Welcome to the Spartan Alumni Rowing Association

 

Join Us for the 2024 January Team Challenge!

Click on these links to check out our team's progress:
2024 Individual meters for our team
Our team's standing against other teams: 2024

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. The goal is to log as many meters on a Concept 2 as possible between January 1 and 31.

JVTC JVTC Hats

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!

Our new rule since 2018 only for the current student team members: Our student team needs to beat the total of the UChicago student team in order to be eligble to win hats. Therefore, an individual student would have to meet two criteria for a hat: 1.) row 200km and 2.) the team would have to beat UC. Even if the team doesn't beat UC, students can still earn 50km and 100km prizes as normal.

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.

Past Year's JVTC Participation & Results:
2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
You can see the 200km hats on the above pages starting in 2012.


CWRU Crew 2021-2022 Regatta Schedule

Below is the Case Crew 2021-2022 racing & event schedule with links to the results and photos for each event. For a write up about each completed event continue to scroll down. If possible, please come and cheer the team on!

`

The spring 2020 through spring 2021 seasons were marred by the global COVID-19 pandemic, with all three seasons being cancelled. The team took back to the water in the Fall of 2021 on a mission.

We will schedule a conference call for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in December.If you would like to become a member of the SARA Board, take a leadership position, or vote on current business please come to or dial into the AGM.

30th Anniversary

Date: Event: Location: Results: Photos:
Sept 18 Head of the Cuyahoga Cleveland, OH - Cuyahoga River results photos
Oct 2 Head of the Ohio Pittsburgh, PA results photos
Oct 24 Head of the Charles Boston, MA results photos
Oct 31 Speakmon Regatta Columbus, OH - Griggs Reservoir results photos
Nov 6 Head of the Hooch (Varsity) Chattanooga, TN results photos
TBD Hammer Ergatta Cleveland, OH - CRF Boathouse    
TBD 24 Hour Ergathon (fundraiser) Cleveland, OH - CWRU Campus    
March 5-12 Spring Break Trip Oak Ridge, TN    
April 2 Lubbers Cup Regatta Grand Rapids, MI    
April 9 Ohio Collegiate Regatta Marietta, OH    
April 23 MACRA Championships Grandf Rapids, MI    
May 13-14 Dad Vail Regatta Philadelphia, PA    

View details of previous seasons here.

 


Men's Collegiate 4+ Takes on the 2021 Charles After Year Hiatus

October 24, 2021: After a three-season hiatus due to COVID-19, CWRU Rowing took on the Head of the Charles in fine fashion. The crew of Anthony Testa (s), Sean Stewart (3), Will MacCormack (2), Dylan Sass (b) and Steven Leung (c) finished in 27th place out of 40 crews meaning they did not automatically re-qulaify for next year's regatta. The line up featured two freshmen, and the collegiate novices earned great experience. Case finished the course in a time of 18:13.174 or 8.27% off the winners from Vanderbilt University.

The 2021 edition of the Charles expanded to a 3-day affair with masters small boats racing on Friday for the first time ever. Case's race was near the end of programming on Sunday when conditions were sunny, but a bit blustery.


Men's Collegiate Four: MacCormack, Stewart, Sass, Testa & Leung

Team Captain Anthony Testa provided the following:

After a year off everyone had a bit of a rough time getting back in boats other than singles. That was apparent at all levels in all programs, and the same was true for our Charles four. On race day the guys really pulled together, with a very solid warmup and race, if not the best row we have had yet. Hearing all the people cheering on the banks of the river, parents, friends, friends of friends, was truly incredible. Being 10 hours away from our little boathouse in Cleveland, at the biggest regatta in the world makes you feel like you're on another planet. All the support and text messages, and cheers, and kindness of everyone there and remote made it feel right at home. You couldn't ask for more from a team and alumni network, and we are incredibly thankful for all of them.

On another level, while we were hoping to requalify (who isn't?), the results show the growth of this team. Three-fifths of the boat members were freshman, and the size of the team has exploded. Not only that, but we managed to go 20 seconds faster this year than the last time we visited Boston, while the first place time was about five seconds slower. This just shows where we are headed, and is a precursor for things to come. I am incredibly excited to see where this team goes, and couldn't have imagined a better way to spend my last year with this squad.

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

2021 Head of the Charles Photo Gallery


Welcome Back to the Head of the Ohio, Thank You for the Medals!

October 2, 2021: CWRU rowing took a full squad to Pittsburgh's Head of the Ohio for the first time since 2012 and brought home medals in four races. Overall, the team entered eleven crews across eight events total. The weather for the Saturday racing was warm and sunny with moderate winds. A number of years ago the regatta changed format to two-day racing with colleges and clubs racing on Saturday and junior events on Sunday. The two-day format also allows race organizers to shift events around if Pittsburgh experiences poor weather on one of the days, but this year went off without a hitch!

CWRU was one of the original participants in the Head of the Ohio and regularly attended from the early 1990's up until 2012. The regatta is the "closest" large regatta for the team. However, with changes in race day logistics and strings of bad weather on the large Allegheny River, the team prioritized other racing opportunities. With the team getting back into racing after the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's Head of the Ohio presented a great opportunity to get valuable racing experience close to home.


Women's Novice 4+ Gold Medalists!
L-R: Coach Fistek, Laura “Newton” Schwartz, Jess Norek, Emma Joseph, Arianna Thornton, Day Estrada-Britton & Coach Hanseman

The men's open 8+ had a tremendous showing winning silver ahead of a number of perennially fast crews and only 30 seconds off Pitt. The women's open 8+ finished in the middle of the pack in 7th. Rounding out the varsity in the fours were a silver medal for the men (also behind Pitt) and fourth place finish for the women 11 seconds out of the medals. The men's JV four took 7th and women's JV four took 9th in a deep field.

The novice squad was led by gold medal performances in both the men's and women's novice fours! In the eights, the novices struggled to find speed finishing in 6th for the women and 5th and 6th (two entries) for the men. Great job teams! Very few members of the Spartan Navy have earned medals from the Head of the Ohio.

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

2021 Head of the Ohio Photo Gallery


Return to Racing at the 2021 Head of the Cuyahoga!

September 18, 2021: After missing three seasons due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Spartan Navy return to racing at the Head of the Cuyahoga in Cleveland, Ohio. The student club entered eight crews with all but one of those crews earning a medal! The Spartan Alumni Rowing Association (SARA) boated six boats with four medals earned! The weather for racing was splendid and spirits were high after 18 months being away from racing. After racing concluded, alumni students, and various dignitaries met up for the unveiling of the new Zaclon River Landing.

CWRU rowing were on spring break in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic hit. Upon return classes went virtual, and all rowing related activities ceased. Classes and workouts remained virtual through the fall of 2020 and only small-group, restricted practices commenced in the spring of 2021... with no racing. It is great to be back!

The open 8's were hotly contested at this year's regatta. Alumni and student crews took on a number of Ohio crews including the club team from The Ohio State University. SARA's women's eight was filled with recent graduates that missed out on their senior season due to the pandemic. The alumni women took gold ahead of the CWRU boat by half a minute. On the men's side the OSU 8 were head of the river with the CWRU crew in silver medal position 10 seconds behind. The SARA men's eight took bronze only 26 seconds off the pace of the students. This year's bronze was the first medal for the alumni men since 2012.


