Welcome to the Spartan Alumni Rowing Association

Trailer Fundraising Update - We did it!!!

June 12, 2009: We've raised enough donations to buy the trailer from Lesley University! We'll post more details as they come in.

Thank you to everyone that made a pledge!

SARA and Case Crew always have ongoing expenses so you can donate any time. Another way to help is to shop on Amazon using our link.

We are buying a two year old Vespoli 36' Transporter trailer from Lesley University.
Photos of the trailer can be found here.

Details for the Alumni Victorious Campaign and a listing of previous donors.

Tentative Fall 2009 Regatta Schedule

Below is the tentative fall racing schedule. If you're in the area or would like to help organize the cheering section for an event please email the webmaster.

Please, check back often as details and regatta attendance for the team may change.

Alumni Events: We'll be pulling together alumni boats again for the Head of the Cuyahoga again this year. Also, the Head of the Charles is offering an alumni 8+ event this year. If you're interested racing or attending please contact us ASAP.

Leave Your Mark on Case Crew

We are pleased to announce the first capital campaign for Case Crew! The team continues to benefit from the generosity of your Annual Fund contributions. However, it's time we, as alumni, parents and friends, leave our mark on the team by providing them with competitive equipment.

The new Pocock 4+ to replace the Sweet J has been delivered and was dedicated at the 2008 Head of the Cuyahoga. The new four is a great first step in building the Spartan Navy, but we still need a trailer and another four. Please take a moment to read about the Alumni Victorious Campaign and consider a donation. There are still many naming opportunities left.

Miranda Cullins invited to USRowing National Team Pre-Elite Camp

Case Women's 4+ Miss Semis by 2.3sec at Vails

May 8, 2009: Case Crew sends its top boats each year to the Dad Vail Regatta to match up against the fastest small programs in the country. Vails is the culmination of a long season for most teams and is recognized as the de facto national championship for teams like Case. This year saw Case entering two boats: a women's varsity four into the newly created DII & DIII event along with a men's pair. The men's pair suffered an illness and scratched so it was up to the line up of Meg Grady, Jessica Schneider, Margaret Wilkes, Katie Puttmann and Nina Ma (cox) to carry the Case banner into Philly.

The regatta organizers faced significant risk with the weather this year. The typical format for heats on Friday is 6-abreast, 2000m racing with the top few boats advancing to the semi-finals on Saturday morning. A long week of rain leading up to the race resulted in too much water flowing down the Schuylkill River Thursday night and practice was cancelled. Fearing more issues with rain, the organizers shortened the distance to 1500m and used a time trial format -- with the top 18 crews in Case's event advancing.

The Case women put in a strong effort and felt they had a fast row. When the results were posted they saw that they beat three other teams that were in their originally scheduled heat -- implying they would have advanced to Saturday racing. However, the 21st overall position in the time trial meant they would not advance to the Saturday semis. UAA rivals from U. Chicago garnered the final qualifying spot posting a time only 2.3 seconds faster.

Comments from coxswain Nina Ma '09 regarding the race:

The 4+ really came together and bonded in the last several weeks of practice. Right before we left for Vails, it was noted that we had come to trust each other and believe that each of us were really pushing and giving it our all. The race was incredible and over as soon as it started. (1500 m is really short when you want the experience to last forever. ) We rowed a great race. It was probably this boat's best row and we had a kind of power that we never had before. I could feel the shift in power when I called a ten. The rate went up two beats and it felt like someone had just put an engine in the stern of the boat. It flew and it felt amazing. We were disappointed that we didn't get a chance to race again, but we tried our best and none of us would've changed anything about the row. Even though two of us are graduating this spring, we're hoping this lineup will row together again at Head of the Cuyahoga and the Alumni Regatta next spring.

Race results can be found HERE.

