News Archive from the 2014 - 2015 Season

Case Crew 2014-2015 Season Recap

Below is the academic year 2014-2015 racing schedule for Case Crew with links to the results and photos for each event. For a write up about each event continue to scroll down.

Date: Event: Location: Results: Photos:
Sept 20 Head of the Cuyahoga Cleveland, OH - CRF Boathouse results photos
Oct 4 Head of the Ohio Pittsburgh, PA - Allegheny River results photos
Oct 12 Head of the Grand Lansing, MI - Grand River results photos
Oct 18-19 Head of the Charles Boston, MA - Charles River results photos
Oct 25-26 Head of the Schuylkill Philadelphia, PA - Schuylkill River results photos
Nov 1-2 Head of the Hooch Chattanooga, TN - Tennessee River results photos
Feb 15 Hammer Ergatta Cleveland, OH - CWRU Campus results photos
March 6-14 Spring Break Fellsmere, FL   photos
March 21 Cleveland Collegiate Regatta Cleveland, OH - Cuyahoga River results photos
April 11 Aurora Lake Sprints (Miami, OhioU, Buffalo - Men) Aurora, OH results photos
April 18 Alumni Regatta, SARA AGM and Dinner Cleveland, OH - CRF Boathouse results photos
April 25 MACRA Regatta Ypsilanti, MI results photos
May 7-8 Dad Vail Regatta Philadelphia, PA - Schuylkill River results photos
May 23-24 ACRA Championships Gainesville, GA - Lake Lanier results photos

 


Holdren & Brown Third at ACRA National Championships!

May 23-24, 2015: Three rowers from Case headed south to compete in the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) national championship regatta. Recent grads Matt Holdren and Gavin Brown raced the men's pair event and Chris Ryu raced the men's single. The race held in Gainesville, Georgia is the national championship for club level rowing programs. The Lake Lanier venue hosted the 1996 Olympic Regatta, and the weekend race was lucky with great weather for all races.

This year was the third time Case sent rowers to the championship, and this year's group held up the tradition of bringing home hardware! The men's pair brought home the bronze medal finishing behind crews - both Dad Vail finalists - from High Point and UConn. Chris Ryu finished the regatta taking 2nd in the third level final ahead of nine other scullers. Previous ACRA regattas saw Patrick DelBarba '14 win the men's single in both 2012 and 2013 and Mallory Miller '13 took bronze in the single in 2013.

In the Saturday heats the men's pair took second behind Vail silver medalists High Point to advance directly to the Sunday final. Chris finished fourth in his heat and advanced to the Saturday afternoon repechage race. The Lake Lanier course affords organizers 8 lanes of racing, and the organizing committee uses all lanes for semis and finals. In the rep Chris had to finish in the top two to make the semi. Unfortunately, he finished third by 0.6 seconds behind the University of Illinois sculler to advance to the third level final on Sunday.

ACRA 2015
ACRA Bronze Medalists Holdren & Brown

The 8-boat final of the men's pair saw the top three crews separate themselves from the pack down the 2,000m buoyed course. Coming into the last 300 meters, Case was in the hunt, battling High Point and the University of Connecticut, ultimately succumbing to a staggering sprint by UConn to take third. Matt and Gavin gave it everything and were extremely pleased with their result.


Third year Chris Ryu in the single at the 2015 ACRA National Championships

The speed in the small boats is amazing given the fact they none of the three really trained for the regatta in these combinations. Following Coach Aaron Marcovy's program this spring the team prioritized the 8+, and very little work was done in small boats. Chris was only in the single a few times before the regatta. Matt and Gavin had done some pair work during their 4-year Case career, but were rusty coming into the race. The top two crews prioritized those line ups all season, which puts into perspective the base speed the team had this spring.

Go Spartans!

Click here for complete race results.

2015 ACRA National Championship Regatta Photo Gallery


Case Crew Culminates Year at Dad Vails

May 8, 2015: Case Crew took its largest ever squad to the Dad Vail Regatta by boating a men's varsity eight and four along with a women's varsity four and novice eight. The crews faced challenging heats and all but the MV8+ were eliminated at the first stage of racing. The coaches prioritized the MV8 this year and were still able to advance to the repechage on Friday afternoon.