SARA Women's Open 8+ flexing before their gold medal performance!

There were other important results here, including an incredible 4th place Grand Final finish from the Men’s Novice (Freshman) 4+, just behind the University of Michigan and Michigan State. Our Women's Varsity 4+ executed a spirited race, ultimately not making it out of the heat, but with full marks for squeezing as much speed out of their boat as they could.

CWRU took home three medals in the fours with a bronze in the women's open 4+ and the men's squad took home gold and bronze in the men's open 4+. The men's novice 4+ also took home gold against cross-town rivals John Carroll. The CWRU pairing of Stacy & Townsend took home gold in the women's open 2x against fast crews from Cincinnati and Columbus.


SARA Mixed 8+ Gold Medalists
L-R: Braunegg, Collins, McClung, Holdren, Cronin, Hoye, Schnittman, Merlino & Sorgatz (cox)

Alumni racing wrapped up in the men's open 4x and mixed 8+. The mixed eight took gold in commanding fashion against crews from Pittsburgh and Ann Arbor. The alumni men's quad struggled to find their rhythm and finished 6th in a deep field of scullers.

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

2021 Head of the Cuyahoga Photo Gallery


Spring 2021 Wish List Posted

wish list

Each year we would like to show our support of the coaching staff by providing them with a little "boost" each spring. Each year we ask the coaches what would really be some items they need to be successful for the spring season. This year's list is posted HERE.

As we all know the team cannot function without the support of alumni, parents and friends. From time to time the team needs certain items to keep functioning in tip-top shape. If you would like to contribute one of the item -- gaining a nice tax deduction at the same time -- please contact Doug Rathburn for more details.

This year's list contains some of our typical athlete support items and boat parts. The big ticket item this year is to get a bunch of Nielsen-Kellerman gear factory refurbished.


CWRU Crew 2019-2020 Regatta Schedule

Below is the Case Crew 2019-2020 racing & event schedule with links to the results and photos for each event. For a write up about each completed event continue to scroll down. If possible, please come and cheer the team on!

The spring 2020 season was marred by the global COVID-19 pandemic. After the team returned to Cleveland from Spring Break, all events were cancelled.

Date: Event: Location: Results: Photos:
Sept 21 Head of the Cuyahoga Cleveland, OH - Cuyahoga River results photos
Sept 28 U. Buffalo & Cleveland State Scrimmage Cleveland, OH - Cuyahoga River results photos
Oct 5 Head of the Grand Lansing, MI results photos
Oct 19 Head of the Charles Boston, MA results photos
Oct 27 Speakmon Regatta Columbus, OH - Griggs Reservoir results photos
Nov 3 Head of the Hooch (Varsity) Chattanooga, TN results photos
Feb 15 Hammer Ergatta Cleveland, OH - CRF Boathouse results photos
Feb 21-22 24 Hour Ergathon (fundraiser) Cleveland, OH - CWRU Campus    
March 9-13 Spring Break Trip Oak Ridge, TN   photos
March 21 Grand Valley State University Dual Grand Rapids, MI
Canceled
March 28 U. Buffalo, Penn State, St. John Fisher Buffalo, NY
Canceled
April 4 Mercyhurst University Dual Cleveland, OH - Aurora Lake
Canceled
April 18 Adrian College, Ohio State, Ohio Wesleyan Adrian, MI
Canceled
April 26 MACRA Championships Grand Rapids, MI
Canceled
May 8-9 Dad Vail Regatta Philadelphia, PA
Canceled

View details of previous seasons here.

 


CWRU Crew 2018-2019 Regatta Schedule

Below is the Case Crew 2018-2019 racing & event schedule with links to the results and photos for each event. For a write up about each completed event continue to scroll down. If possible, please come and cheer the team on!

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and dinner will be held in conjunction with Home Schools on March 23. If you would like to become a member of the SARA Board, take a leadership position, or vote on current business please come to or dial into the AGM.

Date: Event: Location: Results: Photos:
Sept 15 Head of the Cuyahoga Cleveland, OH - Cuyahoga River results photos
Oct 13 Adrian College Scrimmage Devils Lake, MI results photos
Oct 20 Head of the Charles (WV4+) Boston, MA results photos
Oct 27 Muskie Chase (Full Squad) Marietta, OH - Lindamood/Van Voorhis Boathouse results photos
Nov 3 Head of the Hooch (Varsity) Chattanooga, TN results photos
Feb 9 Hammer Ergatta CSU - Cleveland, OH results photos
Feb 22-23 24 Hour Ergathon (fundraiser) Cleveland, OH - CWRU Campus    
March 9-17 Spring Break Trip Gainesville, GA - Lake Lanier   photos
March 23 Home Schools Regatta & Alumni Regatta/Dinner Cleveland, OH - CRF Boathouse Home Schools
& Alumni
photos
March 30 Scrimmage:
U. Buffalo, Penn State, St. John Fisher
Buffalo, NY results photos
April 6-7 Lubber's Cup Grand Rapids, MI results photos
April 20 SUNY Invitational Regatta Geneseo, NY results photos
April 28 MACRA Championships Grand Rapids, MI results photos
May 10-11 Dad Vail Regatta (select boats) Philadelphia, PA results photos

View details of previous seasons here.

 


MACRA: Grand Finals in Grand Rapids!

April 28, 2019: This weekend, the Spartan Navy traveled to Grand Rapids for the Mid-America Collegiate Rowing Association (MACRA) Championships. CWRU has been attending this regatta for a long time, and CWRU represents the 4th smallest college attending in terms of undergraduate population, and is by far the smallest among club teams (as opposed to varsity programs). The rowers competed against the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Chicago, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Marquette, and many others.

Like many regional championships, this race was formatted similarly to Eastern Sprints. The Eastern Sprints format is a brutal, daylong affair with multiple races where teams are seeded, compete, and then compete again in a small window of time.

Case Western Reserve had an historic showing this weekend. For the first time in the 27 year history of the team, in the marquee men's event, the Men’s Varsity 8+, CWRU earned a place in the Grand Final, earning 6th place overall, along the way defeating UChicago, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Marquette, and many others. In their heat, CWRU's time was faster than several other high-level competitors on the men's side, including Grand Valley State University. Also, most notably, the CWRU Women’s Varsity 8+ took 3rd place, losing only to Eastern Michigan University and Drake University, and for the first time in program history, beating Mercyhurst University, pushing them to 4thplace. Grand Valley State University – currently ranked 7th nationally among clubs, fell to the CWRU women by 11 seconds – a palpable victory.


CWRU women's varsity 8+ - MACRA bronze medalists!

There were other important results here, including an incredible 4th place Grand Final finish from the Men’s Novice (Freshman) 4+, just behind the University of Michigan and Michigan State. Our Women's Varsity 4+ executed a spirited race, ultimately not making it out of the heat, but with full marks for squeezing as much speed out of their boat as they could.

The importance of the result of the Women’s Varsity 8+ cannot be overstated. For the uninitiated, Mercyhurst and Drake are the real deal. Their coaches are professionals, and their equipment, preparation, and support are top notch. Adrian Spraklen, Mercyhurst’s head coach, was the Russian Federation’s Women’s Rowing Coach in 2015-16. Charlie DiSilvestro has 24 years of experience at the helm of Drake, and has been named Collegiate Coach of the Year.


