PULLHARD THE THE WSU COUGAR CREW ROWING PUBLICATION FALL 2 018 EDITION CCAA
INSIDE THE FALL EDITION THE NEW PULLHARD The New Pullhard Letter From the Chair Senior Spotlights Novice Coach Donovan Labriola Spring Season Recap Summer Training with Commodore Alumni on the Charles Fall Season Recap Alumni on the Lake Ask Coach 02 03 05 07 09 11 13 15 21 23 Greetings Cougar Crew Alumni, Family, and Friends, Welcome to the new face of The Pull Hard! After discussion with the coaches and CCAA, it was agreed that as a publication The Pull Hard needed to be reevaluated. Traditionally it was used to report race results, however with the speed and accessibility of social media, this felt redundant and unnecessary. Consequently, it was decided to decrease the number of issues and improve the quality, while also broadening the scope. Moving forward, The Pull Hard will be a tri-annual publication with editions released in the fall, winter, and spring. Secondarily, it was decided that greater alumni involvement was necessary in order to help improve and maintain quality content, while also bringing in different ideas. This means we need you, the reader, to help keep this magazine dynamic and engaging by providing feedback! If you particularly enjoyed an article and would like to see more, please say so. Also, while our alumni network is both strong and active, it is not perfect. If you have big news to share, let us know! This can include races you competed in (rowing or otherwise), trips around the world, getting married, a new addition to the family, and more. Our hope is that this magazine serves as a platform for both the current team, and alumni. We hope you enjoy it and, as always, Go Cougs! Zeke Nelson, 19 David Herrick, 14 1 2
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR TIM RICHARDS What has CCAA done? Welcome Cougar Crew friends & supporters! I want to give you a brief update on CCAA. To our new friends: who we are and what we do. To our staunch supporters: where we are and where we are headed. What is the Cougar Crew Alumni Association? The CCAA is a group of former oarsmen, oarswomen, and Friends/Supporters of the Crew. We evolved from the old Cougar Rowing Association and are the primary Alumni support for the Cougar Crew. Our mission is to interface with Washington State University through University Recreation (UREC), giving the team financial support and oversight, while also being a platform of stability for student leadership and mentorship. Where is the CCAA and Cougar Crew headed? As an organization we recently crossed a noteworthy financial threshold; since our reawakening we have raised over $1 million! Some to operations, some to Capital Expenditures, and the rest to the Endowment. A couple years ago I set a stake in the sand that we needed a $7 million Endowment to fund the team. An endowment this size would yield approximately $240,000 a year, which would cover most of our annual expenditures. This would reduce the burden of fundraising on the athletes and give them more time for training. It will also secure our future, so as not to be subject to ever-concerning potential budget cuts. To date, across four different accounts, the Endowment is currently at $384,000. An admirable achievement so far, but we have a long way to go. Our goal is to be the fastest varsity club team on the water. Period. It is only through the continual hard work of current team members and supportive alumni that we can hope to achieve that goal. To those of you who have re-engaged and supported Cougar Crew, thank you. To those of you who have just discovered us and want to share our vision, welcome. I look forward to seeing everyone for Cougar Crew Days in Pullman March 15-17, 2019! GO COUGS! Tim Richards aka Haole Oarsman 1977-1980 Commodore 1979-1980 CCAA Most importantly, we have re-engaged many alumni, and are continuing to expand our reach. Since the CCAA reawakening in 2003, we have been able to stabilize the team budget, fill the shell house with an enviable fleet of quality shells and oars, obtain two new coaching launches, and focus heavily on building the endowment. Our training room at the Field House boasts a full array of weightlifting equipment, and 60 rowing ergometers! Last year we worked closely with UREC to hire Peter Brevick, an experienced coach with a strong rowing resume, to lead the program. It also through UREC that we have developed a strong and coordinated working relationship with our University. If it wasn t for their support through Director Joanne Greene, and Matt Shaw, we would not have been able to accomplish what we have so far. A debt of gratitude is certainly owed to them. That is setting the stage for us as we go forward. 3 4