The men's varsity 8+ of Philip Smith (b), Matt Hausladen (2), Chris Ryu (3), Luke Fakult (4), Matt Holdren (5), Liam Hoye (6), Gavin Brown (7), Jack English (s) with Liana Kabins coxing drew Michigan, Bucknell and Marietta in their heat. All three crews are perennial Vails finalists and the men couldn't quite hang onto their sterns. Confidence was bred by the fact that DePaul was also in the heat and Case had beaten them soundly two weeks prior at MACRAs. Michigan and Bucknell claimed took the top two spots and advanced directly to the semi. Marietta and Case both finished ahead of DePaul and would get a chance in the Repechage later in the afternoon. DePaul was eliminated.

DV
 
photosresults


Men's Varsity 8+ charging down the course at the 1500m mark.

The weather was beautiful all day with temperatures starting in the 70's in the morning and rising to the mid 80's in the afternoon. Wind was negligible before lunch and picked up to a light headwind for afternoon racing. The men's 8+ afternoon race included some titans of Vails-caliber rowing. St. Joseph's, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Georgia Tech all showed excellent form pushing Case back to fifth place in the rep. Finishing in sixth was a crew from SUNY Binghamton. The men's squad graduates two seniors this year, Gavin Brown & Matt Holdren, and this year's experience left the younger rowers excited for next year.


Women's Varsity 4+: Merlino (s), Sevier (3), Kennedy (2), Olson-Williams (b) & Zuccala (c).

On the women's side the charge was led by the varsity four of Steph Merlino (s), Abby Sevier (3), Colleen Kennedy (2), and Hannah Olson-Williams (b) with Josh Zuccala coxing. The crew faced three varsity status programs in their heat and were beaten by two: George Mason and St. Joseph's. With only two advancing to the semi-finals it was little consolation they beat the varsity squad from Fordham and club from Georgia Tech. The women were in second place for the majority of the distance, but St. Joe was able to out-sprint our ladies at the line.


WN8+: Schnittman (s), Powell (7), Karabinus (6), Monroe (5), Kus (4), Freed (3), Asjes (2), Tobin (b) & O'Shea (c).

Prior to this year Case had only ever fielded one 8+ at Vails, and that was a novice women's crew in 2013. This year's edition of the women's eight had to race three varsity women's squads in the 3-to-the-semi format. The crew looked great storming down the course, but unfortunately could not hang onto the pack and finished in fifth place. It is a young, talented crew and within the boat were a couple spring novices. There was talk of excitement after the racing and a desire to field a strong varsity 8+ next year.


Men's Varsity 4+: Vroege (s), Cronin (3), Evans (2), Miyagi (b) & O'Shea (c).

Seat racing for the final line ups and final seat in the 4+ lasted up until almost race day. The men's squad is fast and deep this year. In the men's varsity 4+ heat Case drew three varsity status programs and finished fourth. The crew had good, flat morning conditions, but the crew of Lucas Vroege (s), Kevin Cronin (3), Andrew Evans (2), Masato Miyagi (b) with Kathleen O'Shea coxing just could not hang onto the speed of the leaders from St. Joes, Colgate and St. John Fisher.

This year the local alumni chapter and the university alumni office sponsored a tent. Nearly 50 alumni and parents pre-registered and most attended either Friday or Saturday. The event even drew a contingent of area alums with no tie to the sport, but wanted to come down and meet some current students. The tent was located at the 1500m mark and was the perfect place to watch the racing. It did not hurt that the school provided some nice food, which the students appreciated most of all!

There was a lot of excitement about Case students racing in Philly. The all day, outdoor event provide ample opportunities for alumni and students to mingle, which apparently is difficult to coordinate with other sports. The local alums and the university alumni coordinators (shout out Molly Bauer and Tara Davis) that came were enthusiastic about the event and hope to build a new tradition. We'd like to thank Kathy Ehlert, the Philadelphia Alumni Chapter Lead, for pushing to support the regatta and hopefully make an alumni tent an annual reality!