CWRU men's varsity 8+ - first-ever grand finalists at MACRA!

Case Western Reserve was 0.4 seconds away from Drake, and 0.2 seconds ahead of Mercyhurst. CWRU is in-the-mix with nationally ranked DI, DII, DIII and Club teams on the Women’s side, and substantially on the rise on the Men’s side.

Women’s Varsity 8+ Results:
1st: Eastern Michigan University (DI Varsity): 6:17.7
2nd: Drake University (DI Varsity): 6:31.6
3rd: Case Western Reserve University (Club): 6:32.0
4th: Mercyhurst University (DII Varsity): 6:32.2
5th: Grand Valley State University (School-Funded Club): 6:41.1

All the above said, the coaches wanted to share two vignettes.

The first is a simple story about equipment. For some time, we’ve needed to refresh the oars that were being used by the women’s team. Our coaches tend to get into the minutiae of our equipment, and we reached out to the Spartan Alumni Rowing Association about acquiring some very nice (and also very expensive) oars. Thanks to some generous contributions from current team members’ parents, as well as some stalwart alumni, in just a few days, the funds were raised for the delivery of US National Team-caliber oars, giving our athletes an advantage. Fewer than 7 donors were tapped for this quiet contribution, all done based on the enthusiasm of the team’s growing success. We could not be more grateful to the alumni and families who show limitless generosity. Thank you.

The second vignette relates to the team’s improvement and the college rowing community’s acknowledgement. While at the regatta site, while under the hood of our now famous (infamous?) 1997 Ford F250 towing truck, a parade of coaches stopped by our trailer at the end of racing, congratulating the coaches on the continued improvement of the team. Those coaches went back to their shiny tow vehicles and tour buses, and returned to their cities, wondering how we got as close as we did, or in some cases, how we got the better of them.

In summary, the CWRU Rowing Team is evolving and succeeding. As we mount our final phase of our racing campaign, we will be taking on the likes of varsity squads from Georgetown, M.I.T., UMass, and a more than 200 other varsity and club teams at the Dad Vail Championships. We cannot say frequently enough (or loudly enough) how much we appreciate all the support from SARA, our families, and our friends. Bringing nourishment to regattas matters. Liking posts on social media matters. Contributing to equipment and running funds matters. It is all of those efforts that keeps the program in great shape, and heralds a successful, sustainable program for the future.

On to Philadelphia, and Go Spartans!

Write up provided by Coach Aaron Marcovy.

Race results for the MACRA Championships can be found HERE.

2019 MACRA Photo Gallery


SUNY Invite: Many Wins Against Upstate NY Competition

April 20, 2019: Case Crew embarked on their second regatta of the spring in upstate New York and came away victorious in both varsity eights and the novice four. The squad faced off again against U. Buffalo and St. John Fischer whome they met a few weeks prior in Buffalo. The SUNY invite took place on Conesus Lake and was hosted by SUNY Geneseo.

Conditions on the lake were variable all morning and as a result only the eights raced the full 2,000m course. Other events were shifted to different parts of the lake to find favorable water. The head coach of SUNY Geneseo used to coach at Rochester, a UAA rival to CWRU, and he knows Case Crew well. Geneseo Crew played excellent host by housing much of the team the night before.


Head Coach Aaron Marcovy launching his Men's Varsity 8+ to victory!

The first race down the lake was seven boats across for the men's varsity four. Case took third behind Geneseo and Canisius and ahead of two crews from U Buffalo along with Nazareth College and St. John Fisher. The race was run from eastern shore of lake due to heavy chop at start and was only about 1,600m.

In the men's varsity eight, the Spartans took a commanding lead right from the flag drop and didn't hold back finishing nearly 20 seconds ahead of the University at Buffalo. In third was SUNY Geneseo 23 seconds off the mark. Taking up the final spots were the Buffalo JV crew and a novice line up from SUNY Buffalo State. The coaches were particularly pleased since the Geneseo men's squad is typically quick. When Case last attended this invitational two years Geneseo held off a fast Case line up to win.

In what's becoming a bit routine for the Lady Spartans, the women's varsity eight looked comfortable leading the pack to take the gold. They beat Geneseo by two lengths and well ahead of U Buffalo and Nazareth. The line ups for the wpring races have been shuffled due to illness and athelete availability, but the depth of the squad continues to demonstrate speed. With a healthy squad for MACRAs, the coaches are excited to see what the women can do.

The last squad to race was the men's novice four. The crew of true novices and athletes that rowed in high school dominated the field to take gold. The teams finishing behind them were in order: SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Buffalo State and the University at Buffalo. Due to the chop this race was also moved to the far shore of the lake and was only about 1,500m. The Frosh Four has only been beaten by Michigan and Vanderbilt this spring, so watch for them at MACRAs next weekend!

Race results for the SUNY Invitational can be found HERE.

2019 SUNY Invitational Photo Gallery


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

Lubber's Cup Recap

April 6-7, 2019: The Lubber's Cup is the annual pilgrimage to Michigan to see some of the best competition in sprint season that we see before MACRAs, and the 2019 edition of the regatta was no exception.

Traditionally, the Lubber's Cup is a frigid endurance exercise, where teams battle the elements as much as they do each other. This year, however, the weather shone brightly and kind on the regatta, as the event returned to its home from 10 years ago to the Grand River. This venue - shortened to 1,950 meters due to logistics, was very spectator friendly, and the coaches were able to view most of the races.

Despite the change in venue, the "double-dual" format remained the same. In this format, the teams have multiple races (2, 3, or 4 lane racing), and they rotate so that each squad sees most, if not all, of the competitors in their category.

CWRU boated a Men's Varsity 8+, a Women's Varsity 8+, a Women's Open 4+, and a Men's Freshman 4+. The competition was stiff, and included the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Adrian College, North Park, Grand Valley, and Notre Dame.

The results were reflective of the competition, with Michigan and Grand Valley as perennial high performers. Notre Dame has come into their own in recent years, and challenged Michigan in several races. The Freshman Men's 8+ category was a harbinger of things to come, with some fast crews coming out of Ohio State and Michigan State.

The brightest spots for the Case squad over the 2 days of racing came in the form of the Women's Open 4+ besting the North Park 2F 4+ by nearly 10 seconds, the Men's Freshman 4+ having a good learning experience vs. Vanderbilt and Michigan. The Women's Varsity 8+ also logged a victory in 1 out of 3 contests vs. Grand Valley, which is the first time in recent memory that CWRU has gotten the better of the argument in a sprint race against GVSU. The Men's Varsity 8+ had 2 lineups over the weekend in order to try to determine where some efficiencies might lay, and the crew improved over the course of the weekend. On the Men's Varsity category, one spectator correctly remarked, "Michigan is one tough nut to crack."

The squad now looks forward to a rare "bye" week in Cleveland, and will take the opportunity to sort out race lineups and improve on some remaining technical points through the coming weeks. These elements will bring speed and a regularity to the practice, and as we prepare for one more "dress rehearsal" in the form of the SUNY Invitational in 2 weeks leading up to the MACRA championships.

