News Archive from the 2011 - 2012 Season

Case Crew 2011-2012 Season Recap

Below is the academic year 2011-2012 racing schedule for Case Crew with links to the results and photos for each event. For a write up about each event continue to scroll down.

DelBarba National Champion in the Men's Single!

Race results: here
Photos: here
Case Daily Article: 5 questions with national champion rower Patrick DelBarba (html) or here (pdf)

Race report from Doug Brubaker:

After Patrick and I both got knocked out in the semi-finals at the Dad Vail Regatta, we both wanted another crack at those scullers. With Dad Vail being my second race in the single I wanted more race experience, and having posted the third fasted time overall but failing to advance to the finals, Patrick had some unfinished business. ACRAs had the Dad Vail second and fourth place finishers entered as well as a number of scullers we hadn’t seen before, so we saw an opportunity for some good races. Besides, racing on the 1996 Olympic course was an amazing opportunity that we really couldn’t pass up.

The Saturday morning heats were rough for both of us. Patrick came in second in his heat with a fairly slow time for him, but good enough to advance to the finals directly. Having smacked into the buoys at the start, I had a lot of ground to make up and finished in sixth, good enough to go the repechage that afternoon. The day ended with Patrick seeded 5th in the Grand Final, myself seeded 5th in the B Final.

Sunday morning brought clear skies, but rough water and a few of the scullers struggled with the chop. Our races were back to back, mine before Patrick’s. Patrick sat off to the side in his boat while I took off at the start. My race had Kansas State and he and I had battled it out the day before in a pretty tight race. This one was no different. At the 500 meter mark he and I were dead even, but I pushed hard and took him by half a second.

Afterward, I paddled off to the side, up to the 200 meter mark to watch Patrick come down. The race commentator was going through the positioning, and for most of the race Patrick was in third by roughly a boat length with the Dad Vail second and fourth, University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) battling for first. This was tough to hear, but around the 750 mark when the racers came into view, things began to change very quickly. Pitt and VCU had tired each other out in the chop and when it became clear they weren’t going to pull away, Patrick made his move. By the 500 he had begun to lengthen out and put on the power, taking water on Pitt and VCU with each stroke. By the 300 he was dead even with them, and then proceeded to walk right past them, crossing the finish line by a boat length! It was incredible to watch, both the dramatic ending to the race and to see a Case boat take first at a major regatta…I really wish the rest of the team could have seen it because I won’t ever forget how awesome it was.

All in all, I think we both got what we wanted out of the weekend. I feel as though I improved as a racer and Patrick got the race he should have had at Dad Vail. It truly excites me, looking at where we are, where the novices, now varsity members are at this point. The team has come so far this year, growing both in size and competitiveness. I absolutely can’t wait for next year, because I know we can and will continue to grow and that Case Crew will be a team to reckon with.

Paul Buchheit '98 Joins Team During Commencement Weekend

3 of 5 Crews Advance at Dad Vails; Women's Pair Takes 5th Overall

Our next semi-finalists both came out of the same event. Typically schools are not allowed to enter multiple crews in an event, but the men's single is classified as an "exhibition" event. Freshman Patrick DelBarba and Junior Doug Brubaker have been focusing more on sculling this season and since Vails doesn't offer the double they decided to each enter a single. Both scullers finished second in their respective heats and lined up for the semi-final first thing Saturday morning.

Patrick was dealt an unlucky hand having drawn the fastest of the three semi-finals. Only two from each semi would advance to make a 6-boat final. Unfortunately the two scullers from Oklahoma City University and the University of Pittsburgh would take gold and silver in the event later that day leaving Patrick to watch the race from shore. Patrick actually had the third fastest time overall out of the semi. Unbelievable.

Doug put together two fantastic pieces in the heat and semi, but was just slightly off the pace in his semi. He finished 2 hundredths of a second behind the sculler from Colgate to take 6th in his semi and 16th out of 18 in the semis.

