Coach's Corner: Spring 2004 Season Recap

If you’ve seen Page 9 of this spring’s Case alumni magazine, you already know one of the biggest achievements of the Crew Club’s 2004 campaign: The Spartans won back the Hammer Cup for the first time in six years - - and by an average time more than 30 seconds faster than John Carroll.

The young lady on the left side of the magazine photo, Katherine Allen, now holds Case crew’s women’s record for a 2k, at 7:09.5. The rower pictured next to her, Erin Brandt, that day set a personal best of 7:36.1. The two claimed gold and silver in the women’s varsity event; meanwhile, sophomores Jenna Copeland (7:33.4) and Carolyn Sayre (7:57.8) finished one-two in the women’s novice event, and sophomore Stephanie Crabtree (8:23.0) took silver among novice lightweight women. Full results can be found HERE.

For the men, sophomore Ian Henderson took silver in the men’s varsity competition (6:46.4); Brian Chorney took gold in the men’s lightweight race (6:50.8); and Hans Howell (6:47.7) and Sebastian Wyman (7:16.9) took gold and silver, respectively, in the men’s novice event.

The Hammer - - which Case hosted this year - - followed a week after the Pittsburgh Sprints, where Katherine and Jenna each won her respective event; Case’s mixed relay also placed second.

These erg times testify to the work both teams put in at Veale from November through the end of February. The team’s overall youth kept us from capitalizing on that fitness as much as we would have liked this spring on the water, but at the same time bodes well for coming years.

In the Home Schools regatta March 27, Case won both the men’s and women’s varsity 4+ events, while the women’s novice 4+ missed victory by 1.54 seconds. A week later Case attended the Eagle Creek Invitational, an event featuring only schools that are members of the University Athletic Association. Our own Spartan Alumni Rowing Association President, Doug Rathburn, organized the regatta in Indianapolis, and rowed with his new team, the University of Chicago Maroons. Fellow Case Crew alum Natalie Bolt, a member of the Indianapolis Rowing Center, graciously spent the day as the regatta’s starter. 2004 URA Photo Gallery.

High winds coupled with our lack of on-water experience - - the women’s varsity team has no junior or senior rowers, while the men’s varsity team has one - - combined for a rough day. Case’s men’s and women’s pairs, and the novice men’s four, scored third-place finishes, but overall Case’s performance disappointed. Still, the opportunity to match up against teams from the university’s own league inspired, and the gathering appears likely to be an annual event. We are committed to improve upon our showing next year. Full results can be found HERE.

Every regatta this spring saw Case’s rowers demonstrate much-improved technique and speed. Two weeks after Eagle Creek, for example, we headed to Columbus for the first Ohio Cup regatta, hosted by Ohio State. Several Case crews advanced from heats, and the novice women’s 4+ scored third place in the finals (Ohio Cup results HERE). A week later the team finished its season at Governor’s Cup in Charleston, West Virginia. Both the men’s and women’s pairs won silvers, and the women’s varsity 8+ took bronze in the 500-meter dash (WV Gov Cup results HERE).

Yet again, much of the team’s progress this spring would not have been possible without the generosity of Cleveland’s adult club, the Western Reserve Rowing Association. The WRRA allowed us to borrow its pair and an 8+ for the entirety of the spring, and also to borrow oars for regattas. Case Crew plans to expand fundraising participation substantially at Cleveland Browns games this fall; indeed, the team unanimously passed a policy making fundraising - - or additional financial contributions - - a mandatory element of club membership. In addition, this summer a team committee is putting together a spring break training trip for 2005, while another committee will be stepping up recruitment efforts.

In the years since founding Coach Tim Marcovy returned to Case Crew, the program has drawn a small core of incredibly talented and committed athletes. If we can add to that resource with more money and numbers, Case can expect significant improvement on the water in 2004-2005.

Spring 2004 SARA Newsletter (pdf)