We want to give a special shoutout to Brian Chorney who brought his kiddos to the Lubbers Cup site this weekend. As a guest coach for CWRU, Brian is always welcome and offered some insights about the team's performance while attending. Additionally, there were several families of rowers present at the racing, and their attendance was welcomed and appreciated! As a reminder, all alumni, family, and friends of CWRU Rowing are welcome to these events - and your showing up means a lot to the squad. Please continue on with your support, and as always, thank you for the notes, words of encouragement, and contributions. You are the ones who keep the team going so well.

On to Geneseo in 2 weeks!

Write up provided by Coach Aaron Marcovy.

Race results for the Lubber's Cup can be found HERE.

2019 Lubber's Cup Photo Gallery


The Lake Effect Buffalo Scrimmage

March 30, 2019: Among the last throes of winter, the Spartans traveled to the chilly shores of the Tonawanda Creek in suburban Buffalo to face off in a scrimmage against the University at Buffalo, Penn State University, and St. John Fisher College. This race, beset with some delays, was a great exposition in “iron man” racing, with several athletes hot-seating from an eight to a four and back again throughout their racing. The team fared well against all 3 of their competitors, especially in light of the varsity status of SJF and the recently-varsity U.B.


CWRU Men's Varsity at the Buffalo Scrimmage - thanks to David Mann for the photo.

The Creek as a venue features a slight dogleg at its start, necessitating about a 6 seat stagger, as well as a sloping “s-curve” throughout the body of the race. Coxswains from Cleveland handled it well, with CWRU taking top honors in several events, including the Women’s Varsity 4+ and the Men’s Varsity 8+. In this double-dual-ish format, races were staged against competitors in a 2-lane (or in a few circumstances a 3-lane) format. Case showed well despite challenging conditions throughout the racing, coming in 1st or 2nd in all of their races, save the final event of the competition, where the MV8+’s second race was sabotaged by misadventure in the loss of a skeg in the marshalling area.

There was great CWRU support shown by friends and family, including relatives of Sean Mann, Ingrid Iversen, Anthony Testa, Maria Tompkins, and several others! Thanks to all the friends and family who made the cold and wet conditions palatable! We also have heaps of gratitude to UB and their coaching staff for putting the event together and enabling some great viewing via the launches for the visiting coaches. Next – on to the Don Lubber’s Cup in Michigan!

Write up provided by Coach Aaron Marcovy.

Race results for the Buffalo Scrimmage can be found HERE.

2019 Buffalo Scrimmage Photo Gallery


Cuyahoga Fun: Home Schools / OWU scrimmage / Alumni Regatta

March 23, 2019: The Cleveland Collegiate Regatta (aka “Home Schools”) is the traditional “opening bell” for the Spring Season in the Cleveland college rowing scene. Dating back 18 years, this is one of the longest running traditions on the Cuyahoga, and this year, our relationship with the Aurora Lake Association has blossomed to the point of bearing fruit. Unfortunately, the 18th running of the Home Schools Regatta was a row-over in 2019, with John Carrol University and Cleveland State University opting out of the exercise. With that in mind, CWRU held an inter-squad scrimmage, as well as an exhibition scrimmage with the newly-created Division III varsity rowing program at Ohio Wesleyan University. The Battling Bishops of OWU made the trip from Delaware, Ohio to scrimmage against CWRU, and due to the late changes of participating crews, the venue was changed from Aurora Lake to the Cuyahoga River.


Alumni crew (near boat) destroying the students in the 700m sprint!

Some early freighter movement necessitated changing the race paths away from the mouth of the river, and the exercises were handled between the NS2 bridge and the Flats Industrial Bridge. The CWRU 1V8 and 2V8 competed over a staggered 2K, and then lineup changes were made to even out the crews, conducting a 1K stake race, then a 500m sprint, all taking place in the Collision Bend Straight Stretch. The stake race & sprint exercises also took place among Women’s 8+s of CWRU vs. OWU, as well as some lineup changes and stake / sprint pieces in Women’s 4+s. The CWRU women demonstrated their dominance in light of a young OWU team, whose spirited performance was overwhelmed by the skill of the Women of Sparta. Many thanks go to the OWU team for coming with so many supporters and with such an outstanding attitude for a unique race format in the face of blustery conditions.

Additionally, the CWRU men’s team had some fantastic competition from a cohort of Alumni, including club founder Tom Hudak! Although the stopwatch might have subjectively captured some vague amount of time related to each piece’s completion…it is the considered opinion of the coaching staff that alumni should not be bothered by pesky things like “results” and “timing.” Magically, regardless of those subjective measures, the alumni crews magically won each piece ;)

The evening of the Alumni Regatta was a fantastic affair, and special kudos go to the Executive Committee, and especially Maria Tompkins, whose fantastic planning brought an outstanding event to nearly 60 people in the upper room of the Flat Iron Café. Our friends, parents, and alumni heard some touching testimonials from current athletes, had an opportunity to network with alumni, and were able to enjoy fellowship while hearing about the club’s current state and future trajectory. Next year, the logistics may be slightly different as it relates to an alumni gathering – so be on the lookout starting Fall of 2019! Thanks to all of the parents, athletes, coaches and alumni for making it all happen!

Alumni 2019
Alumni Tom Hudak '91 and Kevin Cronin '16 with the 2019 Spartan of the Year Award Winner Will Warren.
More info on the SOY here.

Write up provided by Coach Aaron Marcovy.

Race results for the Home Schools Regatta can be found HERE while the results from the Alumni Regatta can be found HERE.

2019 Home Schools and Alumni Regatta Photo Gallery


Spring Training 2019 Recap

March 9-17, 2019: Spring Training has always been an outstanding time to get back in touch with the boat, and the 2019 campaign was no exception. The team packed up for a much-needed escape from the grind of the rowing machine to head to Gainesville, GA to the 1996 Olympic Rowing Venue, Lake Lanier. The Spartans stayed in what have become some of our favorite accommodations throughout the year, in the Don Carter State Park cabins. After having Assistant Coach / Team Dietician Steph Merlino-Barr assisting with nutrition planning, the team was able to accomplish 3 sessions daily, including doing video review, yoga, cross training, and of course lots and lots of rowing.

Joining the team this year were coaches Rachel Stanley, Steph Merlino-Barr, Kate Krengel, and Aaron Marcovy. They were also joined by Erynn Rathburn, who was pursuing her USRowing Level II certification in the process – her presence and assistance in coaching, coxing, and support was greatly appreciated throughout the week! Fun was had by all as the team progressed throughout the week.


Spring Break 2019 Team Photo • Gainesville, Georgia

After focusing on some critical elements, the coaches noticed a crucial shift in recent years in the evolution of the technical expertise of the team. Although the 2018-2019 squad does not possess the same physical stature as previous crews, the results are still palpable, and that is attributed to very high quality rowing and the overall attitude of the squad. By adapting the training and execution on the water, CWRU was able to put up legitimate speed.

The week culminated in a 2-practice scrimmage taking place on Friday evening for the Men’s 8+, as well as Saturday morning for the balance of the squad. In the Friday Night Scrimmage, CWRU faced off against some top-flight competition, comprising of Ithaca College, Marietta College, the University of New Hampshire, and the United States Naval Academy. It has yet to be confirmed, but it is believe that this is the first time that CWRU has lined up in a 2K sprint format against an Eastern Sprints school (Navy). As always, it was great to see the talents of Marietta on display, as they are a great marker since the Muskie Chase last October. This scrimmage was similar to the format against Ithaca last year, and having New Hampshire in the mix was a great indicator of speed from another club program.