2012 Dad Vail Men's Single Sculler Patrick DelBarba '15
© row2k.com & Anna Zhilkova

In the men's novice four, the line up of Evan Lanese, Gavin Brown, Matt Brown, Matt Holdren with Jeff Chin coxing took on a strong field including alumnus and SARA secretary Brian Chorney's Endicott College team from Boston. Also in the heat was the crew from Bowdoin who beat up on our guys over spring break. After spring brink the guys re-doubled their efforts literally taking on two-a-days to gain speed and experience. They got faster, but weren't quite able to match the speed of heat winners Tennessee and Bowdoin. With only the top two crews advancing our guys were shut out this year. However, showing real class the guys from Bowdoin came over to the trailer to congratulate Case and recognize the speed improvement and to say they gave Bowdoin a scare. Much respect.

The women's novice 4+ of Katie Kershenbaum, Abby Sevier, Stephanie Merlino, Chloe Milliman and Jamie Shah coxing also took third in their heat and missed Saturday racing. The two advancing crews were from varsity-status programs from Colgate and SUNY Buffalo.

A large portion of the team is planning on staying in Cleveland to continue training and many learning to scull. Stay tuned!

Race results can be found HERE.

2012 Dad Vail Regatta Photo Gallery

Dad Vail Prep at MACRA; Small Boats Earn Gold

April 28, 2012: Case Crew travelled west to Grand Rapids, Michigan to compete in the MACRA Regatta hosted by Grand Rapids Rowing Association. The event serves as a mid-spring tune up for large colleges like Michigan, Purdue, Ohio State, Grand Valley, Northwestern and U Chicago and their preparation for Dad Vails and ACRAs. The event features 7-lane 2000m racing with morning heats and afternoon finals. The weather was cold and rainy, but the water was calm making it perfect spring racing weather.

The women's novice team brought an eight and a four to race. The women's novice 8+ was a final only affair and saw our team lined up against six other Midwestern powerhouse schools. Within a 100m of the start the crew stated overlapping Northwestern and the inevitable clashing of blades occurred. The two crews didn't quite gain their composure after clashing and finished at the back of the pack. There is a nice picture sequence here.

Case Crew Women's Novice 8+ (near) just off the start against Northwestern (middle) and GVSU (far).

The women's novice 4+ of Chloe Milliman (s), Stephanie Merlino (3), Abby Sevier (2), and Katie Kershenbaum (b) with Ann Czekaj coxing finished 3rd in their heat, which was fast enough to garner a place in the final. In their heat they finished ahead of crews from Northwestern, Cincinnati, Marquette and Xavier. For their final the regatta was running a few minutes ahead and the crew missed the start. Even though they showed up a few minutes early for the start, the dock master failed to check them in and notify the starters. This mishap cost the women a chance at a medal, but will definitely put a focus on the lead up to Vails.

Complete race results can be found HERE (html).

2012 MACRA Regatta Photo Gallery

Men's Fours Lead the Charge at Car-Du-Pitt

The Novice Men's 8+ looked strong and together, but were outmatched by a seasoned crew from the University of Pittsburgh. The Novice Women's 8+ event has five crews entered including varsity programs from the University of Rochester, Robert Morris University and Duquesne University. The novice women held their own, but couldn't quite match the speed of the other crews finishing in 5th place.

Since the event was a scrimmage and limited to five lanes, multiple heats were run as finals for the fours. In the women's varsity four, the Case women lined up against Duquesne, Pitt and Robert Morris. They finished in second place behind Duquesne by about 15 seconds.

Men's varsity 4+ receiving shirts from Carnegie-Mellon.

Last up were the Men's Varsity and Novice Fours. The varsity men challenged Carnegie-Mellon to bet their shirts based on the outcome of the race. It was a great bet, because Case ended up winning by over 15 seconds to Rochester and 34 seconds over CMU. In the last race of the morning the Case novice men won their heat in convincing fashion against Pitt and CMU.

