Devon Boathouse, home of OCU rowing

Stars in the News!

http://newsok.com/ocu-rowing-coach-cam-brown-battles-rare-disease/article/3608756?custom_click=lead_story_photo

Play Golf?!

Join other fans of the OCU Stars and the coaches and staff of the Athletic Department for a Golf Scramble on Friday, September 9th. All proceeds from teams recruited by rowers directly benefit the OCU rowing program.
http://ocusports.com/sports/2009/7/20/GEN_0720091753.aspx?tab=abelemonsgolfclassic

Golf talent not required!

Three Stars to Compete at U23 World Championships in Amsterdam

During the U23 World Championship trials on Lake Mercer (NJ), Kat Schiro and Jane Imfeld qualified to represent the US in the Lightweight Women's 4x (quadruple sculls) at U23 World Championships that will be held in Amsterdam, July 21-24.

Schiro and Imfeld have been training at the USRowing camp at GMS in Connecticut for the past month and were selected for the priority 4x with Solveig Imsdahl and Elizabeth Robinson. With a understated result in the qualifying time trial, the crew surprised their competitors in the final race from the start. The crew finished in 6:38.58 with Vesper A crossing the line six seconds later at 6:44.68. The Vesper B and Boston Rowing Club entries posted times over seven minutes. The World Record in the Lightweight Women's 4x is 6:23.96.

Edgars Boitmanis will also be competing at U23 World Championships in the Men's 4x representing his home country Latvia. This is Boitmanis third time making the U23 National Team and competing at the regatta.

Finishing up a successful season with a first and third place finish, respectively, in the Women's 1x (single sculls) at the Dad Vail Collegiate Championship, Schiro and Imfeld are the first two female rowers from Oklahoma City University to make the US National Team.

Women's Coach Melanie Borger said, "Having three OCU rowers competing at the U23 World Championships is a historical event for our rowing program. Jane and Kat have worked very hard over their collegiate careers to make the U23 team, and their dedicaation has paid off. I could not be more proud of their efforts and accomplishments. I am looking forward to how they will race at World's."

There were three rowers from OCU's Men's Team who also competed at trials. Drew McNichols and Jimmy vonPeters just missed representing the US in the Men's 2x (double sculls) by .03 seconds. Craftsbury Sculling Center won with a 6:36.02 while the photo finish showed the OCU entry with a time of 6:36.05.

Another Craftsbury Sculling Center entry in the Men's Lightweight 2x nudged out OCU's Matthew Maddamma. Maddamma representing Steel City and his partner's time of 6:40.79 was just 3 seconds shy of the winning 6:37.54.

Dad Vails

OCU makes the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Sacramento Bee the next day. Read the full article about sculling at Vails and OCU here:

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/14/3627475/oklahoma-city-university-wins.html

In addition to 1st place finishes in the Women's Collegiate 1x and the Men's Collegiate 1x and a 3rd place finish in the Women's Collegiate 1x, the Men's Varsity 8+ advances to the repechages. Women's Varisty 4+ posts the 4th fastest time in the heat in a field of 29 crews. Women's pair posts the 6th fastest heat time in a field of 29 crews.

The Women's 8+ takes all four pieces against UCO

The OCU Women's 8+ met with hometown rival, University Central Oklahoma, in an early morning scrimmage on Thursday, April 28th for four 750 meter pieces. In the hopes of avenging their Stroklahoma lose, the OCU women's 8+ of cox Briana Hurley, Cassie Robbins, Megan Duffy, Dinah Harjo, Kathryn Schiro, Jane Imfeld, A. Rose Lane, Shantel Wagner and Katie Sondag jumped off the line with powerful starts demoarlizing the Bronchos. After a very tight and competitive 2nd piece with a powerful push from UCO, the Stars made a committment to win the 3rd and 4th pieces by open water.

Results:
1st piece: OCU 2:42.39; UCO 2:46.46
2nd piece: OCU 2:48.08; UCO 2:48.48
3rd piece: OCU no time recorded; UCO: +:08 seconds
4th piece: OCU 2:37.00; UCO 2:45.0

Both the men's and women's squads will line up against Wichita State University, Kansas State University and Oklahoma State University this Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm on the Oklahoma River.

Women's rowers glide to four second-place finishes in Tulsa Duels

The Oklahoma City University women's rowers took on in-state competitors Tulsa and Central Oklahoma in the Tulsa Duels Saturday at the J. Bird Sr. Shell Nest on the Verdigris River.