Navy left nothing to the imagination, their 1st Varsity and 2nd Varsity putting on a clinic for the rest of the field, with Marietta and Ithaca in hot pursuit. CWRU and UNH battled for the remainder of the 2k, with UNH ultimately getting the better of the argument by about a boat length at the end. The finish order was Navy 1, Navy 2, Marietta, Ithaca, UNH, CWRU. After the full 2K, Ithaca, Marietta, UNH and CWRU stuck around for a 1K race, followed by a 500m sprint, as Navy was scheduled to conduct their Class Day celebration immediately after the full race. During those remaining pieces, CWRU got the better of UNH, besting them slightly each time.

The following morning, the Spartan Navy took on all comers in a straight-up 2K. The Women’s 1V was challenged by DIII No. 4 ranked Ithaca College’s 1V and 2V, as well as New Hampshire. Ithaca was the class of the field in the 2K, with CWRU learning a great deal along the way. IC’s 1V finished in 7:18.4, followed by the UNH V8 who claimed a 4th place at the 2018 ACRA with 7:31.3, and then 7:38 for the IC 2V and CWRU at 7:43.1. In the Women’s Varsity 4+, the results were somewhat similar, with the CWRU women duking it out against the sole Marietta College entry as well as a WV4+ from UNH. On the men’s side, CWRU fielded a men’s Freshman 4+ who performed admirably, besting UNH’s Frosh 4+, as well as a slightly adjusted lineup in the Men’s Varsity 8+. In this reset, CWRU squared off against the 1Vs and 2Vs of both Ithaca and Marietta, as well as the UNH 1V, making it a 6 boat barnburner including CWRU. Case had a slightly better performance on Saturday morning, and although the leaders of Marietta and Ithaca still finished in that order, the field was much tighter, with CWRU and the Marietta 2V and Ithaca 2V finishing all within a second of one another. In this edition, Case defeated UNH – this time by a boat length going the right way, but was just on the outside of the fight amongst Case and the @V squads from Ithaca and Marietta. This was a great example of wire-to-wire pushing and a valuable training exercise.

The camp concluding on Saturday allowed for the athletes to get these remaining experiences and make it back to Cleveland with a day of recovery before the racing season begins in earnest. We would like to thank all the well wishes from the alumni, parents, (grandparents!) and friends who made this trip an enjoyable and productive experience for the Spartan Navy.

Write up provided by Coach Aaron Marcovy.

2019 Spring Break Photo Gallery


Case Crew Hammer Cup Streak Now 5 Years In a Row

February 9, 2019: Case Crew won all but one of the individual events they entered at the 30th Hammer Ergatta and took home the Hammer Cup for top college program for the fifth time in a row. This year's race was held on Cleveland State's campus and saw over 200 racers over the course of the morning. The Hammer Cup has been contested between Case and John Carroll since 1995 with Cleveland State joining the action in 2008. Case leads the series with fifteen wins to JCU's 8 and CSU's 2 wins.

Hammer 2019

This year Case took home six golden hammers (yes, actual hammers) from the eight races they entered along with four second place silver hammers. The women's team had six athletes break 8 minutes with varsity rower Sarah Carlson taking top honors with a 7:19.6 and a PR! For the lightweight varsity women, Ingrid Iversen took top honors with 7:46.6. For the novice women, an athlete from CSU took top honors and Caitlin Chatten pulled 8:32.8 to take third overall.

The men's team also significant speed and depth. The men had eight athletes break seven minutes with Finn Hittson taking top team honors with a 6:31.1 to win the Open Men's category. Overall Case took the top four places in the men's open race! In the open lightweight race club president Sam Nutt pulled a 6:39.5 to take top honors for the second year in a row. The fastest novice man was Anthony Testa with 6:38.1, which was fast enough to win. Jerry Yang was the fastest lightweight novice with 7:51.9 and won the event.

A few of the top athletes sat out the event due to illness or conflicts. The team held a warm up 2k the weekend before, and before the two pieces the coaches report over 80% of the squad set personal records!

The last event of the day was the Sledgehammer 6x500m mixed relay. Case entered two squads and finished 2nd and 3rd. The fastest Case relay team completed the 3km in 9:41.6 and finished second behind a local CrossFit gym for the fourth year in a row.

Race results for the Hammer Ergatta can be found HERE.

2019 Hammer Ergatta Photo Gallery


Depth and Medals in Tennessee at the Head of the Hooch!

November 3, 2018: Case Crew took their top eights and an additional women's four to the Head of the Hooch for the fourth year in a row and earned medals in two races. Across very deep fields Case showed they could hold their own agains the best college club teams in the south. The course in Chattanooga and early November date allows teams to extend their on-the-water season and guarantee good, fast and fair racing conditions. This year saw lots of rain in the region, and water conditions were exceptionally fast compared to previous year.

The regatta has become so large that they instituted a requalification scheme a few years ago. Case easily requalified for the 2018 event based on the top 10 performances last year. The Hooch has become one of the largest regattas in the country and pulls in colleges across the south and a number of Midwestern colleges. This year the women's varsity eight took silver against a field of 30 other colleges and clubs while the men took sixth against 34 other teams. Showing the depth of the women's squad, the team brought a JV to compete in the college and club fours event and took third against 38 other crews!


Head of the Hooch silver medalists in the women's college & club 8+!
Pezzuto (s), Piccirillo (7), Carlson (6), Pearson (5), Wetzel (4), Kluender (3), Francissen (2), Iversen (b) Scherner (cox)

© SportGraphics

The two-day event hosted over 200 teams and over 2,000 entries with the regatta site right in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. The 5,000 meter course is fairly straight, fair and easy to pass. With the city center venue and excellent course, the Hooch has grown into one of THE premier head races in the country. For northern crews, the early November timing also extends the competitive season. Conditions were fair but the current was extremely strong leading to very fast times - almost two minutes faster than last year.

The Case varsity women were event #9 and with the fast current this year crushed the course with a time of 16 minutes 6 seconds. After winning the event last year, the crew finished second behind the University of Florida by 30 seconds. This year marks the third medal in a row in this event and a fourth place in 2016 - can you sense dynasty! The line-up of Dani Pezzuto (s), Madison Piccirillo (7), Sarah Carlson (6), Emmeline Pearson (5), Kirstin Wetzel (4), Lindsay Kluender (3), Katie Francissen (2) Ingrid Iversen (b) and Natalie Scherner (cox) finished ahead of 29 other teams and ahead of Georgia Tech again (!) who took bronze.


Head of the Hooch Men's Varsity 8+
Nehila (s), Nutt (7), Steiner (6), Hittson (5), Swyers (4), Norchi (3), Mann (2), Warren (b) and Tompkins (cox)

© SportGraphics

The men's varsity 8+ of Tim Nehila (s), Sam Nutt (7), Ian Steiner (6), Finn Hittson (5), Andy Swyers (4), Ryan Norchi (3), Sean Mann (2) and Will Warren (b) with Maria Tompkins (cox) faced a deep field and finished 6th overall and four spots better than last year's finish. The crew continues their grudge match against UAA rivals WashU from the last couple years. Case has been just slightly off the pace of the crew from St Louis for the last three years, but picked up some of the gap this year. WashU finished 3rd overall for the second year in a row, and only 10 seconds ahead of the Spartans. Vanderbilt took top honors with Central Florida grabbing silver with the top eleven crews breaking 15 minutes.