Race results can be found HERE (html).

2012 Car-Du-Pitt Scrimmage Photo Gallery

Students, Alumni and Parents Compete in 2012 Alumni Regatta

The morning program consisted of three races in pairs and doubles. First off was the men's double which saw the varsity men's top athletes face off against Tim Marcovy and Doug Rathburn. Freshman Patrick DelBarba and junior Doug Brubaker have been sculling the double all season and proved the superior crew over the course from Nautica stage to the boathouse docks -- about 600 meters. Tim and Doug took full advantage of the rule that false starts don't apply to alumni, but it was still not enough with Patrick and Doug B. taking the full advantage back within the first 20 strokes.

In the next race student Caitlin Bowerman and alumna Katie Puttmann reprised their 2011 Dad Vail finalist line up in the pair to take on alumnae Patty Travis and Jess Schneider in the double. Yes, pair against double! Coming in front of the boathouse Caitlin and Katie looked in control, but a wide turn made the final result less than a length in their favor.

Alumni men's 4+ of Tom Hudak (s), Chris Shoemaker (3), Dan Bachmann (2), Nate Uber (b) and Jess Schneider (cox).

The final small boat race pitted current varsity pair Caitlin and Mallory Miller against sorority sisters Laura Kruse and Abby Sevier both in pairs. This was Abby and Laura's first race in the pair after an initial practice a couple days before (click for some cool photos of their practice). The inexperienced pair put up a valiant effort and had a lot of fun, but ultimately the more experienced crew of Caitlin and Mallory won by open water.

There were two races in the men's fours. The first race saw a strong alumni crew of Tom Hudak, Chris Shoemaker, Dan Bachmann and Nate Uber fall by only a length to the men's varsity crew of Patrick DelBarba, Doug Brubaker, Matt Moss, and Jeff Chin. In the second race the father-son duo of Brian and Patrick DelBarba sat stern pair with novices Matt Steadman and Larry Muhlstein. They raced the mostly novice crew of Matt Holdren, Matt Brown, Doug Brubaker, and Evan Lenase who ultimately prevailed by open water.

At the end of the christening, Doug had a surprise announcement for the team. Crew alumnus and benefactor Paul Buchheit '98 has decided to support the hiring of a part time coach for the team. Paul has committed $50,000 to SARA for coaching over the next few years. The SARA board has entered conversations with the university on how the gift and coaching position will be implemented. The intent is that a paid coach will be in place next fall.

Case Crew members thanking alumnus Paul Buchheit '98 for his support of the team.

At the end of the program all of the alums plus some student guests met in the boathouse boardroom for the annual general meeting. But before the meeting Matt Van of The Jolly Scholar restaurant provided everyone a nice BBQ lunch. The team recently christened their newest four "The Jolly Scholar" due to the support Matt has showed the team. Those in attendance at the AGM heard details on equipment, fundraising and plans for the coming year. The membership also elected a new member, Chris Shoemaker, to the Board. Minutes of the meeting will be posted soon.

Later that evening over 30 students and alumni met at Great Lakes to swap stories of the glory days and plans for the future. Overall it was the most successful event to date, and we hope to see you next year! Special thanks to Danette Bush and Dan Bachmann for sharing so many photos. Take a look at the album below where we've posted over 400 photos from the weekend.

Full results and lineups from this year's race can be found HERE (html).

2012 Alumni Regatta Photo Gallery

The team put together an awesome newsletter in preparation for the alumni regatta: Spring 2012 Alumni Newsletter

Case Crew Dominates the Cuyahoga!

March 24, 2012: Case Crew took on its cross town rivals Cleveland State and John Carroll in the tenth annual Cleveland Collegiate Regatta. The annual challenge pits the three colleges against each other in a heat and final format. Each team races a short 500m heat and the two fastest crews then face off in a longer 1400m race around two bends on the Cuyahoga. The race, formerly known as the Homeschools Regatta, opens up the rower's lungs a bit, provides a early season test of speed for the teams, and helps with coxswain development due to the turns and race strategy.

