Just in - Pictures from NSR

Thanks to Joel Hill for these great photos from NSR #1.

OCU Men finished 2nd, 4th and 5th in the Men's 2x event, which had a total of six entries.
2nd: Edgar & Drew
4th: Jimmy & Hugh (missed 3rd by 1/2 a bow ball)
5th: Bryce & Jared.

Congratulations also to OCU Rowing Alum/World Championships competitor Cody Lowry who took 1st with Jon D'Alba in the Men's 2x.

Full results are available online.

Team christens James E. "Alexander the Great" at the Sports Spectacular

The rowing team christened a brand new heavyweight men's Hudson 4+ at the OCU Sports Spectacular on Tuesday, April 27th. The 4+ was christened the James E. "Alexander the Great" after the late James E. Alexander, husband of Ann Lacy. Brice Heinen, Hugh Tullos, A. Rose Lane, and Sarah Meyer christened the boat with champagne on stage in front of hundreds of OCU fans and boosters.

Ann Lacy is a loyal and tireless supporter of OCU. In addition to the rowing shell named after her husband, the Ann Lacy Visitor Center, the Ann Lacy School of Dance Management and the Ann Lacy Softball Stadium are all named in her honor.

The 4+ arrived in Oklahoma City that morning at 5 am on a trailer from NJ, and the men's crew is looking forward to training in it and racing it at the ACRA Championship.

In addition to the boat christening, the rowing team raised over $13,000 in the live auction. The Sports Spectacular is the OCU athletic departments annual fundraising event. This year, the event honored President McDaniel who is retiring at the end of this semester.

OCU vs Wichita State

Women's 8+:
1. OCU: 8:33
2. WSU: 8:44

Women's 4+
1. WSU: 9:36
2. OCU: 9:49

Men's 4+ A
1. WSU A: 7:44
2. OCU: 8:02
3. WSU C: 8:54
4. WSU B: 8:55

Men's 1x
1. Riesenberg: 9:05
2. Hagen: 9:52

Men's 4+ B
1. WSU A: 8:49
2. WSU B: 8:52
3. OCU: 9:28
4. WSU C: 10:43

Men's crew signs Patrick Hylton and CB Collier

The coaching staff is proud to announce that Patrick Hylton and CB Collier have signed with the Stars for fall 2010.

In a signing ceremony at Norman North High School on Friday, April 23rd, Hylton committed to OCU. Hylton has rowed for two years with the Chesapeake Junior Crew of Oklahoma City Riversports and is excited to join his teammates Blake Marley and Clay Puckett on the OCU Rowing team. Hylton who was in the pre-engineering program at Norman North has not yet decided on his major.

CB Collier, a four year veteran on the Robinson High School crew, is moving from Fairfax, VA to join the Stars. Collier intends on studying physics at OCU.

Women's eight has 8th fastest time at SIRA Championship

The women's varsity eight finished third in a close finish in the petite final of the club, DII, DIII event in the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championship on Sunday, April 18th at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, TN.

Coxed by Briana Hurley, the crew of Brittni Slattery, Dinah Harjo, Katie Sondag, Sarah Meyer, Megan Duffy, A. Rose Lane, Kathryn Schiro and Jane Imfeld raced three times in a qualifying heat, semifinal and final over the two-day regatta. This was OCU's first appearance at this regatta.

In the petite final on Sunday, OCU rowed the 2000 meter course in 7 minutes, 26 seconds. Although the Stars executed a courageous sprint and edged up a boat length on Marietta in the final 350 meters, Marietta was able to hold onto second place with a time of 7:26. Ohio State won the petite final in 7:21, while Mercyhurst (PA), the overall winner of the event, placed first in the grand final in 6:59.

"Competing and performing at a regional regatta of this size has given OCU the exposure and experience to accomplish great racing at the DAd Vail," OCU women's coach Melanie Borger said. "We are all proud of placing in the petite final and finishing with the eighth fastest time of the event. We will spend the next three weeks building off this weekend's results."

OCU entered the championship regatta seeded ninth and placed second in the qualifying heat on Saturday with a time of 7:03. There were four heats, and the top-three finishers from each heat qualified for the first level semifinals later that afternoon. Beating Charleston, Michigan State, Miami (OH) and Wshington in the heat guaranteed the Stars an entry into the semifinal later that afternoon.