Click here for complete race results.

2015 Dad Vail Regatta Photo Gallery


Alumni, Students and Parents


Working Out the Kinks and Showing Speed at MACRA's

April 25, 2015: The MACRA regatta pulls in big club programs and small varsity programs from all over the Midwest for a day of heats and finals. Winners of the MACRA events are typically strong medal contenders for Vails medals two weeks later. Case Crew brought their Vails contingent to the race to test their mettle. The team had mixed results with one boat in the Grand Final, one in a Petit Final and two others eliminated during the heats.

The temperature was in the 50's, but it was very blustery throughout the day. A stiff cross head wind made conditions down the 2000m buoyed course a bit dicey -- especially the first 1000m. The regatta had stake boats available, but many races were run with floating starts with a "close enough" attitude. The two Case boats eliminated during the heats were still in the process of sculling to get a point when the starter gave the "Attention" command.

The coaches prioritized the line ups for both the Men's Varsity 8+ and Women's Varsity 4+ with both boats advancing to afternoon racing. In the WV4+ the crew came second to Northwestern to advance. Then in the Grand Final they could not hang onto the medaling crews from Mercyhurst, U. Chicago and Grand Valley.

MACRA 2015
WV4+ of Merlino, Sevier, Kennedy, Olson-Williams and Zuccala (cox) in the Grand Final.

In the MV8+ the start of their heat was streaking fast with the crew out in front of the field until the 1000m mark. The crew held the outermost lane assignment and they clipped the 1000m marker buoy and could never re-gain their base speed to finish in third behind Mercyhurst and Notre Dame. Mercyhurst has a varsity-status men's team and Notre Dame is a club juggernaut, and to say Case showed some speed is an understatement. In the Petit final they finished 3rd behind Michigan State and Illinois. Informed observers think this is the fastest men's 8+ Case has ever fielded.

In the women's novice 8+ finished at the back of the pack facing tough crews from Marquette, DePaul and Miami. The same Miami crew that had their number at the Aurora Lake Sprints. However, Case closed the gap from the previous meeting by 22 seconds. As mentioned before the crew was aligning when the start gave the starting sequence. A few of the crew only started rowing after winter break, so the race experience proved valuable in the lead up to Vails.

In the men's varsity 4+ the start, conditions, and new line up all played their parts for a 6th of 7 finish. A murderer's row of club programs were entered in their heat, and the crew did not have the base speed to match qualifiers from Michigan State and Michigan.

MACRA's pits the team up against the fastest crews in the Midwest, and there were some real bright spots for the team to hang their hats on. No single race was executed perfectly, and the weather played a role too. So there is more speed to be found in the next two weeks before Vails. The team and coaches are looking to end the season with a bang in Philly!

Race results for the 2015 MACRA Regatta can be found HERE.

2015 MACRA Regatta Photo Gallery


Case Crew Alumni Descend Upon Cleveland, Win Everything

April 18, 2015: Over twenty Case alumni, parents and friends participated in the festivities associated with alumni regatta day. The day consisted of some racing, being address by an Olympic gold medalist, the SARA Annual General Meeting and an alumni dinner. The weather cooperated, and it was a wonderful day all around. Thanks to those that came!

The morning started with the usual gathering where SARA reps talked a bit about the organization, and alumni introduce themselves to the rowers. This year's event was a bit poignant with SARA president Doug Rathburn presenting Patty Klika, the widow of Ken, with his 2015 JVTC 200km hat. SARA members pulled a total of 279,594 meters to remember former team faculty advisor Ken Klika who was a stalwart of our JVTC teams.

After the morning get together and introductions, it was time to race! Up first was the mixed 8+. The alumni crew of Nate Uber (cox), Doug Rathburn (s), Meg Grady (7), Tom Attenweiler (6), Jeff Chin (5), Doug Brubaker (4), Mike Krofcheck (3), Laura Kruse (2) and Caitlin Bowerman (b) took the students "by a deck" according to head coach Aaron Marcovy *. The racing started just below the Center Street swing bridge and concluded in front of the boathouse - a lung burning 700 meters. The student crew was Liana Kabins (cox), Gavin Brown (s), Matt Holdren (7), Abby Sevier (6), Steph Merlino (5), Andrew Evans (4), Liam Hoye (3), Emily Schnittman (2) and Elizabeth Tobin (b).