Host team Tulsa took wins in all the races held, while OCU fielded four second-place finishes and one third.

The varsity 2- was the most tightly contested race of the day, with all three boats finishing within 16 seconds of one another. The Tulsa 'B' shell finished first in eight minutes, 41.12 seconds and OCU's Shantel Wagner and Rose Lane came in second with a time of 8:45.23.

Lane and Rikki George teamed up in the varsity 2x to record a time of 8:34.63 and a third-place finish in another highly competitive race. Tulsa's A and B boats were less than a half second apart to take the top two spots, with the A boat finishing in 8:18.36.

The lightweight sculling pair of of Wagner and Briana Hurley finished in 8:25.81 to take second. OCU's varsity 4+ boats took second in both the 'A' and 'B' finals, with times of 8:22.16 and 8:13.19, respectively.

Schiro and Imfeld finish strong

In the final hours of racing at the National Selection Regatta, Kat Schiro races senior USRowing National Team members to place 6th in the grand final with a time of 9:09.4. Julia Nichols of UC Berkeley alumni won the event in 8:36.9.

Jane Imfeld battled the same head wind in the 'C' final where she placed second with a time of 9:29.4.

Schiro advances to the Grand Final at NSR I; Boitmanis and Maddamma place 2nd in the Men's 2x final

In a field of 15 crews, Kathryn (Kat) Schiro placed second in her heat to advance to the Grand Final of the National Selection Regatta on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, NJ on Friday, April 22nd.

In the second heat of the day, Kat pulled a 8:52.84 in cross-head wind conditions to finish with a qualifying place. Julia Nichols of UC Berkeley won the heat with a time of 8:45.18. Nichols is a six-time USRowing National Team member and most recently represented the United States at the senior 2010 World Championships in the lightweight Women's Single (1x) in New Zealand where she placed 6th. The two will meet again in the Grand Final tomorrow morning with the top two finishers from the other heats including four-time USRowing National Team member and favorite Kristin Hedstrom (8:36.55), Hillary Saeger (8:40.12), Victoria Burke (8:47.57) and Nicole Dinion (8:48.05).

In the same event, Jane Imfeld will advance to the 'C' Final. With a heat time of 9:01.99, Jane has the fastest time going into the 'C' final which she will race today at 10:12 EST.

In the final of the Men's 2x, Matthew Maddamma and Edgars Boitmanis battled the Malta Boat Club duo for first place. Maddamma and Boitmanis were nipped by 1.11 seconds by their Philadelphia competitors and crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 7:16.33. OCU teammates Jimmy vonPeters and Drew McNichols followed quickly behind with a third place finishing time of 7:20.04. New York Athletic club took the 4th and final place.

OCU Rowers at the National Selection Regatta

Six OCU rowers are competing at the National Selection Regatta on Mercer Lake in NJ this weekend. This morning, they raced in the time trial which seeds crews for the heats.

Edgars Boitmanis and Matthew Maddamma started the Star's success with the 2nd fastest time in the time trial of the Men's Double (2x) event with a 6:30.75 while teammates Jimmy VonPeters and Drew McNichols clocked the 3rd fastest time with a 6:33.79. Malta Boat Club posted the fastest time in 6:30.61 in a field of five teams. In the time trial format, instead of racing head-to-head, crews race the clock, so rowers do not know who rows the fastest course until after they have returned to the dock.

In the time trial of the women's lightweight single (1x), Kathryn Schiro rowed the 2000 m course in 7:48.16 earning her the fifth fastest time. In the same event, teammate Jane Imfeld pulled 8:17.01. In a field of fifteen crews, K. Hedstrom from Wisconsin posted the fastest time 7:41.92.

The impending storm in the area created a strong tailwind which made the water conditions technically challenging but the times fast. Weather permitting, the lightweight women will race this afternoon in the heats while the men will next race Friday morning in the grand final. Race results can be found at

Athletes with national team aspirations compete in the National Selection Regatta as the first step to making a USRowing team to represent the United States in international competitions.

OCU Men Experience at SIRA

THe OCU Men's 8+ of Jake Fox (So), Jared Hooley (Sr), Jake Lamb (Jr), Matt Mahon (So), Ryan Claussen (Fr), Kyle Adair (Sr), Brock Turner (Fr), Clay Puckett (Fr), Mike Pitts (Fr) travelled to Oak Ridge, TN for their first experience of SIRA championships in the 8-man boat. It was an extremely valuable experience for the young crew, seeded 10th for the regatta.