Head of the Hooch bronze medalists in the women's college & club 4+!
Judge (s), Magliato (3), Braunegg (2), Sanderson (b) and Sorgatz (cox)

© SportGraphics

The women's JV 4+ of Emily Judge (s), Sam Magliato (3), Annelise Braunegg (2) and Helen Sanderson with Aleksa Sorgatz coxing took home the bronze medal against 37 other crews. They finished 15 seconds off the winners from Clemson and 2 seconds behind Florida. In fourth place were UAA rivals WashU along with Emory in 9th and cross town rivals John Carroll in 29th. With the two women's crews earning medals this shows the depth of the women's squad this year.

Also racing in the women's college and club four race were the current coaching squad for Case. The crew of Emily Schnittmann '18 (s), Steph Merlino '16 (3), Sharon Romilly (2) and Rachel Stanley (b) raced as WRRA (with CWRU blades!) and finished 5th just behind WashU and our ladies in 3rd. CWRU coxswain Maria Tompkins was on the steering ropes. It was a great showing for the coaches and sets a great example for the squad.

The Hooch runs a qualification system for guaranteed entries in the next year's race. All three crews easily re-qualified for 2019 entries.

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

2018 Head of the Hooch Photo Gallery


Improved Full Squad Speed on Display in Marietta

October 27, 2018: Case Crew ventured to Marietta to take on the Pioneers and a number of other regional colleges in a combined head race and sprint scrimmage format - the Muskie Chase. Racing consisted of a 6,000 meter head race followed by a series of 500 meter sprints after a sizeable break. The Spartans of CWRU raced well with the women’s squad taking top honors and the men’s team showing improved speed. The team also brought the full novice squad for their first taste of racing for the Spartan Navy.

Marietta hosts the Muskie Chase invitational each year at their boathouse on the Muskingum River, this year marks the third year CWRU garnered an invite. Other participants included Adrian College, University of Dayton, University of Cincinnati and Ohio Wesleyan University. The weather was a bit cold and rainy, but was a well-run and fun event.

For the 6km racing, the women’s top eight beat the varsity-status squad from Dayton into second place by one minute. The women’s JV8 split up into fours and the top four won with Dayton in second and Case’s second boat in third place. Case’s novice women’s four was third behind Marietta and Cincinnati and beat the newly formed varsity program at Ohio Wesleyan.

On the men’s side, the Spartan top eight took third behind Marietta and Adrian and beat Marietta second and third crews along with Cincinnati’s top entry. The men’s novice eight took top honors ahead of Adrian and Cincinnati. The margins of the top eight to Marietta and Adrian improved significantly versus previous races and bodes well for this crew finding some speed ahead of the Hooch.

After a decent break the coaches re-configured the crews for sprints. In order to give everyone on the squad a chance to race, new line ups were formed for the sprints. Two rounds of 500m sprints were held in each boat class. For CWRU the results across these short distance pieces were a bit mixed. Standing starts after a season of head race training are always a bit of a tall ask, but it’s a good experience and fun for everyone.

The highlight from the sprints were the women’s varsity four winning boat their races. Even our dominate WV8 couldn’t quite hang onto Dayton over 50 strokes losing by a seat in both sprints.

The team is prepared and looking forward to the Head of the Hooch next weekend. The squad has entered Club Men’s and Women’s Eights along with a Women’s Club 4+, which is our JV boat. Good luck, and GO SPARTANS!

Race results for the Muskie Chase can be found HERE.

2018 Muskie Chase Photo Gallery

Write up provided by Head Coach Aaron Marcovy


Women's Club 4+ Re-qualifies for 4th Consecutive Year at the Charles

October 20, 2018: Following a strong start to the fall season, Case Crew returned it’s Women’s Club 4+ to Boston and the 54th Head of the Charles Regatta on a perfectly fall weekend. The crew of Senior Captain Emmeline Pearson, Juniors Sarah Carlson, Ingrid Iverson and Natalie Scherner (coxswain), and Sophomore Dani Pezzuto arrived in Boston early Friday afternoon with midterms week just behind them, and a weekend of rowing at their feet.


Women's Club Four: Pearson, Iversen, Scherner, Pezzuto & Carlson

Following a good practice row on course Friday afternoon and significant consumption of delicious food thanks to weekend hosts Denise Clancey and John Pezzuto (Dani’s parents), the team arrived on site Saturday morning to prepare for their race. In normal women’s crew fashion, race prep was more relaxed than coaches would prefer but a historic sign of a relaxed and ready crew. On the way to the line, a random shout from the shoreline of ‘do it for Grandma Liz!’ (the shell’s namesake) was an unexpected but appreciated rallying cry for our bow #12.

On course the team expertly executed its strategy: find swing early, have confidence in our rowing through the wind and chop, and look to attack and move on crews through turns. Coxswain Natalie Scherner drove an expert line and the crew leveraged a particularly frustrating interaction with another coxswain/crew early in the race to double down on leg drive and push pacing. Case looked strong and synced coming through Eliot Bridge, and the crew came off the water with confidence, one rower even noting, ‘I don’t think we could have rowed the course better.’


Women's Club Four: Carlson (s), Pearson (3), Pezzuto (2), Iverson (b) & Scherner (cox)
© SportGraphics

Case ultimately finished 25 of 52 to requalify the bid for the fourth year in a row and finish as the top college club team for the third year in a row. The coaching staff is extremely proud of the result of given the quality of competition coming from the back of the pack. Our women stood tall among new entries into this year’s event included CRI, UMass, UConn, St Josephs, Georgetown and Boston College and University. The strength of the event increased significantly. The crew's 25th place was only 7.4% off the winning time vs. last year's 16th place that was 8.2% slower off the winners.

We want to thank Denise Clancey and John Pezzuto for their overwhelming hospitality for the weekend – we couldn’t have asked for a better home base! We’d also like to thank teammate, coaches, parents and friends for their well wishes, notes in all caps, photos of puppies and other encouragement throughout our campaign.

With the Charles behind us, the entire team will now shift focus to our next racing experience: Muskie Chase on October 27.

Write up provided by Coach Rachel Stanley

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

2018 Head of the Charles Photo Gallery


Oxbridge Rules Scrimmage Against Adrian College

October 13, 2018: After the cancellation of the Head of the Rock and the Row the Miss Regattas, Adrian College reached out to both Case Western Reserve University and Grand Valley State University to host a tri-meet in their newly settled rowing venue of Devil's Lake in southern Michigan on Saturday. After initially committing, GVSU was ultimately unable to attend, leaving it as a dual scrimmage between CWRU and Adrian College.