Alumni 2015
The alumni mixed 8+ solidly in the lead coming under Center Street.

It was decided to allow the alums to revel in their victory and only contest one race. A perfect 1-0 in 2015! More importantly, the early end allowed everyone to meet and hear from 3-time Olympic gold medalist Mary Whipple. She was in town to provide a coxswain clinic, and we borrowed her for nearly half an hour. She imparted some words of wisdom about commitment and racing, and then she was available to field questions.

Next followed the SARA AGM. The AGM is where the SARA officers detail the events of the previous year and the membership elects the board for the coming year. You can read minutes of the meeting here.

In the evening everyone, plus some not there in the morning, met up at the Flat Iron Cafe for our second ever alumni dinner. The agenda consisted of a video and presentation given by the Head Coach Aaron Marcovy. After some student speeches it was Doug's turn to provide some highlights about SARA's year. You can view that presentation here. New this year was the presentation by the alumni of the Spartan of the Year award given to a student who exemplifies the best attributes of a student athlete, but also is mindful and supportive of the alumni. This year we gave the award to both Abby Sevier and Steph Merlino.

Thank you to everyone that made an effort to participate in the day. Next year is the team's 25th anniversary and we are planning a few special items for next year's alumni regatta. This will include a special dinner and the presentation of the team's history being compiled and edited by Tim Marcovy and Meg Grady. So please consider coming next year!

* Coach's decision was final. No quibble over the details of a favorable start, an alumni mixed 8+ with five men and the student 8+ all switching sides...

Race "results" for the 2015 Alumni Regatta can be found HERE.

2015 Alumni Regatta Photo Gallery


New Venue & Solid Results in Aurora, Ohio

April 11, 2015: Case Crew hosted a scrimmage on Aurora Lake in Aurora, Ohio against Miami University (Ohio), University at Buffalo Men and the men from Ohio University. Ten races were held with Case entering nine and ultimately winning six. The weather was in the 50's and sunny with a gusting quarter head wind. The lake is fairly sheltered and offers an almost perfect 2000m racing experience.

Over the course of the day many athletes rowed two or even three times. The varsity women won the varsity four and novice four while dropping both the varsity and novice eights to Miami. The varsity four won by nearly a minute, and Case had two boats in the novice four event with both boats beating Miami. There were no medals for such an informal race so the coaches resurrected the tradition of betting shirts.

Aurora Lake 2015
WV4+ with their winner's shirts!

On the men's side they won every race bar the last race of the day - the varsity 8. While not winning the penultimate race put a small damper on the day, it was in the context that for Buffalo it was their squad's only race and our men had one or two races in their legs before the eight. The V8 took third behind Buffalo and Miami, but ahead of Ohio.

Aurora Lake 2015
Men's Varsity 4+ warming up before their win against Buffalo, Miami and OhioU.

The men's second varsity 8+ won against Buffalo in commanding fashion. The seven second margin does not signify how much in control of the race the men were. Then in the varsity 4+ the crew got off to a slow start and were in third place but ended up winning by open water and 9 seconds against the three other schools. In the novice 4+ it was a similar story with a slow start and commanding 10 second win. The men's pair featured boats from Case and Buffalo, and for all four guys it was their first time in a boat all spring. The Case crew of Matt Holdren and Gavin Brown held it together much better and walked away from the Buffalo pair by nearly a minute.

Aurora Lake 2015
Men's 2nd Varsity 8+ looking solid in their win over Buffalo.

The coaches and SARA would like to thank The Aurora Lake Association for their hospitality. Aurora Lake is private and governed by the association. They installed a sock early for us and provided use of a pontoon boat as well as a couple helpers. To anyone's knowledge this was the first ever rowing event held on the lake, and we suspect we will be back. The 2km course runs roughly north-south and even though it was a bit gusty Saturday the conditions never approached being unrowable. The site has the potential to hold small dual and double-dual races as Case's home course for years to come.