Weather played it's part with strong winds and the constant threat of storms forcing a 2-hour delay before the Men were able to strut their stuff in the Heats. A top-3 finish was needed to progress to the ABC Semi-finals. #1 seed Florida Tech came out to a strong start with the STARS out quick and in 2nd place at the 500m mark. (11) Marietta forced their way past OCU at the 1000m mark and OCU comfortably held 3rd place progressing though to the afternoon Semi-Finals.

It was a daunting challenge in the afternoon. The 5-boat field boasted (2) Virginia, (5) UCSD and (8) Delaware. After a huge learning experience in the Heat the young Stars were determined to prove themselves as worthy contenders. After another strong start OCU was in 3rd place after 500m. By the 1000m mark Delaware and Michigan State had closed the gap and there was only half a length between 3rd and 5th place. The Stars put up a fight but weren't able to match the intensity of the other crews, the Stars time of 5:57 was 1.5 seconds behind Michigan State and narrowly missed the petite final. The depth of the field was evident with all 15 crews in the A,B,C Semi-Final only separated by 10 seconds.

In a development year for the OCU 8+, the weekend was a tough experience but priceless. With 4 Freshman and a Sophmore in the lineup, posting such fast times and competing next to some of the strongest programs in the country, the future looks bright.

The OCU Stars now focus on the Dad Vail Championship regatta and US Rowing Collegiate Championships in May, to improve on and complete what has already been a very successful season!

OCU battles Wichita State all Weekend at the Upper Midwest Sprints

The OCU Rowing team placed in first and second in all of their events at the Upper Midwest Sprints on Sunday, April 10. Creighton hosted the regatta on Carter Lake in Omaha, NE, and the Men’s Varsity 8+ started the racing with a close win. Coxswain Jacob Fox (Egg Harbor Twshp, NJ) led the crew of Jared Hooley (Dexter, OR), Jake Lamb (Scottsdale, AZ), Matt Mahon (Chesterfield, MO), Clay Puckett (Edmond, OK), Michael Pitts (Chicago, IL), Brock Turner (Tulsa, OK), J. Kyle Adair (Haddonfield, NJ) and Ryan Claussen (Manhattan, KS) to a 3:53 finish time over the shortened 1400 meter course. Wichita State University (WSU) crossed the finish line just a couple of seconds later.

In the women’s priority line-up, the Varsity Four (4+) of coxswain Briana Hurley (Oklahoma City), Cassie Robbins (Manassas, VA), Megan Duffy (Bothell, WA), Dinah Harjo (Norman, OK) and Katie Sondag (Eugene, OR) took advantage of the early day tail wind to row a 5:13. The WSU Women’s Shockers edged them out for the top spot with a 5:08. Due to an increasingly quartering tail wind, the Women’s Varsity Pair (2-) of Shantel Wagner (Oklahoma City) and A. Rose Lane (Tulsa, OK) was canceled.

The Men’s 8+ line-up divided into a Varsity Four (4+) and Novice Four (4+). Turner, Claussen, Pitts and Puckett joined freshman coxswain Allison Lashmet (Wynantskill, NY) to win the Novice Four (4+) in 4:29 while Wichita State finished eleven seconds behind for the silver medal. The Varsity Four (4+) of Fox, Hooley, Mahon, Lamb and Adair rowed a 4:27 and were edged out by WSU who took first place in 4:27.

Lashmet also coxed the third flight of the Varsity Four (4+) of Patrick Hylton (Norman, OK), Blake Marley (Norman, OK), Ryan Carroll (Broken Arrow, OK) and Riley Behms (Grove, OK) to a gold medal finish with a time of 4:48. Once again, WSU took second with a 4:56. John Riesenberg (Oklahoma City, OK) and P. Nick Hylton (Ft Worth, TX) had the most commanding win in the Men’s Varsity Pair (2-) clocking a 5:01 and finishing 22 second ahead of the University of St. Thomas.

With 128 points, WSU won the Men’s All-Points-Trophy, MaryJean Mcaugan Memorial Award, and OCU came in second with 91 points. The OCU Men will next line-up on the starting docks on Saturday, April 15 at the Southeast Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championships on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, TN. THE OCU Women will take on in-state rivals University of Tulsa and University of Central Oklahoma at the Tulsa Duels on the Verdigris River in Catoosa, OK.

