. Hotel rooms are being booked quickly. If you are planning on traveling to Chattanooga to cheer on the OCU Stars and need a room, you may be in luck. Kat's parents, Julia Branch and Joe Hill, have reserved two rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn, but they only need one. Let me know if you would like the other, and I will put you in touch with them.

Best Regatta in Town

Attention rowers, friends, family and fans. Thanks to all of you, OCU and the Chesapeake Boathouse, the Boot of the Oklahoma has made the final 5 in the US Rowing poll "Best Race in Town." Vote for the Stars and OKC here ( we are currently in 3rd and that is unacceptable):

http://www.rowingnews.com/index.php?option=com_poll&id=15:whichraceisinthebesttown

Thank you

The OCU coaching staff would like to thank all the parents and rowers for your help and support during the Boot of the Oklahoma 2009!

The Steenburgh's, Slattery's, Mahon's, Mike Hagen, Verena Mulder, Joel Hill & Julia Branch, and Stephanie Hibbs (and Herman) all traveled from out of state to cheer on the OCU Stars. Thanks to our local parents the Tullos's, Hurley's, Riesenberg's, Meyer's and Gibson's for keeping the rower food tent well stocked. A special thanks to Julia Branch for doing everything from manning the food tent to carrying boats and oars. We are grateful to have you all as part of the OCU rowing family.

The OCU Rowers logged over 100 hours of volunteer hours during the clean-up of the regatta and in the words of the Chesapeake Boathouse Vice-President, Elizabeth Laurent, "Thank those OCU rowers for me. They were a tremendous help, and we could not have done it without them."

OCU Women at the Boot of the Oklahoma

Boot on Facebook

The Boot of the Oklahoma Facebook event has links to OCU's entries on Regatta Central, and a link to the OCU athletic department's story about Edgar. Invite others to the event and RSVP for it yourself.

Sarah in the 1x - 9/28/09

Nice evening to row - Go Sarah!

OCU Women's Quad - Friday Practice

Enter to win the all new cox box!

Time to get creative!

Rowing News has a "Think Outside the Box" contest. Share the story of our OCU rowing team via Haiku, limerick, photo essay, comic strip, artwork, or using another creative medium. Entries must be in by Oct. 15. Grand prize is the all new NK Cox Box; second and third prizes are subscriptions to Rowing News and NK bucks and other fun stuff! Do it for your team!

Enter now!

While you check out the Rowing News Website, be sure to read some of the great content, like this article on how pulling together as a team increases your individual pain threshold.

Blu Party

OCU's very own regatta, the Boot of the Oklahoma is scheduled for October 3rd and 4th on the Oklahoma River. Every year, the VIP Blu Party kicks off the regatta weekend.

This year, the OCU Rowers will be selling tickets by calling various friends and customers of the boathouse community. Tonight is their first night for telefunding. The rowers will be meeting on the 3rd floor of the Ann Lacy Visitor and Admission Building at 6:15 pm. The rowers will receive a portion of the proceeds, and the remainder of the profits from the ticket sales will benefit Youth Outreach Programs and Olympic hopefuls at the new High Performance Center.

Are you interested in attending the Blu Party and supporting all these worthwhile causes? You can buy tickets online at http://www.bootoftheoklahoma.com/bl%C5%ABdenim (please note: support OCU in the comment section) or by contacting Coach Melanie.

More Images from the Retreat

Images from the Retreat

From playing volleyball to cutting onions (that can make even the strongest rowers tear up) to finger licking good s'mores, OCU Rowing retreat 2009!

OCU Women's Rowing

OCU Women's Practice - Friday

More men's practice pix

Friday Practice Pix - OCU Men