During the afternoon, a cross-tail wind of 10 mph contributed to fast times, and the Stars pulled their fastest time to date of 7:01. OCU came in fourth place, advancing the crew to the petite final with Colorado and Tulane in fifth and sixth. Mercyhurt, Barry (FL) and Florida Tech, who clinched the top three positions in the semi, advanced to the grand final.

A special thanks to Kat Schiro's parents, Julia Branch and Joe Hill, for providing support, food and transportation all weekend. Everything from the grilled salmon to the baked brie and all the trail mix and dried fruit was above and beyond the call of duty. You made the shore of Melton Hill Lake a home.

Devon Boathouse Construction Update

Women row well in Catoosa

The women's team competed against in-state rivals Central Oklahoma and Tulsa on Saturday, April 10th on the Verdigris River, Tulsa's home course.

Racing began with sculling events where each athlete rows with two oars. In the tightest race of the day, in the lightweight women's double, the Golden Hurricanes edged out Sarah Meyer and Jane Imfeld by two seconds as OCU turned in a time of 7 minutes, 38 seconds.

OCU's openweight double of Kathryn Schiro and Hydi Gibson took second place with a time of 7:29. Tulsa took first and third place with a 7:21 and 8:01.

The OCU doubles teamed up to form a quad lineup and finished in 6:40 compared to Tulsa's 6:36.

The late morning continued with sweep- one oar per athlete- racing. Schiro, Gibson and Imfeld joined coxswain Briana Hurley and rowers Brittni Slattery, Dinah Harjo, Katie Sondag, Megan Duffy and A. Rose Lane to compete in the varsity eight event. OCU hung with the highly favored crew from start to finish and crossed the finish line just two strokes after Tulsa, finishing in 6:16.

After four races, Hurley, Sondag, Harjo Duffy and Meyer comprised OCU's crew for the varsity four. Tulsa won with a time of 7:21, followed by Central Oklahoma with a 7:24 and OCU with a 7:42.

"Tulsa is a competitive and successful team." OCU women's rowing coach Melanie Borger said. "We are excited that the program is adding sculling events to their regatta schedule, and that we were able to compete in sculling-specific races against other collegiate athletes. Although not a win, we are proud of our results in the eight." Two week earlier, Tulsa had placed second in the Cal Cup event of the San Diego Crew Classic.

OCU Overwhelms the Bronchos on Oklahoma River

Oklahoma City University's women's rowers won both the four and eight races against Central Oklahoma to take the Stroklahoma Regatta team points trophy Saturday at the Oklahoma River.

In the first race of the day, the eights battled it out for the first 1000 meters of the 2000-meter race course before OCU broke away. The Stars finished with a 10 second lead, clocking 7 minutes, 8 seconds.

The Stars line-up included coxswain Briana Hurley, Brittni Slattery, Katie Sondag, Megan Duffy, Dinah Harjo, Kat Schiro, Hydi Gibson, Rose Lane and Sarah Meyer. UCo's varsity, novice A and novice B crews finished with a 7:18, 7:49 and 8:05 respectively.

During the fours race, UCO's A and B crews had an aggressive start and took an early lead, but OCU rowed through them in the first 250 meters and held a commanding lead to the finish. With Hurley, Slattery, Sondag, Duffy and Harajo, the Stars finished with a time of 8:01, and the Bronchos' A and B crews finished with a time of 8:17 and 8:29 respectively.

Small boats from the OCU crew competed in an intrasquad race to conclude the regatta. Schiro finished first in the single in 8:29, and Gibson and Lane rowed a 8:33 in the pair. In the lightweight single, Jane Imfeld finished with a 8:37 followed by Meyer with a 8:45.

Special thanks to Dave Riesenberg and Urban Market catering for providing a delicious grilled lunch to the athletes and fan of both the OCU and UCO teams.

Steel erection of the Devon Boathouse continued today during the Stroklahoma Regatta between OCU and UCO women's crews. The Devon Boathouse inlet is complete along with the sidewalks along the river's edge.


Spectators and athletes enjoy a meal thanks to the help of Belle Isle Brewery.
OCU women's crew celebrating victory!
Spectators crowding a completed section of the new Boathouse District riverwalk near the Devon Boathouse construction site.
OCU Women's Four take first place.