Race results for the Aurora Lake Sprints can be found HERE.

2015 Aurora Lake Sprints Photo Gallery


Case Crew Holds Onto Cleveland Cup for 4th Straight Year!

Home Schools 2015

March 21, 2015: Case Crew continued to dominate the local Cleveland competition during the 13th annual Cleveland Regatta. The team held onto the cup for the fourth year in a row and for the seventh time in cup history. The event formerly known at the Home Schools is an early spring scrimmage between Case, John Carroll and Cleveland State on the Cuyahoga River.

The event format has team race a 3-boat ~700m heat with the top two boats then racing a 1700m final. The winner of the final gains one point for their team toward the cup. Five finals were contested this year with three of those events having heats. Case won three of the finals and came second in the women's novice 4+. Winning the majority of the finals brought the cup home for one more year! The team did not field a varsity women's 4+, which accounted for the fifth final.

The men's fours dominated their cross town rivals. The novice four took CSU by 30 seconds. This year Case was only team with numbers to field an eight so for the Home Schools the boat broke into two fours and knocked JCU out of the varsity 4+ heat. It was then a CWRU vs. CWRU final, the stern 4 ultimately besting the bow 4 by 14 seconds.

The women's team put in a strong showing with the novice 8+ taking the final by 14 seconds. The coaches decided to make the women's novice 4+ a 3-boat final due to freighter traffic. A battle to the bitter end, the Spartan novice women, in their second race of the day, experienced three boat-stopping crabs, dropping from 1st place to 3rd place three times, and running out of race course in their final push, ending up bow-over-stern against CSU’s NW4+.

Race results for the Cleveland Collegiate Regatta can be found HERE.

2015 Cleveland Collegiate Regatta Photo Gallery


Putting in the Work During Spring Break in Florida

March 6-14, 2015: Case Crew headed south to Canal C-54 near Fellsmere, Florida for their annual spring break. The canal is the spring break home of Columbia University and a number of other northern teams. It is also the home race course for Florida Tech, and in general, a beautiful waterway for rowing offering many kilometers of protected, straight rowing.

Spring Break 2015
Case Men's 8+ at daybreak on canal C-54 near Fellsmere, Florida.

Case did not scrimmage any other teams while in Florida but put in 30-40km per day and 3-4 sessions per day including land work outs. The coaches reported a highlight of the MV8+ breaking 7 minutes into a 9mph headwind for a 2km piece! Rower Stephanie Merlino’s grandparents live nearby and hosted the team for a dinner one evening as well. All in all it sounded like a great trip for the team.

2015 Spring Break Photo Gallery


Case Crew Dominates the Hammer

February 15, 2015: Case Crew went into the 26th edition of the Hammer Ergatta confident of their fitness. The professional training regimen instituted by Head Coach Aaron Marcovy has allowed many of the team members to reach personal best this winter. As a result of this training, the team took top honors in the Open Women & Men, Novice Men, Lightweight Women & Men, and the Men's Relay events. This year's results were some of the most dominant ever in the team's history and the team cruised easily home with the Hammer Cup against Cleveland State and John Carroll. This year marked the twenty-first year contesting the cup and Case leads the series with eleven wins to JCU's 8 and CSU's 2 wins.

This year's event was held in Horsburgh Gymnasium in the Veale Athletic Center on Case's campus - the first time for the event in the main basketball gym. The organizers also brought back actual hammers instead of medals for the winners this year. Another first was the Sledgehammer competition for overall team point champion, which went to Shaker Heights High School. Case Crew came in 4th place overall behind three high schools, but as mentioned before came tops of the local colleges for the Hammer Cup.

The men's led the way in terms speed and depth. The varsity men took the top five places and the novice men took the top three in their respective events. On the men's side a total of nine athletes broke 7 minutes for the 2000m race! A quick glance through 20 years of results will show the team has never been this fast at the Hammer.

wish list
Liam Hoye, with Maya Monroe coxing, pulling a 6:27.4 to win the Hammer

The women also showed speed with Colleen Kennedy taking the Open Women event with a time just under eight minutes. Mallory Miller also broke the eight minute barrier by nearly 8 seconds to take the hammer in the Lightweight event. The top novice finisher was Grace Karabinus with a 5th place finish.

