 |
Men's Crew Looks To Continue String Of Top WIRA Finishes
Jan. 26, 2005 Maintain and improve. Two words that could easily be used to describe the Gonzaga University men's rowing program. Since the arrival of head coach Dan Gehn in 1994, the Bulldogs have developed into one of the more successful rowing programs on the West Coast with top three finishes in the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships each of the past three years. Now with the departure of All-WIRA rower Mark Voorhees, Gonzaga looks to find a way to maintain that level of excellence. "I think we have developed this program into one of the best on the West Coast and now we are trying to make our presence known on the national scene," mentioned Gehn as he enters his 11th year at Gonzaga. "Every year we try to improve on last year's performance and times to build the strongest boat. We have six rowers returning from last year's Varsity 8+. With this continuity we are now at the level were we can lose a top rower like Mark Voorhees and not fall off in our productivity." A large part of that ability to maintain the level of excellence can be attributed to the increased level of recruiting. Over the last three years at least one freshman rower has made the Varsity 8+ with three freshmen rowers earning spots in the Varsity 8+ at last year's WIRA championships. "The type of rowers we are now recruiting has improved dramatically over the past couple of years and that ability to recruit top athletes has helped us stay among the top boats at WIRA's," added assistant coach Shawn Bagnall, who serves as the Bulldogs recruiting coordinator. Leading that young group of rowers are sophomores Derek Clemmensen, David Hinshaw and Matthew Wernette. All three rowed in the Varsity 8+ last season with Hinshaw and Wernette rowing in the Varsity boat all spring. Matthew White rounds out the sophomore class. "We have been competitive at the regional level the last couple of years and I really believe this program is on the verge of doing something special when you look at the number of talented rowers we have in our sophomore and junior class," said Gehn. The junior class consists of Connor Barry, a two-year rower who has been in the Varsity 8+ during his freshman and sophomore years. He stroked the Varsity 8+ during the fall of 2004. The Bulldogs senior class consists of three rowers with at least two seasons in the Varsity 8+. Ben Foley, Patrick Haffey and Nathan Wilson comprise the 2005 GU senior class. Wilson enters his fourth season rowing in the Varsity 8+ while Foley and Haffey anchored the JV 8+ that finished first at the WIRA championships as freshmen in 2002 before making the Varsity 8+ the last three years. "I'm impressed with the senior class we have this year. All three of these young men have worked extremely hard over their careers and hopefully we can send them out with some wins during the spring season," stated Gehn on his senior class. Guiding the Bulldogs boats this season will also be a battle as Gonzaga has three coxswains each with experience in the Varsity 8+ boat. Seniors Mara Oblak and Elaine Parry have each guided the Bulldogs to West Coast Conference championships the last two seasons while sophomore Lauren Gadeken was the Varsity 8+ coxswain during the 2004 fall season. "All three of these ladies have shown the ability to push a boat down the race course. I think it will be good for them to battle each other for the Varsity 8+ spot this Spring," Gehn commented. With all the pieces in place Gonzaga enters a tough spring schedule with home regattas against Orange Coast College and the University of British Columbia. The Bulldogs will also compete in the San Diego Crew Classic, WCC Challenge and WIRA Championships during the spring. "I think in order for us to be a better program we have to compete against a wide range of programs on the West Coast. The schedule this year should provide our guys with lots of challenges and we will see if they can respond. Now that we have reached a consistent level of excellence on the West Coast our next goal is to push past the regional goals and make a splash on the national scene," Gehn concluded.
|