SENIORS 2019 NATHANAEL ENDEBROCK SPOKANE, WA EZEKIEL NELSON JACKSON HOLE, WY When I began college, I had no idea I d be a rower for WSU. At the time I was a Division II swimmer at a university almost 2000 miles away. I d grown up swimming and it was all I knew. Transferring to WSU after my freshman year, I wasn t sure I d buy into the whole Cougar Spirit. That was before I found out about Cougar Crew. It wasn t until the day before I started my first WSU class, I finally did. I Showed up to practice the next day and it was great. The competitive nature was something I d missed. It was different though, it wasn t just guys showing up to beat the guy next to you. Everyone there was trying to push themselves and everyone in their boat to be the best they could be. It just took one day, and I was sold. I ve made so many great memories during my time here: competing at great regattas like San Diego Crew Classic and Windermere Cup and awesome successes like beating UCSB head-to-head, WIRA Title in the Ltw 4+, and finishing 13th at ACRA Nationals. I m thankful to have had these opportunities, to compete with such great teammates, and to be a part of Cougar Crew. I m exciting to see how far we can push ourselves and all we can accomplish during this season. Go Cougs! I knew I wanted to row since the eighth grade. On a spring break vacation to San Diego I happend to stumble up the San Diego Crew Classic. I watched in awe and was then filled with envy that I could not take up the sport. Though there were plenty of lakes, my small mountain town had nothing to offer for rowing. Five years later I was on the hunt for the right college, and once I had narrowed it down between WSU and a few other schools, I found out about WSU Crew. I committed to WSU on the spot. That same spring I had the incredible opportunity to compete in the vary race that started it all: San Diego Crew Classic. The rest of my time here have been filled with similar amazing memories, opportunities, and incredible friends. Rowing was the hardest thing I have ever committed to, but doing anything else was never even considered. When you are surrounded by a group of guys going through the same pain and work to seek a reward together...it established an unbreakable bond. I will miss this team for it has become part of my identity. DEVON MCCORNACK MOSES LAKE, WA SAMUEL CALLAN WALLA WALLA, WA JACOB ANDERSON BIG LAKE, WA I came into the sport of rowing somewhat accidentally my freshman year at WSU. Coming into Washington State, my athletic career consisted of 11 years of competitive soccer with a bit of swimming thrown in on the side. Deciding to attend WSU meant that I was forgoing my athletic career to focus on my engineering studies; or at least so I thought. I sought out and joined the rowing team after finding out that my good friend from high school/arch rival was training to walk on the University of Washington s rowing team. Three years later, we both are the team Commodores of our respective teams, and regularly get the opportunity to throw down against each other on the water. Rowing at Washington State has provided me with constant opportunities to push and stretch myself far beyond my comfort zone. Everyday is an opportunity to become a better teammate, leader, athlete, and has been an experience that I will remember long after I take my last stroke on the water. I am proud to be apart of the Cougar Crew family, and I m proud to have been apart of the start of a new era in the teams history. Hello, my name is Samuel