Case women's varsity four on their way to a win against John Carroll.
Anna Czekaj (cox), Chloe Milliman (bow), Ruth Dickey (2), Mallory Miller (3) and Caitlin Bowerman (stroke).

Here is a Race Report from Anna Czekaj '13 [edited]. She is normally a coxswain, but raced today in the JV 4+.

I ROWED (right?? I row too! haha) in the Women's Novice 4 race, which included a heat. With all three boats lined up at the start, we started out slow but within seconds we got the lead. It was a clear win and an amazing effort by all the women in the boat. EVEN After the heat, it was down to JCU and us. Since we won the heat, we took the inside lane which meant prime opportunity for cutting a corner very close. Caitlin Bowerman '13 did an amazing job coxing and we got the lead. We ended the race at least three boat lengths ahead with a margin over 40 seconds.

The next race was the varsity men's race, and they looked amazing. You can tell that everyone was following each other and that the pressure was on by the way they sped away from their competition! The best part is that CSU has been practicing this four for more than a semester and they are going to Dad Vails with it and we practiced our Varsity four... once? The Case Men finished the race with two boat lengths ahead.

Next up was the women's varsity 4+ where I coxed and a novice rower joined in bow. There was no heat. Our competition was JCU. We had the far lane (without the ability to cut the turn). I had a game plan in mind and just had to make sure the rowers trusted me. The race started. JCU did a high 20 which overpowered our high 10. They had a slight lead but were rushing up their slides like crazy. Recognizing the inefficiency, I this called out for ratio, which instantly caused our boat to react to keep us neck to neck into the first turn. I stayed close to JCU the entire straight stretch down. The power increased as the heels went down into the second turn. We didn't pull away until the last turn. It's a good feeling when the rowers give you what you asked for and we won by almost 12 seconds. After that the men's 8 went. I didn't cox this one, but even though a couple kids in the boat didn't really have much practice in they still won and looked strong.

Anna enjoying victory's spoils Photos • Results

Last up was the mixed 8 with me coxing. On the water we realized that we only had two varsity members in the boat (Caitlin and Mallory) and that everyone else was a novice. There was a heat in this race and we were also rowing the Marcovy, which takes a while to get up to race speed. I knew that in the heat we wouldn't win unless we REALLY got it going. I called for the first five strokes, a high twenty and then a 15 to lengthen. We were in the far right lane, JCU in the middle and CSU at far left. In the start of the race, we were behind. However, after some clashing of oars and poor steering from the other teams we rowed right past them to win the heat.

In the mixed 8+ final 1500m race, and the last race of the morning, it was CSU and us. They had 6 varsity rowers and 2 novices. We had a weaker start but that didn't stop us. We had the inside corner, and I took advantage of it. We pulled ahead in the straight stretch and we won by over 2 boat lengths. We finished the race and everyone was happy, and I sang my traditional mixed 8 win song (Build Me Up Buttercup). We sang it the entire way back to the docks. IT WAS AWESOME.

Case Crew Coxswain Anna Czekaj '13 Profiled in Case Daily

Case Crew Heads South for Spring

March 10-15, 2012: The team headed south to Camp Bob Cooper near Clemson, South Carolina for a week of warm weather training. The team participated in two and three practices per day in a mix of boats. Both the varsity and novice teams gain valuable miles and near the end of the week they scrimmaged Carnegie-Mellon, Liberty, and Bowdoin.

2012 Spring Break Photo Gallery

Case Crew Alumnus Tapped to Give 2012 Commencement Address

Case Crew Rows 568,485 meters in 24-hour Erg-a-thon

From Abby Sevier '15, Case Crew Fundraising Chair:
I was put in charge of running Case Crew's annual erg-a-thon event held February 24th to the 25th, and I'm happy to say that due to the entire team's hard work and dedication, it was a giant success! We ended up raising over $1800 from donations from friends and family as well as from students on campus.