Race results for the Hammer Ergatta can be found HERE.

2015 Hammer Ergatta Photo Gallery


It's Time for the January Virtual Team Challenge!

   
  Rower Meters
1 Thomas Schwertner 603,908
2 Patrick DelBarba 298,393
3 Tom Hudak 247,500
4 Dan Bachmann 243,226
5 Gavin Brown 230,345
6 Martin Matsumura 212,230
7 Carol Brubaker 206,118
8 Doug Rathburn 203,272
9 Mallory Miller 203,019
10 Doug Brubaker 200,001
11 Evan Halprin 174,000
12 Masato Miyagi 167,121
13 Brian Chorney 143,026
14 Jason Kampmeyer 123,181
15 Eileen Gordon 121,958
16 Jennifer Lohmeier 115,291
17 Gary Clark 114,434
18 Rachel Stanley 113,503
19 Jim Aker 112,855
20 Erynn Rathburn 112,565
21 Janet Clark 110,758
22 Tuck Pescosolido 106,440
23 Grace Karabinus 102,033
24 Cheryl Thompson 100,077
25 Angelo Quagliata 99,700
26 Andrew Evans 97,103
27 Chris Ryu 86,321
28 Katherine Allen 83,736
29 Kelli Anderson 71,550
30 Michael McCoy 54,054
31 Nina Ma 53,748
32 Abigail Sevier 52,000
33 David Simpson 43,805
34 Tom Attenweiler 42,538
35 Matt Holdren 38,238
36 Ram Fish 35,000
37 Tim Marcovy 34,754
38 Meg Grady 24,579
39 Meg Grow 16,897
40 Karla Rosenman 13,705
41 Lindsey Schilling 10,000
42 Heather Babish 8,550
43 Sophia Houghton 7,257
44 Eric Matyac 5,561
45 Mike Krofcheck 3,766
46 Jacob Moberg 2,000
Total Team Meters 5,250,116

Please consider our virtual team for this year's Concept 2 Virtual Team Challenge (VTC). We've had teams entered since 2010, and it's a good way to stay in shape in the winter and also try and beat our rivals from the University of Chicago.

Also as in past years we will have gifts for rowers that post meters at the 50km, 100km and 200km levels. The 200km level, in particular, is a custom embroidered Case Crew hat that is truly worth the effort!  We will also be hosting a special event for our friend Ken Klika. He was a stalwart of our team for this challenge and will be missed this year.

To join the team follow the instruction on this page. Our team name is "Case Crew - Spartan Alumni". If you've competed in the past you must go into your logbook and "opt in" to the challenge.

Final Tally!!!
University of Chicago Crew - 5,797,832 meters
Case Crew - Spartan Alumni - 5,250,116 meters
Grand Valley Rowing Alumni - 2,595,828 meters
Fat Cats-Princeton Alums - 2,003,824 meters
U Chicago Alumni Crew - 1,895,908 meters

Pull for Ken meters: 279,594

JVTC

Past Year's JVTC Results:
2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010


Weather Dominates the Story in Chattanooga

November 2, 2014: Case Crew's regatta schedule this fall meant to focus on the Head of the Ohio and the Head of the Hooch. However, the weather gods did not support that plan with most of the team's events at those races getting blown out by weather. The Hooch is one of the biggest races in the country and its southern Tennessee locale allows for a later race date and correspondingly longer training window for the team. It is a two-day race and Case had their women's club four and men's champ eight registered for racing that day. Weather prevented all Saturday racing to be cancelled leaving only the Sunday schedule.

Hooch 2014
Fourth year student Patrick DelBarba at the 2014 Head of the Hooch.
© row2k.com

The only two boats from Case had entered on Sunday were fourth year student Patrick DelBarba and alumna Mallory Miller '13 in their singles. Patrick sculled his way to 2nd place in the championship 1x event ahead of 27 other scullers. Mallory took third in the lightweight single behind scullers from Atlanta Rowing Club and Oklahoma City University.