With crisp fall weather and moderate wind, the Spartans packed the trailer for a 3:00 PM arrival to the beautiful new construction of Adrian College's boathouse. Adrian is want for very little, and a young and dedicated squad chock full of recruits made for good competition against CWRU. The boathouse space - complete with a monogrammed tarmac, modern fireplace, and three 30' flagpoles - made for a fantastic vista, if not an intimidating one. A good number of Adrian College supporters and family members were present, including the Adrian mascot, Bruno the Bulldog. Not to be outdone, a healthy cadre of CWRU parents and supporters were also in attendance, and the Spartan cheering section was never want for enthusiasm. We want to call out a special thanks to all those parents who made the trip, and especially the family of first year Anthony Testa, who provided a post-race eal for the squad. The Cleveland squad acquitted themselves well, however, diligently rigging and warming up as the Adrian floating dock returned to its place at the boathouse beachhead, having been used in high school races earlier in the day.

As races began, the zigzag pattern of the racecourse was a fun challenge. The coxswains held to the typical Oxbridge rules of "length and a half clear" prior to taking their opponent's station. In this case, the Spartans took the majority of the races, competing well into the darker hours for the final handful of sprints. The course was shortened to accommodate, and best efforts were made to stagger the teams in order to compensate for turns - however in the spirit of the loosely organized scrimmage and in the interest of getting as many races in as possible, some liberties were taken with the staring and finishing approximations.

Among the last few races of the night, the Women's Varsity 8+ had a particularly good run, and the quiet harmony of perfectly flat water reflected the good rowing. One of the Varsity women afterward reported to the coaching staff, "This. This right here - this is why I row. It was fantastic." That heartwarming sentiment serves as valuable emotional fuel throughout the season, and many of her teammates agreed with the feeling.

After the competition, the coaching staffs of both CWRU and Adrian were able to compare notes, and determined that the two teams were a bit opposite one another in terms of raw power, with CWRU possessing more by way of collegiate experience and Adrian possessing more by way of recruited athletes and objective "erg" strength. Adrian's talent pool seems to be indexed a bit more towards men from a recruit standpoint as well. All that having been said, it was a phenomenal outing for the first "home race" for Adrian, and CWRU benefited from matching against a new DIII varsity program.

The Spartans will see the Bulldogs again in a few weeks at the Muskie Chase, facing off against Marietta, Ohio Weslyean, Cincinnati and others at Marietta. For now, on to The Charles and Fall Break.

Race results for the Adrian College Scrimmage can be found HERE.

2018 Adrian College Scrimmage Photo Gallery

Write up provided by Head Coach Aaron Marcovy


Spartan Navy has a good first outing of the 2018-2019 Campaign

September 15, 2018: Surrounded by lots of parents and Alumni, the rowers of CWRU took on the annual challenge of the Head of the Cuyahoga. We were pleased to see our neighbors from Erie, Mercyhurst University, attend the regatta for the first time in a few years, and as a perennial top-level program, it is fantastic to see where CWRU stacks up against the Lakers.

Overall, the program had some good experiences, and although traditionally novices are not rowed, a Men’s Novice 4+ had some experience and promise, and went down the course in fine fashion.

The results were:
• Women's Open 2-: 1st of 9 (Coach crew)
• Men's Open Novice 4+: 1st of 3
• Men's Open 8+: 2nd of 6
• Women's Open 4+: 3rd & 5th of 14
• Women's Open 8+: 2nd & 3rd of 7
• Men's Open 4+: 3rd & 8th of 10 (Alumni 5th of 10)

The regatta was the largest Head of the Cuyahoga on record, and in the 80+ degree heat made for some fast racing in the introduction to the fall season. The CWRU coaching staff and several student volunteers were busy with assisting the actual running of the regatta. Tim Marcovy handled the coordination of launch drivers, Emily Schnittman and Rachel Stanley were busy directing boats on the launch/recovery dock, Bob Gannon was working in his official capacity as referee, and a whole cadre of other CWRU folks (including president Ian Steiner) were busy filling the gaps where needed across the embankment. The regatta concluded with lots of CWRU students fetching the buoys along the course and sorting out their weights, cleaning the site, dealing with trash, and breaking down the speaker systems across the CRF property. Many thanks to all of the CWRU personnel and affiliates who helped contribute to making the regatta a great one.

As we look towards our next competition, the squad knows that it has laid down a marker against a top team, and now we must progress as we head into the Row the Miss / Head of the Rock weekend. We have a few weeks of training, and then off to the races again.

Thanks go out to our alumni and parents especially – so many of you have given your support, funding, and enthusiasm. We wouldn’t be able to have this kind of success without it. Thanks to everyone – and join us in this year’s Campaign!

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

2018 Head of the Cuyahoga Photo Gallery

Write up provided by Head Coach Aaron Marcovy


CWRU Crew 2017-2018 Regatta Schedule

Below is the Case Crew 2017-2018 racing & event schedule with links to the results and photos for each event. For a write up about each completed event continue to scroll down. If possible, please come and cheer the team on!

We cancelled this year's alumni regatta in order to provide the team with an extra race weekend ude to the terrible weather this winter. We will schedule a conference call for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and most likely hold a dinner the evening after the 2018 Head of the Cuyahoga on September 15th. If you would like to become a member of the SARA Board, take a leadership position, or vote on current business please come to or dial into the AGM.

Date: Event: Location: Results: Photos:
Sept 16 Head of the Cuyahoga Cleveland, OH - Cuyahoga River results photos
Oct 7 Head of the Genesee Rochester, NY results photos
Oct 14 Spartan-Tartan Scrimmage Cleveland, OH - Cuyahoga River results photos
Oct 17 Cleveland Collegiate Scrummage Cleveland, OH - Cuyahoga River results  
Oct 21-22 Head of the Charles Boston, MA results photos
Oct 28 Muskie Chase (Varsity) Marietta, OH - Lindamood/Van Voorhis Boathouse results photos
Oct 29 Speakmon Regatta (Novices) Columbus, OH - Griggs Reservoir results photos
Nov 4-5 Head of the Hooch (Varsity) Chattanooga, TN results photos
Feb 9-10 24 Hour Ergathon (fundraiser) Cleveland, OH - CWRU Campus 947,383m  
Feb 25 Hammer Ergatta Cleveland, OH results photos
March 12-16 Spring Break Trip Gainesville, GA - Lake Lanier   photos
March 24 Home Schools Regatta Cleveland, OH - CRF Boathouse results photos
April 7 U. Buffalo Scrimmage Cleveland, OH results photos
April 14 Redhawk Sprints Oxford, OH results photos
April 21 Jim Schaab Collegiate Regatta Buffalo, NY results photos
April 21 GVSU Scrimmage - WV8+ Only Allendale, MI results photos
April 29 MACRA Championships Harsha Lake, Bethel, OH results photos
May 11-12 Dad Vail Regatta Philadelphia, PA results photos
May 26-27 ACRA Championships Gainesville, GA results photos

View details of previous seasons here.

 


Women's Varsity 4+ Fourth at ACRA National Championships!

May 26-27, 2018: Five Spartan athletes headed south to compete in the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) national championship regatta. The crew of Emily Schnittman, Ingrid Iversen, Sarah Carlson, Dani Pezzuto and coxswain Elizabeth Tobin raced in the women's varsity four raced against 18 other crews and ultimately claimed fourth in the nation. 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 was also where the team held their spring training.

Weather threatened all weekend and ultimately didn't hinder Case's races, but did downpour just after their final onto the varsity eights races. Due to the weather forecast racing was compressed on Saturday to time trials in order to seed the semis instead of the traditional side-by-side heats.