Callan I am a four-year oarsman for WSU. I am studying Electrical Engineering and I ll be graduating in the spring of 2019, where I ll be seeking a job in the power industry. I heard about rowing freshman year when I was at an all campus picnic and bumped into Coach Ericsson. Freshman year was a great year of learning how to row and seeing improvement. The first time I saw success was when the novice 8 made it to the grand finals at San Diego. After the momentum built up and we later beat Santa Barbra at the Stanford Invite and finished 5th at nationals. Sophomore year was a building year to get faster. Junior year started out being a building year with a whole new set of coaches. Later we improved by beating UCLA at nationals after barely losing to them at WIRA and PAC-12s. Senior year has come quick. I am excited to bring the momentum we had from the spring and use that to go faster this year. GO COUGS! I joined the team after reading Boys in the Boat on our family road trip to drop me off at college fall of 2015. I couldn t find the erg room or even the field house and missed the first practice. The second practice was a run where your team had to chase Coach Arthur for 6 miles carrying a 45 lb bar. This set the baseline of what to expect being on this team. In that practice I met most of the seniors on this page. Over the past 3 years, crew snaked its way into every part of my life here at WSU because you re always with the team. When I go to cougar crew days each year and see all the alum smiling and laughing as they see their old teammates, I know that I have been a part of something special. It s been far from easy and most days are just work, but the people are what make it worth it. As the clock runs out, we have no excuse but to give everything this season. After ACRA this coming spring, I ll get to call myself an alum of this team and look forward to a lifetime with my brothers I met on this team. 5 6
DONOVAN NEW NOVICE COACH Coach Donovan rowed for WSU Men s Crew from 2013 to 2017. During his rowing career Donovan achieved gold in the lightweight four and lightweight eight at WIRA in 2015. Later that same year he saw similar success at ACRA placing second nationally in the light weight four. The year following Donovan s fourth and last on the team, he decided to come back as a volunteer coach alongside Peter Brevick. After continual hard work, knowledge, and support, Donovan was named the new novice coach for the 18-19 year. I'm really excited to see the progress of the novice crew. It's only been a few months and they've improved more than I could have expected. Not only technically, but attitudes, and their friendships among each other. It's rewarding to see them everyday working together towards a common goal. COUGAR CREW 18-19 The progression of the novice class had already shown to be fast and full of high spirited hard working athletes. This class is also one of the biggest we have seen in a while and Donovan has done a tremendous job developing their rowing, work ethic, and attitudes. We are happy to have him here with WSU Men s Crew. GO COUGS! 7 8 NOVICE 18-19
SPRING SEASON RECAP 18 Husky Open Fawley Cup WIRA PAC12 ACRA ACRA Men s 1V8+ 1st Washington 3V 6:01.34 2nd Washington State 6:28.00 3rd Puget Sound 6:44.97 Men s 2V8+ 1st Washington 4V 6:07.50 2nd Washington State 6:33.56 3rd Gonzaga 3V 6:36.43 Men s 3V8+ 1st Washington 2F 5:59.17 2nd Washington 1F 5:59.41 3rd Washington State 1F 7:15.09 4th Washington State 2F 7:45.96 Collegiate Women s 2V8+ 1st Puget Sound 7:25.24 2nd Seattle University 7:46.69 3rd Washington State 7:55.51 Collegiate Women s V4+ 1st University of Portland A 8:12.91 2nd Washington State 8:21.22 3rd Seattle University 8:33.00 Men s 1V8+ 1st Gonzaga 6:05.6 2nd Washington State 6:08.7 Men s 2V8+ 1st Gonzaga 6:14.4 2nd Washington State 6:19.4 Men s 1F/1N 1st Gonzaga 6:40.7 2nd Washington State 7:10.6 Men s 3V8+/2N 1st Gonzaga 6:26 2nd Washington State 7:06 Men s 1V8+, B Final 1st UCLA 6:07.6 2nd Western Washington 6:10.2 3rd Washington State 6:12.4 4th UC Davis 6:17.0 5th SDSU 6:19.8 6th Humboldt State 6:35.5 Men s 1V4+, A Final 