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.