As for the event itself, we brought over six ergs from Veale so students who were interested in the club could try out the rowing machine. As an extra incentive, we offered two gift certificates donated from Guys Pizza Company to the male and female student who had the best 500 meter time. This turned out to be a tremendous success as we had over 20 students who attempted to win the gift certificates. The winner for the women ended up pulling an average 1:54 split and the winner for the men was a 6'7" boy who pulled an average 1:24 split that even impressed Patrick DelBarba (the team's current top erg). We are currently trying our hardest to recruit both these members.

The crew club itself came together and managed to pass the entire 24-hour period with at least one team member on an erg. The entire team managed to erg a total of 568,485 meters which is the closest we have ever gotten to our goal of erging to Dad Vails, a distance of 690 kilometers from Cleveland to Philadelphia.

Another record that was broken was that we had six members of our team erg a full marathon (42,195 meters), including three novices. Caitlin Bowerman, Patrick DelBarba, Doug Brubacker, Chloe Milliman, Evan Lanese and myself braved the challenge and we are currently planning to do it again next year, but this time with ten people!

Case Crew Throws the Hammer Down!

Leading the way for the men was freshman Patrick DelBarba with a time of 6:27.9. This time won the Open Men's category and was the fastest time overall at the event. Behind Patrick in the Open race with a time of 7:07.5 was Matt Moss in 5th place.

The novice men entered 9 athletes across the heavyweight and lightweight events. For the Open Novice Heavyweights, Matthew Holdren pulled the fastest time of 7:06.6, which was good enough for 2nd place. For the Lightweight Novice Men Willis Mathews pulled the second fastest college time in 6:49.3 ahead of 2nd place CWRU finisher Gavin Brown who pulled 7:21.4.

For the women, novice openweight rower Abby Sevier led the way winning her event with the time of 7:50.9. Valerie Mitchel followed her into third place with a time of 8:37.6. On the lightweight novice side, Chloe Milliman pulled 8:26.9, which was good enough for silver and Katie Kershenbaum took bronze with 8:31.0. Varsity rower Caitlin Bowerman finished in 2nd place with a 7:51.8 behind 5'11" tall Lauren Penkala from JCU.

The coxswains also got into the mix this year by pulling 1000m. Anna Czekaj won the event with a time of 4:15.4 and novice Ava Kotvas took third in 4:57.3.

The last event for the team was the 6x500m relay. Case entered three teams comprised of three women and three men each. The top team won the event in 10:04.2, which was over 20 seconds faster than second place John Carroll. In third was the second team from Case in 10:32.7 and Cleveland State in 4th. The final team from Case took 5th.

Race results from the 2012 event can be found HERE.
A summary of results from all 18 years of the Hammer Cup can be found HERE.

2012 Hammer Ergatta Photo Gallery

Alumni & Friends Break 2 Million Meter Mark for First Time

Father and Son Take On Pittsburgh; Team Takes 3rd Overall

The novice men brought four athletes to Pittsburgh. In the Open Novice category Matt Brown pulled a 7:20.0 and was good enough for 7th place. The Lightweight Novice event had three CWRU participants: Gavin Brown with 7:21.0 and 7th place, Evan Lanese with 7:42.1 and 10th place, and Matthew Steadman with 7:48.5 and 12th place.

On the women's side only two athletes pulled 2k. Junior Caitlin Bowerman did her piece in 7:53.2, which was good enough for 8th place. Novice Ava Kotvas then had a go in the Lightweight Novice event and earned 12th place with her time of 10:32.6.

For the last event the team mixed it up -- literally -- for the team 6-person relay race. The relay teams of three men and three women completed a total of 3000 meters, or 500m per racer. Case's team consisted of Doug Brubaker, Ava Kotvas, Matt Moss, head coach and alumna Patty Wolford, Caitlin Bowerman and anchored by Patrick DelBarba. The team's time for 3k was 10:30.2, which placed them 8th overall out of 13 teams. You can watch a YouTube video of the relay here. In the collegiate team points competition, the team finished in third place behind the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie-Mellon University.