1st Santa Clara 6:47.8 2nd UC Irvine 6:58.5 3rd UCSB 6:59.4 4th UC Davis 7:08.5 5th Oregon 7:12.5 6th Washington State 7:13.7 Men s LwtV4+, A Final 1st Washington State 7:01.6 2nd UC Irvine 7:11.8 3rd UCSB 7:14.5 4th UC Davis 7:27.8 5th California 7:28.8 6th Sonoma State 7:36.9 Men s 1V8+ 1st Washington 5:51.23 2nd California 5:52.69 3rd Stanford 6:09.29 4th Oregon State 6:17.32 5th UCLA 6:32.13 6th Washington State 6:39.92 7th Colorado 6:55.544 8th Oregon DNS Men s 2V8+ 1st Washington 5:52.99 2nd California 5:58.21 3rd Stanford 6:12.58 4th Oregon State 6:24.35 5th Washington State 6:39.44 6th UCLA 6:42.88 7th Colorado 7:01.56 Men s 1N8+ 1st California 6:07.17 2nd Washington 6:09.47 3rd UCLA 6:46.488 4th Washington State 7:10.18 Men s 1V8+, B Final 1st Purdue 6:00.90 2nd Vermont 6:02.29 3rd Minnesota 6:02.38 4th Michigan State 6:03.84 5th Washington State 6:06.40 6th UCLA 6:07.62 7th Western Washington 6:08.18 8th Bucknell 6:11.83 Men s 2V8+, B Final 1st Washington State 6:23.08 2nd Virginia 6:24.56 3rd Minnesota 6:34.11 4th Colorado 6:34.23 5th Notre Dame B 6:39.98 6th Michigan State 6:43.38 7th Central Florida 6:44.71 8th Illinois 7:11.43 Men s 1N4+, A Final 1st Rhode Island 6:59.98 2nd Vermont 7:00.09 3rd NC Chapel Hill 7:02.95 4th Washington State 7:04.76 5th Tulane 7:05.33 6th Minnesota 7:08.51 7th George Mason 7:11.23 8th Grand Valley 7:12.36 Women s 1V4+, A Final 1st Vanderbilt 7:48.26 2nd Cincinnati 7:52.51 3rd Washington State 7:53.04 4th Case Western 7:59.44 5th Emory 8:01.78 6th Chicago 8:02.78 7th Sonoma State 8:03.24 8th South Oregon 8:06.89 Women s 1N4+, A Final 1st Northwestern 7:50.7 2nd Cincinnati 7:55.5 3rd Florida State 7:57.3 4th William & Mary 8:01.1 5th Washington State 8:05.4 6th Colorado 8:07.2 7th Emory 8:15.9 8th Rhode Island 8:17.8 9
SUMMER IN SEATTLE Written by Jake Logar, Publisher I caught up with Devon late one night just after he had wrapped up an officers meeting. I wanted to hear about his summer spent at rowing and training at the Speed Order camp hosted out of the University of Washington boathouse. The program lasted about a month and a half and had Devon training up to three times a day, six days a week. 2k tests became commonplace (his words, not mine) and each week was capped off with two days of seat racing. DEVON MCCORNACK Devon began with Cougar Crew as a freshman, with no previous rowing experience. He is the team s current commodore, and will graduate in 2019 with a degree in Bioengineering. As you ll notice in the interview, Devon remains humble about his experience despite going toe-to-toe with some of the best collegiate counterparts in the country. As a result of the program, he brought back to the Palouse some valuable insights and new-found limits. Enjoy! Jake Logar: Run through what was going on with your summer. You rowed at a program at the UW? Is that correct? Devon McCornack: Yeah. What happened is a few weeks before ACRA I had contacted Ernie [Iseminger] and some alumni about the possibility of doing this camp over there. Essentially, it started out as the UW pairs camp where they had a summer program for their own guys they were developing, and to get them small boat experience to prepare for boat selection for the national teams. Recently, they opened it up to other people to come in so this year they titled it the Speed Order camp. Yeah, it just worked out really well. There were a number of guys from all over, mostly UW guys. I don t know if you were aware, but the U23 National team was hosted out of [the UW boathouse] this summer too, so it was definitely a full house with guys going back and forth, and it was a pretty cool deal. JL: Did you get to sit down next to any of those U23 guys, either in the boat or on the erg? DM: Yeah, for sure. Actually, one of my buddies who I graduated high school with is the current commodore of UW now and I hung out with him a lot, and we did some workouts together. UW also sent a Henley boat to the other side of the pond this year, and we got to do some pieces with them. So, there was a little bit of crossover there. JL: What was it like on your first day of camp when you