2009 Dad Vail Regatta Photo Gallery  

Three Times a Charm in Charleston for Case Crew

April 25, 2009: Three crews took home three medals from this year's West Virginia Governor's Cup in Charleston, WV. The team's performance on this hot and sunny day garnered them a seventh place overall finish out of 15 colleges. The medals came in the Women's Varsity 8+ Dash (bronze), Men's Frosh/Novice 4+ (silver) and the women's collegiate pair (bronze). While the sun was out and the usual festival atmosphere was present on shore, the wind proved a tough competitor that threw up white caps for most of the day. On the alumni front, Chris Shoemaker and Doug Rathburn jumped in a pair and finished at the back of the pack. The pair were in second place to the 1000m mark, but their lack of fitness and time together (this was their first time ever in a pair together) left them struggling to hang on to the pack for the second 1000m. Later that morning, Doug jumped in his single and finished in second place in the 1000m Open 1x event.

In the women's varsity fours and eights Case had to qualify in order to compete in the grand final. In the eights heat they battled with cross town rival, Cleveland State, all the way down the course but ended up just behind to capture the third and final qualifying position. Finishing less than 2 seconds off Cleveland State was all of the motivation the women needed and put in strong performance in the finals to finish fourth overall and 10 seconds ahead of Cleveland State. The improvement in the eights was such that they were only 2.5 seconds off UAA rivals Carnegie-Mellon for third. Just a couple weeks prior Carnegie-Mellon beat Case at the URA Championships by 26 seconds. The crew then turned and headed up river for the traditional 500m dash. The team gained one spot to finish in third -- this time beating Carnegie-Mellon by 5 seconds.

In the Varsity 4+ heat Case finished ahead of Old Dominion and Wittenberg for a place in the final. The crew of Nina Ma (cox), Katie Puttmann (stroke), Margaret Wilkes (3), Jessica Schneider (2), Meg Grady (bow) struggled with the rough water and came back to the dock soaked to the bone after finishing fourth of six. The first three places went to Carnegie-Mellon, Miami and Cleveland State, but the women were able to beat the local team (and varsity program) from the University of Charleston.

The Case women took advantage of the SARA small boat fleet and entered the pair and double events. Katie Puttmann (stroke) and Margaret Wilkes (bow) hot seated from the fours into the pair and finished third against three entries from Carnegie-Mellon. In the 1000m open double event, Sarah Rubin (stroke) and Laura Boucher (bow) took on one team from Carnegie-Mellon and were hanging on the entire race and finished just 4 seconds off the pace.

The men's frosh/novice event was split into two flights and the entry from Case Crew finished a strong second to Carnegie-Mellon while beating crews from Old Dominion and Duquesne. The line up of Matt Moss (stroke), Nick Beese (3), Dan Seery (2), Adam De Guire (bow) and Matt Goldenberg (cox) are a young dedicated group of guys that will form the nucleus of the men's team for the seasons to come.

Full results from this year's race can be found HERE (html).

2009 West Virginia Governor's Cup Photo Gallery

Alumni Regatta Results; New Shells Added to Spartan Navy

April 18, 2009: Cleveland reserved the best weather of the spring for the 4th annual spring alumni regatta, and a number of alums showed up to enjoy the fine weather and racing. The students through together a great BBQ after racing. With full stomachs everyone joined to christen some new shells into the Spartan Navy. Before heading home the alumni present held the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for SARA to discuss results from 2008 and plans for the coming year. Then later that evening everyone adjourned to Great Lakes Brewery for some fine brew.

The alumni men weren't present for the coach's and coxswain's meeting, but they thought they heard that the starter's commands were only suggests. The single elimination, bracket-style racing saw the alumni men's 4+ knocked out in the first round even with a healthy couple seat lead off the start. They were then left to contend for third place. The men's pair of Chris Shoemaker and Tom Attenweiler won their two races against the fours to take home the trophy. Tom will be teaming up with freshman Adam De Guire from the 2nd place crew at this year's Dad Vail Regatta and will hopefully contend with the big boys.