Race results can be found HERE (html).

2012 Pittsburgh Indoor Sprints Photo Gallery

Case Men Best Local Rivals at Head-to-head Erg Challenge

January 21, 2012: John Carroll hosted Case and Cleveland State for a friendly round of Anaerobic Threshold testing with the Case Men claiming top honors along with the team winning the overall title. The previous two years had only Case and JCU racing each other, but the teams invited Cleveland State to the party this year. The teams raced over 5,000 meters (women) and 6,000 meters (men) with each rower awarded one point for each rower they beat. Then the points were tallied to crown a winner overall and for the men and women. JCU won the women's crown.

The men's team doubled JCU's point total with 62 points. JCU finished with 31 points while Cleveland state were awarded 27.

The Case women's ranks were thinned by an event on campus. However, the top three scores on the team garnered spots two through four putting them only 27 points off JCU who brought 9 athletes to the event! Junior Caitlin Bowerman pulled a 20:50.5 5k (2:05 splits) finishing 2nd behind Lauren Penkala of JCU by 2.5 seconds. Caitlin was followed by law student Ruth Dickey with a time of 21:08.7 and novice Abby Sevier with a time of 21:12.4. Rounding out the results was novice Ava Kotvas' time of 27:52.4.

After combining points from both teams Case was declared the overall scrimmage winner with 95 points against John Carroll's 77 and Cleveland State's 39.

The event is a fun tune up for both teams. Next up for Case is the Pittsburgh Indoor Sprints next weekend and then the Hammer Ergatta on February 11. If you're around please go and cheer the students on!

Race results can be found HERE.

2012 JCU 5k/6k Erg Challenge Photo Gallery

Mining Gold in Cincinnati

October 29, 2011: Case Crew took a full squad of 30 athletes -- varsity & novice -- to Harsha Lake in Cincinnati to take on the Hidden Dragon. This new regatta hosted by Clermont Crew winds along the lake (hence the dragon reference) for 5,000 meters. A glorious fall day met the team as they competed against local colleges Wittenberg and Xavier. The team entered a total of 14 crews and walked away with gold in 5 events included 2 events where they went gold/silver.

On the men's side everyone came home with hardware! The varsity men entered two fours and took gold and silver. In the varsity pair the guys also took gold and silver. Reprising their line up from the Charles Doug Brubaker and Patrick DelBarba crushed Wittenberg by three minutes in the open double.

The novice men in the 8+ finished a little over a minute behind Xavier but ahead of Wittenberg to claim the silver medal. The guys then split into two novice fours and finished in 2nd and third behind Wittenberg (but ahead of Xavier).

Women's Novice 4+ (L-R: Rachel Wilson, Abby Sevier, Molly Fox, Kate Hart) heading out for their race

The team's coaches also got into the act with Bob Gannon taking gold out of 4 scullers in the Masters 1x. The he and Patty Wolford Travis stepped into the mixed double and beat Greater Dayton Rowing Association by 2.5 minutes to take gold.

Before racing started in the morning the regatta organizers hosted a 5k run along the lake. A number of Case Crew rowers competed with Novice Katie Kershenbaum taking the 16-19 year old event in a time of 25:54.76. From the varsity squad Mallory Miller took top honors in the 20-35 age category with a time of 24:16.27. On the men's side novice Patrick Delbarba took second place in the 16-19 year old event with a time of 25:13.94. Full results can be found with the link below.

All in all it was the perfect cap to a great season for the team. The varsity claimed more medals than any fall team in recent memory and the novices got to race twice claiming medals at each race. Now the team heads indoors and we look forward to an exciting spring season!

Click here for complete race results.

2011 Head of the Hidden Dragon Regatta Photo Gallery

Case Crew Takes on the Charles!