showed up? DM: [Audible Chuckle] Uhhh, it was interesting. It was just the typical. Everyone sizing each other up, you know, the normal jitters. I think it was pretty clear that we were in Dawg territory just with all the UW guys, and them being in their own shell house. I ve known a couple of them previously and it was kind of nice to touch bases with them. I was the only guy that came from a club team, so that was a little intimidating for sure but, I mean, as soon as we get there they had us do a 2k test and we re just like, Okay, well awesome. So the nerves were a little high at the beginning, but after that it kind of mulled out a bit. Does that answer your question? JL: Yeah, it does. I guess when I imagine going to a camp like that and I were to imagine myself getting in the boat the nerves would be high. You know, we re so isolated out there on the Palouse, right? And then we show up for races here and there but other than that we really don t have exposure to other programs to see what they re doing, what they re used to, what their practice runs like. Then once in the boat I feel like I could psych myself out pretty good by just like telling myself, Man, what if everybody in the boat rows differently than I do and I m the one messing things up? DM: Yeah, you know, when I got there it was just this wild thing with this crazy pedigree of rowing. Yale guys there that just won IRAs. There s Harvard, Cal, UW, Stanford and then just rowing with those guys, and we re in pairs too, right? It s very obvious in a pair if it s not going well and then, like what you said, Oh man, is it me or is this just not jiving? Yeah, so it was definitely those thoughts going through my head but, you know, as I came to get along with and talked to some of the other guys, it s obviously a pretty common feeling. At that high of a level, I think that s what elevates everyone. Everyone is doing the best they can and everyone assumes that it s them and not the other person that needs to fix something, so everyone is always kind of riding that line of, Okay, what can I do to make this boat move better? It never quite seemed like they were looking down like, Oh, it s the Club Guy that is making this boat poor. No, it was just like this kind of this mutual, What can I do? What can we do better together. Because, when everyone is in those boats you mix up your pair partners a lot. And everyone is just trying to make whatever combination go as fast as possible, so there is not much room for wasting rows with, Oh well, I m with The Club Guy so it s going to be a bad row. Like you said, and kind of what Dave has mentioned before, with the bubble that Pullman rowers find themselves in definitely [made things] interesting. JL: Did they call you The Club Guy. DM: No... no... everyone was really encouraging and inviting. All they cared about was moving boats. They didn t care if I was from Harvard or Yale or wherever. JL: Cool. Anything you brought back from the camp? Technique? Work ethic? Just outlook-wise? Could be psychological, could be physical... DM: Yeah, definitely. I think more so all of the above, but I think the few biggest things that I brought back was having that experience of rowing outside that [Palouse] bubble and just rowing with guys that don t have the bar set at any fixed place. I guess just bringing that attitude back of, you re capable of more than you think you are, and whatever bar you re setting for yourself is, more often than not, too low. The other thing is the different level of training and work load that those guys put in. It s why they re fast and, you know, it kind of goes along with, You re capable of more than you think you are... JL: You know, it sounds like your experience at this camp also applies to your position as commodore, that maybe you ve come back with a greater respect for The Everyman on the team. DM: Yeah, for sure. I ve kind of had this conversation a few times with Peter. As individuals, our goal is to be faster than everyone else and also to make everyone else faster than us at the same time. So, realizing that the inter-squad competition is good and it s necessary, but it s also with the goal to make each other and the team faster. JL: Thanks Devon. DM: Thank you. 12