Racing on the women's side of the bracket saw three fours contend for the trophy. Alumna Agata Toborek, currently in med school in Louisville, powered her 4+ to a win in the women's event. The winning men's and women's boats each received a trophy. Per tradition the trophy is meant to be passed between crew members througout the year. Passing the trophy serves as a reminder to everyone keeping in touch with boatmates is an important aspect of the sport -- and fosters involvement with SARA.

After racing concluded, Tom Attenweiler fired up the grill and everyone feasted on some tasty hamburgers. Everyone then helped dedicate five new shells to the Spartan Navy: two eights owned by Case Crew and a pair/double and two singles donated to SARA. The students decided to name their two eights after their two recently departed head coaches -- Chris Sheridan and Tim Marcovy. Photos from the dedications can be found in the photo gallery.

The alumni regatta also serves as an opportunity for alumni to learn about SARA during the organization's Annual General Meeting (AGM). At the AGM alumni hear about the last year's results and plans for the coming year. They also elect the board of directors. SARA assets currently stand at about $50,000, which is primarily made up of the four shells we own. Donations for 2008 exceeded $27,000! The next capital campaign priority is a trailer. If you'd like to know more check out the AGM Meeting Minutes.

Full results from this year's alumni regatta can be found HERE (html).

2009 Alumni Regatta Photo Gallery

Streak Ends for Case Crew at Home Schools Regatta

April 4, 2009: The three year winning streak for Case at the Home Schools Regatta ended this year against tough competition from Cleveland State and John Carroll. The pre-season regatta is hosted by Cleveland Rowing Foundation and consists of side-by-side racing along a 1500m bendy part of the Cuyahoga River. The racing schedule is determined every year by the number of boats each team can muster, and the winners of each dual race are awarded a point. Case ultimately took third place this year.

On a day more like winter than spring, racing proved difficult -- temperatures were in the 40's with a fine Cleveland breeze. Case did not win any of the races for points, but won both exhibition events. This year's dominating win for Cleveland State was their first-ever in seven years of the event. As a primarily commuter school their performance hopefully bodes well for the future of that program.

Full results from this year's race can be found HERE (html).

2009 Home Schools Photo Gallery  

Rough Weather, Tough Competition at URAs

March 29, 2009: Case Crew took a number of crews to Butler, PA to race their conference rivals at the 6th annual URAs. The men's pair, rowing the another new SARA shell, placed 5th out of 8 behind perennial Dad Vail finalists from Rochester, WashU and Carnegie-Mellon. The Men's JV four beat the CMU entry to place 5th while the fresh crop of novices in four finished off the pace. The women's team raced in the varsity 8+, Varsity 4+ and Varsity Pair events but finished last in each event. True to form, the early spring event brought with it cold and gusting weather that threatened to cancel the race on a few occasions.

The regatta was formulated as a dual race between Case and the University of Chicago, but it quickly blossomed into the de facto University Athletic Association crew championships. The regatta is organized and run by alumni and coaches. While each team from the UAA has attended the race in the past, the 2009 installment was the first time all eight teams showed up. The depth and size of the regatta continues to increase.

This year's overall winners were Rochester for the women and Emory for the men. The Case men finished 7th overall in the conference, and the women finished 8th. Full results from this year's race can be found HERE (html).

2009 URA Regatta Photo Album

Tons of Photos and Race Results

SARA is continuing to build a comprehensive database of old Case Crew photos and race results. We've reached almost 4,000 photos, but are constantly on the look out for more! If you have any photos or results to add please email Doug Rathburn. We'll even convert old negatives to digital, post them on the SARA web site and mail the negatives back to you. Click here for the SARA Photo Gallery or on the logo to the left to view the thousands of photos. Also, if you have any paper copies of old race results we'd appreciate a copy. Click here for the SARA Race Result Archive to see past results and which ones are still needed. Thanks!

Fundraising with Amazon.com