Race results for the Head of the Hooch can be found HERE.

2014 Head of the Hooch Photo Gallery


Ken
Ken Klika, US Marine

Kenneth L. Klika MS'90 - 1945-2014

Ken Klika was called home to the Lord on October 31, 2014 after a brief illness. He was 69. Ken was the faculty advisor for the CWRU rowing team and also an avid rower himself. He was a retired professor emeritus from the University of Akron and was currently serving as an assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of civil engineering at CWRU.

Kenneth leaves behind his wife, Patricia Klika; and sons, Kenneth J. (Jennifer) and Kristopher; daughter, Kelly Klika and granddaughters, Kate and Jill.

Ken was an extremely proud ex-Marine and stayed in phenomenal shape. We "discovered" him via the Concept 2 online logbook, where he was toiling away for hundreds of thousands of meters on the erg. We convinced him to join our team for the 2012 January Virtual Team Challenge where he promptly dropped 352,451 meters on an unsuspecting team from U. Chicago.

The fairly fortuitous introduction to the Case Crew led Ken to join the team as part of the novice squad. He thoroughly enjoyed the on-the-water experience and won his first medal at Cincinnati's 2012 Head of the Hidden Dragon. He developed a strong bond with the student athletes and agreed to serve as faculty advisor for the team.

As a civil engineering professor he also began researching rowing tanks by traveling across the country to various boathouses. At the time of his passing he had in his back pocket designs from a student thesis he sponsored as professor and tank components in storage that he and SARA procured from Washington state. He was also actively campaigning for the university to house said tank on campus to benefit the student athletes he'd come to love.

Ken was a shining light of optimism and foresight. He came to the sport later in life, but you could see how it transformed him and those around him. He will be missed, and God bless.

Click here for Ken's obituary or PDF. The Case Daily also had a memorial to Ken (PDF). The Observer: html and pdf.


Doug Brubaker, Ken Klika & Patrick DelBarba with their medals at the 2012 Head of the Hidden Dragon


DelBarba & Kirkegaard Finish 4th in Champ 2x in Philly

October 25-26, 2014: Case Crew sculler Patrick DelBarba and former Case Crew strength and conditioning assistant coach KP Kirkegaard finish 4th in this year's championship double race at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta in Philadelphia. JP currently rows for the Vesper elite program and Patrick rows for them in the summer. This home course advantage proved beneficial to place so highly.

JP raced his single on Saturday and took 5th place in the Champ 1x event as well.

Race results for the Head of the Schuylkill can be found HERE.

2014 Head of the Schuylkill Photo Gallery


DelBarba Finished in Top 10 in Champ 1x in Boston

October 18, 2014: Case Crew sculler Patrick DelBarba finish 9th in this year's championship single race at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA. This finish improved on his 11th place finish last year to and qualified him for next year's race. This amazing result put him ahead of numerous current and former national team members. Patrick was 49 seconds off the winner and only 34 seconds off reigning Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale who finished fourth.

The team decided not to focus on this year's Charles due to the cost and logistics involved. Therefore, Patrick was the only Case Crew representative at this year's regatta. Former Case Crew strength and conditioning assistant coach KP Kirkegaard also race in the champ 1x and he finished 15th rowing for Vesper.

Race results for the Head of the Charles can be found HERE.

2014 Head of the Charles Photo Gallery


Grand Outing in Lansing for Case Crew

October 12, 2014: Case Crew brought the whole team to Lansing, Michigan to compete against the big club teams in the area. This year's event did not conflict with the Head of the Charles so many teams brought full contingents. The 3300 meter Grand River regatta course is relatively short for a fall race, and the nice weather made for some fast ratings and times.

HOT Grand 2014
Case Crew Women's Novice 4+ at the 2014 Head of the Grand
(c) J. Zuccala, (s) L. Fan, (3) E. Schnittman, (2) M. Kus, (b) A. Pomeroy

The regatta hosted most of the clubs from Michigan including U Michigan, Michigan State, Grand Valley & Michigan Tech along with Notre Dame. Stand out performances for Case came in the novice fours with the women taking 3rd and men taking fifth. The women's novice 8+ also took 4th in their race ahead of Grand Valley's "B" entry and Eastern Michigan.