ALUMNI ON THE CHARLES Every year in October, rowers from around the world gather in Boston for the Head of the Charles. The 4,800-meter course draws nearly 11,000 competitors ranging from junior athletes to the most recent Olympic and World Champions, all cheered on by over 300,000 spectators. It has become a staple in the fall racing circuit, and is internationally recognized as the largest regatta in the world. This year, several Cougs found their way to the Charles via the Lake Washington and San Diego Rowing Club s. Caitlin Turner ( 12) has been coxing at the San Diego Rowing Club for the last few years, while her husband Greg trains to be a pilot for the Navy. This year, Caitlin found herself coxing a Women s Senior Master 4+. Starting as bow number 37, SDRC tore through the field and finished 5th in a time of 20:52.49, earning a 5th place medal (events with over 40 entries award medals up to 5th). I was elated, still am! A Head of the Charles medal was a goal I had always had for my rowing career! We passed a boat before the first bridge so we knew we had speed off the start. When we picked up two more crews by the end of magazine beach, we knew we had momentum on our side. Our original rate plan was a 28 but the energy and support never dwindled so Fiona sat at a 32 for most of the race. For her second appearance at the Charles it was an impressive feat. Caitlin s second race was the final event of the day, the Directors Challenge Mixed 8+. The Directors Challenge events are charity events that go to the endowment for the Head of the Charles to ensure future races, and include a mixed 2X, men s 4X, women s 4X, parent/child 2X, and mixed 8+. The SDRC eight, starting as bow number 5, finished in 10th in a time of 19:00.47. Finishing right behind SDRC was the Lake Washington Rowing Club, starting as bow number 18, and crossing the line in 19:07.37 for 11th. LWRC found itself with not one, but two Cougs on board, with Alex Weatbrook ( 15) in 6-seat and Allison Thomas ( 16) in 2-seat. Alex has returned to rowing in the last few months, while Allison has been with LWRC for the previous two years. I really enjoyed watching the races on Saturday and just seeing that many boats and races was really cool, Allison commented, The race on Sunday was a lot of fun despite the wind which was pretty strong in some spots. Overall, I really enjoyed it and I think the Mixed 8+ was a good event for my first time being there. I m looking forward to next year though, I d love to go back! ALLISON THOMAS 16 ALEX WHEATBROOK 15 CAITLIN TURNER 12 (SECOND FROM LEFT) LWRC
HEAD OF THE RESULTS Men s Varsity Eight GU - 15:40 WSU - 15:45 Men s Second Varsity Eight GU - 16:49 WSU -16:57 Men s Novice Eight Women s Club WSU - 19:23 WSU - 19:43 1V: 22:17 2V: 24:29 ROWER S TAKE OVERVIEW Head of the Spokane was the first head race of fall at Gonzaga s course on the Spokane river. For the novice, this was their first ever competitive race. The varsity men also had no returning coxswains, so all boats on the Men s side were fielded by novice coxswains. The races were staggered starts and the varsity men seem to hold their margins until the finish, where Gonzaga took the lead. The same could be said for the 2V and 3V. Both the 1V and 2V felt as if their coxswains, Tyler Slade (1V) and Jeremiah Lee (2V) did an excellent job given their limited training. They had great energy which really makes the difference in a crew keeping them motivated and honest through the whole race. - Trevor Zook, 2V Stroke SPOKANE It was great to finally compete on the water. Eagerly looking forward to racing Gonzaga again. -Tyler Slade, 1V Coxswain 16
