Vanderbilt Rowing

ACRA Team Points results have been posted, and here is how we placed this year:

Overall:  Tied for 16th place ( out of 55 programs)
Women: 6th place
Men: 26th Place

Congratulations to our team members who have received special ACRA awards:

2013 ACRA All Freshmen Team: Rachel Metcalfe and Andrew Kress
2013 All American Third Team: Whitney Sterling

2013 ACRA Assistant Women’s Coach of the Year: Lindsay Chatfield

Congratulations to Rachel Metcalfe and Andrew Kress who each made the ACRA All Freshman Team. Whitney Sterling also earned a seat in the ACRA All American Third Team Eight. Lindsay Chatfield was awarded the Assistant Coach of the Year on the women’s side of the Championship for her and the women’s team’s hard work and victory in the small boats championship. This is the first year that any of our athletes have been recognized in the All American and All Freshman boats, so a great accomplishment for them and our program overall! Also, the first award for a coach in our program, a great accomplishment in Lindsay’s first year coaching!
Lastly, we would like to congratulate our women’s crew for taking home the first awarded ACRA Women’s Small Boats Trophy – a great honor to be the first program to receive the trophy, great job girls!

It’s been a great year and we’re looking forward to the 2013-2014 season! Thanks again for all your support!

The American Collegiate Rowing Association Club Championship Regatta marks the end of our 2013 spring racing season, and we are very proud of all we’ve accomplished this year.  We had boats competing in seven different events, and we were excited to race against some of the nation’s fastest crews.

On the men’s side, our Novice Men’s 8+ placed fifth in the Petite Final and 13th overall.  We are very excited to see these men move up to our Varsity squad next fall!

Our Varsity Men’s 4+ placed 8th in the C Final and 23rd overall against some very tough competition.

Our Varsity Men’s 8+ finished second in the C Final and 18th overall in a great last race for four of our graduated seniors.

On the women’s side, we were very excited when all four women’s boats advanced to the Grand Final in their event, and all boats had a great showing on Sunday morning.

Our Women’s Single, rowed by novice woman Maddy Spencer, placed 8th overall.

This year was the first time Vanderbilt has taken a double to ACRA, and our Women’s Double, rowed by novice women Jessica Winchester and Darcy Smith, brought home bronze!

Our Novice Women’s 4+ brought home silver medals for the second year in a row in a very very tight race!

Finally, a very special congratulations goes to Varsity Women Whitney Sterling and Elisa Marks who won gold in the Women’s Pair!  They hold the 2013 National Championship for the Women’s 2-, and we could not be more proud.

At the end of the day on Sunday, Vanderbilt Rowing was presented with the Women’s Small Boats Team Points Trophy in the first year that this trophy was awarded by the American Collegiate Rowing Association.  We would like to especially congratulate Head Women’s Coach and Vandy Rowing Alum, Lindsay Chatfield, for leading these girls to success!

Each year, the American Collegiate Rowing Association recognizes select rowers and coxswains for their accomplishments both on and off the water.  The ACRA First Team Academic All-American title recognizes student athletes in at least their second year of college with a GPA of 3.85 or higher.  This year, senior Robert Tauscher was named an ACRA First Team Academic All-American.  Rob was our Secretary for the 2012-2013 school year and sat seven seat in our Varsity Men’s 8+.  Congratulations, Rob!

The ACRA Second Team Academic All-American title recognizes student athletes in at least their second year of college with a GPA between 3.5 and 3.84.  Vanderbilt Rowing congratulates the following rowers and coxswains on earning ACRA Second Team All-American recognition:

• Matt Abemayor
• Eva Botkin-Kowacki
• Alex Savitt
• Whitney Sterling
• Michael Zhou

The American Collegiate Rowing Association also honors top athletes by naming them to All-Regional Teams.  To be considered for this distinction, the rower must compete in the squad’s top boat.  Athletes are selected for this award based on 2,000 meter erg test scores, racing results, accomplishments within the team, and coach’s recommendations.  We are very proud to announce that, for the second year in a row, both Alex Savitt and Whitney Sterling have been selected to the ACRA South All-Regional Team!

Alex graduated this year with the Class of 2013, and sat six seat in the Varsity Men’s 8+.  He holds the men’s team 2k record and served on the board as Vice President for the 2012-2013 school year.

Whitney is a rising senior in the Class of 2014, and stroked the Women’s 2- to a gold medal finish this weekend.  She holds the women’s team 2k record and will serve on the board as Vice President for the 2013-2014 school year.

On May 25th and 26th, Vandy Crew will be traveling to Gainesville, GA to compete at the ACRA National Championships! The team will be fielding the following entries:

Come stop by our tent and say hi if you’re in Gainesville this weekend!

On May 9th, the Vanderbilt Rowing Team held its annual End-of-the-Year Banquet. In addition to providing a fun ending to the school year, the banquet also serves as the venue for awarding the team’s annual awards. This year’s winners were:

On April 20th and 21st, Vandy Crew competed at the SIRA Championships in Oak Ridge, TN. The team had some great results!

While the Varsity Men’s 8+ was in San Diego, the rest of the team traveled to South Carolina to compete in the Clemson Sprints Regatta! The team had a great showing, with most rowers competing in 3 or more races. Here are some of the results:

Gold in the Novice Women’s 4+

Gold in the Novice Men’s 8+

Bronze in the Varsity Men’s 8+

Gold in the Varsity Women’s 2-

This past weekend, for the first time ever, Vanderbilt sent a Men’s Varsity 8+ to California to compete in the San Diego Crew Classic. The men competed well, taking 4th place in the C Level Final. Congrats to the participants!

After enduring a few hours of weather delays, the Vanderbilt Rowing Club had a lot of success at the John Hunter Regatta in Gainesville, GA! Here are some of the results:

Men’s Varsity 8+: 2nd Place

Women’s Varsity Pair: 2nd Place

Men’s JV 8+: 3rd Place

Men’s Novice 8+: 1st Place in their Flight 2

Men’s Novice 4+: 1st Place in Flights 2 and 4, 3rd Place in their Flight 5

Women’s Varsity 4+: 4th Place in Heat 2

Women’s Novice 4+: 2nd Place in Flight 2

Men’s JV 4+: 1st Place in Flight 1, 3rd Place in Flight 2

Congratulations to everyone!

This past weekend, the team held elections to determine its new board for the 2013-2014 season. Congratulations to all those elected!

President: Michael Zhou
Vice President: Whitney Sterling
Treasurer: Matt Abemayor
Public Relations Coordinator: Stephanie Sehnert
Secretary: Blake Tiemeyer