The women's varsity 4+ and men's novice 8+ had rough goes finishing near the back of their fields. The unsung result of the day came in the men's varsity 8+ with Case finishing in 8th place. Watching them in person the crew showed poise and speed, and the middle of the pack finish was a solid result considering all the boats ahead of them will most likely contend Vails or ACRA national championship finals. In the history of Case Crew we can count on one hand when the team has been able to field an 8+ of men or women with this much speed.

HOT Grand 2014
Case Crew Men's Varsity 8+ at the 2014 Head of the Grand
(c) M. Miyagi, (s) J. English, (7) G. Brown, (6) L. Hoye, (5) P. Smith, (4) M. Hausladen, (3) C. Ryu, (2) L. Vroge, (b) L. Fakult

In the old man events Tim Marcovy LAW'77 and Doug Rathburn '97 joined forces to finish near the back in the master 2x. Then they jumped into singles where Doug took first and Tim took second. SARA Secretary Brian Chorney who lives in Michigan came down to the race to cheer the team on, but did not make it into a shell. He assured all attending he'd be fit by April for the alumni regatta!

Race results for the Head of the Grand can be found HERE.

2014 Head of the Grand Photo Gallery


Early Season Speed at the Head of the Cuyahoga

September 20, 2014: Case Crew competed in the 19th running of the Head of the Cuyahoga and showed significant early season speed. The team walked away from the regatta with medals in all but one event. Stand out performances occurred in the Men's Open 8+, Men's Novice 4+ and Men's Open 1x. A few alumni also took part with Mallory Miller taking 3rd in the Women's Open 1x and Doug Rathburn in the 1x and then in the 2x with Dan Bachmann.

Beautiful weather and a full 4.8km course greeted the rowers. With over 400 entries and 2000 competitors the event took on a festive atmosphere. The new CWRU athletic director, Amy Backus, also came down to the boathouse to meet the students and alumni. At the end of the day SARA christened a new Peinert heavyweight single that SARA donated to the team and the Spartan Navy.

The novice team had legitimate success at this year�s regatta. The women's 8 and 4 consisted of newly minted team members and took 3rd and 1st in their events, respectively. The men�s novice 4 consisted of guys that rowed in high school and destroyed their competition by over 1.5 minutes! The novice men's 8 was filled with truly novice rowers with only a handful of practices under their belt yet were still within 22 seconds of cross-town rivals from JCU.

The Case men took the Blue Riband event taking the Open 8 by over 30 seconds and in commanding form. There are high hopes for both the varsity men and women this year with many returning rowers this fall.

In the small boats Patrick DelBarba continued to excel with wins in the Open 1x and teaming up with a friend from Vesper to also win the Master 2x by nearly a minute.

sachem dedication
SARA VP Dan Bachmann christening the sachem

Alumni women raced in singles with Mallory Miller taking 3rd in the Open 1x and alumna and former Case Crew coach Nancy Richter winning the Master C 1x. On the men's side Dan Bachmann and Doug Rathburn teamed up to finish near the bottom in the Master 2x. With Dan sculling less than 10 times in his life any result was a result! Rounding out the results was Doug Rathburn in the Master 1x taking third. Tim Marcovy raced with WRRA in the men's master 8+ and finished 4th.


Men's Novice 8+ heading down to the dock for their event.

To continue the mission of providing world class equipment to the team, SARA unveiled a brand new replacement for the Capt. Rando. The Capt. Rando is a 1997 Peinert 26 heavyweight single that we sold and replaced with a brand new version of the same hull. The new boat was christened the sachem and is the perfect complement to the X25 lightweight Peinert we donated a couple years ago. During the short ceremony Dan and Doug said a few words about the shell and the purpose of SARA supporting the team.

Race results for the Head of the Cuyahoga (HOTC) can be found HERE.

2014 Head of the Cuyahoga Photo Gallery


 

 

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Last modified: May 27, 2015
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