October 22, 2011: Case Crew entered three boats into this year's Head of the Charles: the Women's Club 4+, the Men's Championship 2x and Miranda Cullins in the Champ Single. The Saturday weather could be classified as "classic" fall weather with the sun beating down, cool temperatures and fast racing in Boston.

The crew of Ruth Dickey (stroke), Caitlin Bowerman (3), Mallory Miller (2), Grace Eder (b) with Anna Czekaj coxing finished 24th out of 45 and just missed a qualifying spot for next year. To qualify crews have to finish in the top 50% in terms of position. However, this year's club 4+ event was incredibly fast overall. The Case women posted the fastest time ever (% time off the winner) for any Case entry at the Charles -- men or women. They finished within 6.63% of the winning crew from Boston University, but even that fast time was still outside the top half of crews. The second fastest crew in team history was men's collegiate 4+ in 2007 that finished 7.52% off the winner.

CWRU Women's Club 4+ sporting the Deere hats and Cleveland skyline tanks!
L-R: Caitlin Bowerman, Grace Eder, Mallory Miller, Ruth Dickey and horizontal is Anna Czekaj

Case Crew Club President Featured in Spartan Spotlight October 21, 2011:  Doug Brubaker '12 is featured in the October 21 edition of The Observer, the student newspaper at CWRU. Doug is the Case Crew president from Powell, Ohio. He has been rowing for two years and became president this fall, and will be racing this weekend at the Head of the Charles in the Champ Double. Click here to read the Spartan Spotlight article about him (or here for a pdf version of the article).

Medal Haul in Columbus!

October 15, 2011: Case Crew traveled to Columbus, Ohio for the 28th annual Jack Speakmon Memorial Regatta on Griggs Reservoir. This regatta has traditionally been the end-of-season bash for the team, but Greater Columbus Rowing Association has chosen the weekend before the Charles for the last two years. The coaches had watch the crop of novices progress well the last couple weeks and so they brought the whole squad. The team entered 11 events and medaled in 7 making this the most successful Speakmon in team history!

On the women's side the novices all walked away with hardware. In the novice 8+ they split two Ohio University to take silver and in the novice 4+ event the lineup of Milliman, Kotvas, Kershenbaum, and Hart also took silver ahead of teams from Ohio University and Cleveland State.

Ruth Dickey (bow) and Laura Kruse (stroke) in the Open Pair

The women's varsity team entered the 4+ and pair events. The women's varsity 4+ of Eder, Miller, Bowerman, and Dickey struggled to find their speed but finished a respectable 5th. The four faster crews from Ohio State and University of Dayton were all varsity program athletes. This women's four will also be competing in Boston next weekend.

In the pair recent alumna Katie Puttmann made her way back to reprise the combo with Caitlin Bowerman. This duo won the event at Speakmon last year and also made the finals at Vails. A few months away didn't dampen their speed and they were able to score bronze this year behind crews from Upper Arlington High School and Saline High School. Law student Ruth Dickey paired up with Laura Kruse to race the pair and took 9th in the same event.

Men's Class of 2015 racing down the Scioto River

For the rest of the men's crews the highlight was the men's novice four. Having never touched an oar before Labor Day the crew of Shin, Steadman, Krajci, and Travis took the silver medal behind a fast crew from Indianapolis Rowing Center. The novice men's four then joined forces with the varsity men's four to try out the 8+ but finished 5th out of 5. Other results from the men included a 5th place finish in the Open 4+ and 4th in the Frosh 8+.

In other racing, assistant coach Bob Gannon and SARA board member Tim Marcovy jumped in their singles for the master men's race. Bob took 4th out of 19 crews while Tim finished 9th.

Small Boat Success at the 25th Head of the Ohio

The men's team was led to the podium by freshman Patrick DelBarba in the Open 1x where he garnered the silver medal. Patrick is an experienced sculler from Three Rivers and is studying Computer Science at Case. Patrick also raced in the Open Double event with club president Doug Brubaker where they finished 4th.