OCU Men make their mark in San Diego

After much anticipation OCU has completed it's first trip to the San Diego Crew Classic with a strong showing in the Cal Cup. After a coaches poll ranked OCU as the 3rd seed the Stars were optimistically confident of their first big competition in the 8+. The heats were on Saturday and a top-2 finish was needed to progress to the Grand Final. Drexel University jumped to an early lead while OCU fought off challenges from Washington State and University of San Diego. After a strong sprint, OCU comfortably took 2nd to progress to the Final on Sunday. Less than 2 months after beginning serious work in the 8+ this was a significant achievement in itself.

Sunday brought with it the Grand Final and the Canadian, British Columbia crew lived up to their strong heat by leading the race from start to finish. The Stars fought hard though the middle of the race and after rowing through California, Irvine were in 4th place with 500m to go. Drexel University and Notre Dame battled for the minor medals. The OCU 8+ was able to hold their position and finished in 4th place.

It is a promising start for the Oklahoma City crew, with a very young crew and strong signs for the future as they will continue to attend big regattas in the 8-man boat throughout the season and beyond.

Sunday: Wichita State race canceled & Invite to Jim Wade banquet

This Sunday's race against Wichita State and UCO has been canceled due to the weather forecast. All OCU Rowing fans are invited to join the team at the Jim WAde Awards banquet at 1:00 pm on Sunday, April 3 at the Freede Center on campus. An Jim wade Award recepient will be recognized for each team and all athletic teams will be celebrated. Dinner is $15 for guests.

OCU Men's Eight is picked to win the Cal Cup

Excerpt from Bryan Kitch's RowingRelated blog

In what will be a hotly contested event this year, we are picking Oklahoma City Universityto win the Cal Cup. They seem to have just too much talent to screw this one up. Led by Freshman stud Matthew Maddamma who finished third in the Junior World Championship 1x in 2010, talented scullers Drew McNichols (6:08.2 erg), Jimmy Von Peters (6:09.4 erg), Edgars Boitmanis (6:13.7 erg) and Jared Hooley (6:15.3) will be making the trip to San Diego to leave their mark on the Cal Cup field. Although they are a Varsity program with a beautiful boathouse, scholarships and great financial support, they seem to have flown under the radar. Their coach Cameron Brown is bringing them to San Diego this year for a reason: they have talent and they want to showcase it. We are picking a strong British Columbia crew to finish second after a strong performance earlier this Spring in which they finished just four seconds behind the Oregon State Varsity 8+. We are picking Notre Dame and Sacramento State to round out the top four, with Orange Coast College and Purdue racing for the second spot in the final in the first heat. USD and Drexel will fight it out for the last Grand Final spot in the third heat. While many have been picking Washington State to have a good year after great success last year, their results from the Fall seem to indicate that the learning curve will be steep this Spring. Of course, they will get the chance to prove us wrong this weekend, as Arthur Ericsson indicates in his upcoming RR Interview.

The OCU Rowing Family is Growing!

Carson James Knopp was born on Thursday night and weighed in at 8 lbs.

OCU Men prepare for San Diego Crew Classic

This weekend the Men’s Varsity 8+ travels to San Diego for their first appearance at the Crew Classic regatta. One of the biggest regattas on the West Coast the Crew Classic exclusively races 8-man boats providing a great spectacle of racing. It is the first time OCU have entered the race, and after a coach’s poll seeded the Stars in the top-3 of the 21-entry field it promises to be an exciting weekend. The crew of Jacob Fox, Jimmy von Peters, Jared Hooley, Edgars Boitmanis, Matt Mahon, Jake Lamb, John Riesenberg, Ryan Claussen and Kyle Adair will take the water with confidence after a solid Winter training and strong improvements on the rowing ergometer. The Heats take place on Saturday with the Finals on Sunday morning. The top 2 places of each heat will progress to the Grand Final.

Stay tuned for results of the weekend.

GO STARS!

3rd Annual Stroklahoma

The OCU women battled University of Central Oklahoma on the Oklahoma River for the 3rd meeting of the Stroklahoma Regatta capturing two of the three races.

In the most exciting race of the morning, the trophy race in the Eight (8+), OCU grabbed an early lead on their hometown rival which they held for the first 1200 meters of the 2000 meter racecourse. UCO made a move and took the lead with 700 meters to go. UCO overpowered their competitors in the sprint and won the race in 7:15.92 while the Stars finished just 1.17 seconds behind.

Rowers of the OCU Women's Eight (8+) quickly turned around for the Four (4+) and Singles (1x's) race. In an even tighter race, OCU jumped ahead off the start and held off UCO's last minute push in the sprint to win by half a second. OCU clocked a time of 8:24.94. In the Lightweight Women's 1x, Kat Schiro placed 3rd in 8:34.64 while her teammate, Jane Imfeld, clocked a 8:37.24.

