April 22, 2006: Case Crew hosted its first alumni get together at the Cleveland Rowing Foundation boathouse. The weather started out foggy, which delayed racing a bit. After the fog was burned off, racing commenced and the day turned out to be beautiful. Three alumni crews took on various groupings from the Case team in a round robin format. Eleven alums from around the country (shown just below) made it to town for the racing. Full results for the day's racing can be found HERE.
If you were at the race and would like a CD with all of the photos I took in full resolution just send me an email and I will drop one in the post. Otherwise, check out the SARA Photo Gallery for all the photos from the day in a higher resolution.
Front Row (left to right): Pete Whittaker '04, Erynn Rathburn '99, Cheryl Thompson '00 (and still working on her PhD at Case), Jill Schaefer '00
Back Row (left to right): Brian Locke '96, Doug Rathburn '97, G'00, Fraser Hewson G'02, Tim Marcovy LAW'77, Chris Pfahl G'97, Paul Witeczek '98, Tom Hudak '92, Davian Kaplan '02
How many out there can remember a scene like this? Tim aligning crews for a short burst of exertion in the early morning haze.
We could not have asked for a more beautiful day. The event was quite festive with a few of the races being hotly contested. The relaxed atmosphere also allowed the alums to re-connect after years of being away from the team.
The alumni crews were 3 for 7 on the day. But with the strength of this year's team one wouldn't expect anything different.
Case Crew would not be nearly as successful without the dedication of Chris and Tim. It is with constant attention of club coaches that thousands of students are exposed to the sport. Chris and Tim have given countless hours to Case Crew for nothing other than seeing their kids race fast and gain an undying appreciation for the sport they love. Show your support for their efforts and the team by giving your time and money. And come to next year's alumni regatta to show them you still care and want to give back.
How many remember when you rowing the Lenny and wished we had rich alumni would donate a brand new shell like teams like Grand Valley & Carnegie-Mellon had? Well you may not feel rich, but you can still help. S.A.R.A. has about 300 or so members and if we each gave $100 the team could afford a brand new, top-of-the-line shell. We had a tremendous start to team fundraising for this event. The call went out before this race to help the team buy some Nielsen-Kellermen gear and a new regatta tent and the alumni responded with over $4,000 of contributions to S.A.R.A. And the team received nearly $500 from selling t-shirts and raffle tickets on the day.
I would like thank all of you that gave something to the team. I can say that the gifts were not expected and were truly appreciated by the coaches and athletes.
The group gathered together at the end of racing for some closing remarks and prize giving. Alumni took home most of the raffle prizes. I suspect because we were the only ones that could afford the nominal ticket fee. The winning crews (Senior Women & Sophomore Men) each took home trophies. To foster people staying in touch, the trophy is to spend three months in each person's possession from the winning crew throughout the year.
Fortunately the festivities did not cease with the racing. The group adjourned to Great Lakes Brewery where absolutely no underage drinking occurred.
Which one is the current Case Crew president, Anne?
Needless to say, a good time was had by all. Thank you for making this year's event such a success, and we'll see you next year.
© 2006 Doug Rathburn