The men's team decided to race two pairs this year instead of the four. The "A" line up of Doug Brubaker and Matt Moss finished 4th and only 3 seconds out of the medals. They were paced by strong crews from Carnegie Mellon, Three Rivers and the University of Cincinnati. In the "B" line up Jeff Chin and Nicholas Miller finished 7th ahead of crews from North Catholic High School and Carnegie Mellon's second entry.

Nicholas Miller (bow) and Jeff Chin (stroke) in the Open 2-

For the first 24 years of the regatta, the course started upriver near the Three Rivers Rowing Association boathouse on Settlers Landing and finished downtown near the football stadium. Due to space constraints, the organizers switched directions and this year crews raced against the current from downtown to Settlers Landing. The same 2.6 miles along the Allegheny River were covered, but times were significantly slower this year.

However, with this new format some of the kinks still needed to be worked out. Crews sat at the start more than normal in the cold and the logistics around the dock will need to be improved. Fortunately, a number of parents were on hand to help out. Thanks to families of Patrick, Doug and Mallory for being around to help! And thanks to Danette Bush for all of the great photos and enduring such a soggy day with her camera!

In other racing, Coaches Patty Travis (Wolford) and Bob Gannon brought home numerous medals including a silver together in the Mixed Master 2x. Former coach and current SARA board member Tim Marcovy also raced a couple times bringing home medals in the Masters Quad and Eight. Case Crew founder and SARA board member Tom Hudak raced to a dominating win in the Open Quad racing for Three Rivers.

Click here for complete race results.

2011 Head of the Ohio Photo Gallery

2011 HOTC Recap: 6 Medals and a Charles Bid!

September 17, 2011: The 16th running of the Head of the Cuyahoga was the first at the new Rivergate Park in Cleveland. With cool, sunny fall weather greeting the rowers, the new Cleveland Rowing Foundation boathouse played host to a great event that featured Case Crew winning 4 gold medals and 1 silver!

The most anticipated event of the day was the Women's Varsity 4+. The women's team was originally told they would get CRF's bid into the illustrious Head of the Charles Regatta. However, a few days before the Head of the Cuyahoga crews from both John Carroll and WRRA said they wanted the bid too. Solution -- race off! The winner in Cleveland would get the chance to race in Boston.

Coach Patty Wolford shuffled the line up and prepared her women to represent. SARA kicked into the effort by getting the new four delivered the day before the race. Combine a fit crew and a brand new, world class shell and good things happen. The Case Crew women bested their rivals from JCU by 11 seconds and WRRA were over 30 seconds off the pace.
Decision made -- Case is officially in the Charles!

Dickey (s), Bowerman (3), Miller (2), Eder (b), & Czekaj (c) powering to a win in the WV4+

The win in the Women's Varsity 4+ also garnered the team the Marcovy Cup. For those of you "in the know" the Marcovy Cup is a bronzed tennis shoe from Case Crew coach emeritus Tim Marcovy. It's big and strange looking -- and absolutely great! The cup has been awarded since 1990, and this win is only the 2nd ever for Case Crew. Well done ladies!

Up until this weekend the men and women have been sharing the "fast" four hull donated in 2008 by SARA. Both the men and women have rowed the Hudak to numerous medals in the last couple years, but with tight regatta schedules it's not always possible to boat all varsity crews in this beatiful hull. Problem solved! With SARA's leadership the team took delivery of a proper women-specific Hypercarbon 4+ from Pocock the day before the race (see women's 4+ photo above). The team now has a "complete" fleet with two 8's, three 4's, two pair/doubles, and a few singles. For the foreseeable future we should now be in a mode of replacement, which is much more manageable from a financial perspective than buying new shells without trade-in. More importantly, the team now has a level of equipment worthy of their efforts and the coaches now have the flexibility to boat crews in hull appropriate to the rower's skill levels. Aside from boat turnover and maintenance SARA's next focus is providing a permanent base for coaching through a university endowment.