In the final race of the day, OCU's Women's Lightweight Double (2x) of Shantel Wagner and Briana Hurley, took on UCO Novice Women's Eight (8+). The Stars rowed a 8:31.54 beating the Bronchos' 8:33.74.

At the conclusion of racing, OCU who is the 2009 and 2010 Stroklahoma Champion presented UCO with the trophy. Coach Borger said to the teams, "This hometown rivalry is not only fueld by our will to beat each other but is intensified by our friendship." The OCU Women will next race on Sunday, April 3rd at 10:00 am against Wichita State University on the Oklahoma River.

You are invited to the Devon Boathouse!

2012 I LONDON

Will you be ready?

Please join us for a 2012|Friends of the Oklahoma River reception to learn how you can become part of Oklahoma City’s community effort to support these U.S. Olympic hopefuls in both rowing and sprint kayaking. You’ll find their journeys fascinating. Their commitment, inspiring. [invitation]

Athletes at the OKC National High Performance Center are focused on being ready for the 2012 Olympic Games in London – and 2012 | Friends of the Oklahoma River is focused on supporting these Olympic hopefuls.

Today, more than 40 rowing and sprint kayaking athletes are training at the OKC National High Performance Center in hopes of making the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team.

You’ll find their journeys fascinating, their commitment inspiring. We invite you to learn how you can become part of the Oklahoma City’s community effort to support these U.S. Olympic hopefuls and become involved in all the exciting activities on the Oklahoma River.

Be ready to be part of the Olympic Dream!

Join us for Lunch at the Devon Boathouse

What: Blue-White Luncheon

Where: Devon Boathouse

When: Wednesday March 9th, 11:30 am

Who: OCU athletic department, friends, fans and family

Cost: $8 per person for lunch

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139052192779319&index=1

Pictures from Heart of Texas

OCU Continues Success in Texas

The Rowing Stars continued their success from the Fall with some great wins in the Heart of Texas regatta, in Austin. It was a great way for the OCU team to open their Spring season.

The morning was interrupted by strong winds and a brief storm and an amended schedule in the afternoon prevented the anticipated 1x showdown between Jimmy Von Peters, Edgars Boitmanis and Matt Maddamma. When racing resumed, the Men's Varsity 8+ had an impressive race in their prelude to the San Diego Crew Classic, posting a solid win over Texas in the shorter 1000m course. The momentum was continued by the Women as Kat Schiro and Jane Imfeld posted comfortable wins in their heats of the Women's 1x before the Final was also cancelled due to weather.

In the other sculling events OCU showed their dominance with wins in the Men and Women's Open Quads, and the Men's and Women's Open Doubles. The OCU Stars now prepare for their Spring Break training camp as the sprint racing season gets underway in what promises to be an exciting and eventful season.

GO STARS!

Celebrate OCU Athletics

Parents, friends and fans,

The OCU Athletic Department wants to invite you to their annual Sports Spectacular Dinner and Silent Auction. This year, the OCU Stars will be honoring Sherri Coale, the OU Women's Basketball Coach. The sports spectacular is a night when family, friends and fans of OCU athletics can celebrate the achievements of our previous year. The event also acts as a fundraiser for the teams in the department. Proceeds from any tickets you but, tables you sponsor or silent auction items you donate will directly beenfit the OCU Rowing team and can be credited towards your favorite rower's fundraising goal.

Tuesday, April 26th
6:00 pm
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

3rd Place finish at CRASH-B's for Schiro

Kathryn (Kat) Schiro placed 3rd in the CRASH-B's World Indoor Rowing Championships on Sunday, February 20th at Boston University's Agganis Arena in Massachusetts. Schiro tied her personal best with a time of 7:26.9 over the 2,000 meter race. The time earned her a bronze medal in the Under-23 Lightweight Women's division. Julia Mareike Ost from Hannoverscher Ruder-Club, Germany clinched first place with a 7:18.2, while Erin Landy who is a junior at Georgetown rowed a 7:25.7 for the second place finish. Competitors in this division must weigh a maximum of 135 pounds.

"Over the last 18 months, Kat has been committed to training at the elite level. Her determination has paid off and is earning her and OCU medals at international competitions," says Melanie Borger.

Practice in the New Devon Boathouse

Freshmen Cassie Robbins, Rikkie George and Allie Lashmet on the sliders.
Lightweights Jane Imfeld and Kat Schiro on the sliders.