HEAD OF THE Heat 1 Heat 2 RESULTS GU 2V4+ - 19:59 WSU 1V4+ - 20:21 GU 1V4+ - 20:22 GU 3V4+ - 20:51 WSU 3V4+ - 21:52 WSU 2V4+ - 21:55 WSU 4V4+ - 22:36 GU 2V8/1N8-21:03 WSU 2N8-22:08 WSU 1N8-21:41 GU 1V4+ - 8:16 GU 2V4+ - 8:16 WSU 1V4+ - 8:26 WSU 2V4+ - 8:31 WSU 3V4+ - 8:31 WSU 4V4+ - 9:05 GU 2V8/1N8-8:41 WSU 2N8-8:43 WSU 3N8-9:21 OVERVIEW On October 20th, we had our second head race of the season against Gonzaga. The weather was clear with a strong tailwind moving down course. Water conditions were far from ideal. The boats raced with staggered starts in two separate heats. The first heat was 5.5k and the second heat was shortened to 3.2k due to worsening conditions. The varsity felt this was not a representation of their best performance, and built upon that in the week and half training leading into Head of the Lake in Seattle. For the Novice, their time took a hit by missing some of the buoys and facing some course trouble. This was their first race by 8 s and in challenging weather. Never the less, the novice handled themselves well. ROWER S TAKE The boat was surprisingly set. We rowed really well, I thought, despite the conditions. -Duncan Gibson, Novice Coxswain SNAKE 18
HEAD OF THE LAKE RESULTS Men s Varsity Eight UW - 14:28 Oregon St - 15:29 GU - 15:40 UCD - 15:59 WSU - 16:03 U of Puget Sound - 17:32 WWU - 17:48 WWU - 17:50 L&C University - 18:05 Men s Second Varsity Eight UW - 14:46 UBC - 16:07 Oregon St - 16:08 GU - 16:13 WSU - 16:35 Men s Varsity Four + UW - 16:22 UW - 16:36 UW - 16:49 UW - 17:04 Oregon St - 17:05 UW - 17:34 UCD - 7:36 Oregon St - 17:40 Seattle U - 17:45 UBC - 18:05 WWU - 18:32 Oregon St - 18:40 WSU - 18:53 UCD - 19:05 PLU - 19:11 WWU - 19:52 UO - 21:02 PLU - 22:42 Woman s Club Third Eight WSU - 20:01 SPU - 20:15 UP - 20:58 SPU - 21:49 U of Puget Sound - 22: 43 OVERVIEW It was a big weekend of racing for all crews. Congratulations to the novice 8+ for beating Western in the 6.5k DARE Dual race at lake Whatcom. The conditions were less than ideal, but training on the Snake had prepared them. For Head of the Lake, congratulations to the 3V8+ on the woman s team and earning their first medals of the season. With these two wins, we head back for one final week on the water before going into winter training. Thank you for all the support this fall season. See you in the spring season of 2019. ROWER S TAKE Going into the race the team was feeling really focused and excited for the race. It felt really strong as we passed Western very early in the race. Unfortunately we didn t end up getting the result we wanted. -Henry McRae, 1V I thought the team came to the race with a lot more enthusiasm than I ve seen in years past. There is still a lot that needs to be ironed out but I think everyone was happy with their efforts. -Bjorn Elliot, 1V 20
ALUMNI Outside of the current WSU Cougar Crew roster, the team was well represented by a few alumni who decided to take on the Head of the Lake course. ALUMNI RACE RESULTS ON Jake Brisson 16, Kenji Thompson 14, Michael Sheremet 16, Griffin Berger 16, and Alyssa Kodama 16 raced in the Men s Masters 4+ under South Kitsap High School (Where Brisson is currently coaching) to a 4th place finish in a time of 19:40.57 (all pictured left). THE LAKE Kent McCleary 90 Kent McCleary 90 raced in the Men s Masters 1X C-D, taking 2nd in a time of 21:35.02. McCleary also raced in the parent-child double with his son Alan, which they won in a time of 21:21.74. Both were raced as Renton Rowing Center, of which McCleary is a co-founder and an active member. 22
ASK THE COACH Cougs, It is our hope to include a question and answer section with Coach Peter in the winter edition, and we would love to hear from you directly! If there is something you re curious about in particular, please send in an email to zeke.nelson@outlook.com. These questions will be answered directly by Peter and will be seen in the upcoming publication. If you re unsure, see the example questions below for inspiration: What do you hope to accomplish in the next few years? What are some major differences in the team now from when you were rowing? What was a major influence on your coaching? What was your major in college, and has it affected how you coach? What do you enjoy doing in your free time? How does Pullman compare to Oklahoma? We hope this serves as a springboard for ideas. The more our readers are involved in this, the better it can be. Go Cougs! 23 24
THE PULLHARD @WSU_CougarCrew @wsucougarcrew WSU Men s Crew