In the Saturday morning time trial Case finished fourth overall in a time of 7:31.6 and six seconds off the TT winners from Vanderbilt. The race organizers removed the starting platforms from lanes 2 and 5 with bow numbers split between the two lanes to provide spacing. To ensure fair start times, the clock didn't start until about 100m past the start platforms shortening the trail to about 1900m.


Women's Varsity 4+ racing in the ACRA time trial.
© row2k.com

With fast time trial run, the Spartan women advanced directly to the semi-final on Saturday afternoon. The timing of the semi was pushed up to avoid weather. After some re-fueling and ice bath, the crew lined up in the 8-boat across race. Case took 2nd behind Vanderbilt again by almost 5 seconds and ahead of UAA rivals Emory 2 seconds behing in third. The top 4 finished advanced them to the final to be held on Sunday morning.

Based on times of the TT and semi, the crew would have to dig deep and find another four to six seconds in order to break into the medals. The result of the 8-boat Grand Final matched the spedd from the time trial with the top 5 boats finishing in the top order -- with Case in 4th. Vanderbilt claimed the national championship beating Case by 11 seconds. Silver went to Cincinnati and the bronze went to Washington State. Behind Case were UAA rivals from Emory and U. Chicago. Claiming the last two spots were Sonoma State from California and Southern Oregon University.

The ACRA race always occurs well after graduation, which makes attedance by the bulk of the squad challenging. Since only one boat competed, they were able to avoid trailering and rented a boat from Clemson. This event marked the last competitive endeavor for Emily Schnittmann and Elizabeth Tobin wearing the Spartan colors. Both have had exemplary careers on Case Crew, and we thank and congratulate them. Welcome to the alumni ranks!

Race results for the ACRA National Championships can be found HERE.

2018 ACRA Championships Photo Gallery


ACRA Prep: Message from the Coaches

May 24, 2018: It has been nearly two weeks since the Women of Sparta competed to a respectable finish in the Varsity 8+ at the Dad Vail Championships, and from that crew, five athletes have remained in Cleveland to train for the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championships - the ACRA - to be held on CWRU's Spring Training location of Lake Lanier in Gainesville, GA.

Link to: ACRA Livestream
CWRU WV4+ first race is Saturday at 8:17am eastern - bow number 82

The team of Emily Schnittman, Ingrid Iversen, Sarah Carlson, Dani Pezzuto and coxswain Elizabeth Tobin are prepped and ready to go, making the shift from the 8+ to the 4+.


Women's Varsity 4+ training on the Cuyahoga preparing for ACRAs. Industrial crew.

The ACRA has been successfully attended by CWRU in the past, but never in a Big Boat category. These courageous women are likely the herald of things to come. However, the bar has been set very high by the coaching staff in terms of "competitiveness" to merit attending the ACRA regatta, and these rowers - led by Spartan of the Year and Women's Team Captain Emily Schnittman - are up to the challenge.

After some decent water in Cleveland, the Case 4+ has had some good training in finding rating. Relying especially on the Speedcoach data (thanks to our S.A.R.A. supporters!), these rowers have been finding speed after adjusting to a different "touch" in the smaller boat class. Their performance has been coupled with an adequate amount of rest, weights/conditioning, erging, yoga, and other cross-trainings. The team has been training mainly at dawn and dusk in order to beat the other traffic and ensure the best possible conditions.

The squad leaves on Thursday for Georgia, planning on one or two swing rows on the course Friday, depending on weather, in preparation for Saturday morning's heats.

As the 2017-2018 Case Western Rowing Campaign comes to a thundering conclusion, it calls to mind all of the well wishes, support, contributions and enthusiasm of our parents, Alumni, fellow students, and school support. We would be nowhere without S.A.R.A.'s leadership and encouragement, and we cannot begin to express how indebted we are. On behalf of the Executive Committee, the students, and the coaching staff, we want to say thank you to all of the people who helped bring us to where we are today. It has been encouraging to see these contributions - big and small - come rolling in as the team progresses into what is one of the most successful seasons in Case's history with one of the most challenging schedules to match it.

We would ask for the entire Nation of Sparta to send their encouragement over Facebook, Instagram, email and texts to our crew, as they prepare to take on the best club teams in the country.

2018 ACRA Championships Photo Gallery

Write up provided by Head Coach Aaron Marcovy


Women’s Novice 4+ Takes Bronze at 2018 Dad Vails

May 11-12, 2018: The CWRU rowing team raced three women’s crews that this year’s running of the Dad Vail Regatta. The Philadelphia regatta has been in existence since 1934 and is considered the small and mid-sized college championship regatta. The regatta hosts both varsity and club-status programs and is a true “all-comers” race. Case raced in the women’s varsity 8+, women’s varsity 4+ and women’s novice 4+ with the varsity crews advancing to the third level finals and the WN4+ taking bronze.

The regatta has attempted to become more inclusive and less random coming out of the heats. The organizers have begun to include more sculling events and this year added some adaptive events. In order to squeeze more racing into the two-day schedule, they’ve moved many of the larger events to time trials on Friday morning.

In the past, a crew may have been “unlucky” and placed in a fast heat and not advance. Conceptually, the third fastest boat in the entire regatta may not advance in a “top 2 to advance” format and that boat’s season would be done Friday morning. The new time trial format allows for seeded semi-finals for the top 12 or 18 crews from the TT and then the remaining crews being placed in minor finals on Saturday. This format ensures crews get to race on both days with the down side being a short headrace-style procession in the TT to determine subsequent placing.

DV
 
photosresults

Both varsity crews advanced through the TT format. Only 17 crews entered the novice four so that event followed a traditional heat/final format. The women’s novice four of Victoria Fan (b), Sam Magliato (2), Lindsay Kluender (3), Nicole Palmer (s) and Aleksa Sorgatz (c) took a commanding lead in their heat to beat crews from Drexel, Cincinnati and MIT. Their time was the fourth fastest overall coming out of the heats, but their winning performance placed them directly into the Saturday Grand Final.


Women's Novice 4+ collecting their bronze medals!

In the WN4+ final the crew came out of the blocks fast leading the field for the better part of 1000m. The poise of the two fastest crews from the heats shown through, and walked on the Spartans through the 1500m pushing our women back to 3rd place and a bronze medal. Lafayette College took the Gold and Clemson University took silver. Before the race, the coaches stated that a time of 7:42 would be the “stretch” target based on all of the time coming out of the heats, and the Case women hit that number exactly!


Women's Varsity 8+ posing with their lovely Pocock eight, the Triple H.

The top varsity women were boated into the varsity eight. The event ran a TT Friday morning with 12 crews advancing to the afternoon semi-final. CWRU missed out on the semis by 0.56 seconds to Middlebury College and were placed into the third level final. The WV8 line up was Emily Schnittman (s), Sarah Carlson (7), Emily Judge (6), Joyce Chu (5), Steph Collins (4), Dani Pezzuto (3), Ingrid Iverson (2), Katie Francissen (b) with Natalie Scherner coxing.

Racing on Saturday in the 3rd final, the WV8 race became a drag race between our Spartans and the cadets of West Point. The parent/alumni tent was at the 1750m mark with great views of the last 500m. As the crews passed the tent, West Point had the edge, but a spirited final push placed the bow of the Triple H just ahead to claim victory by just over 1 second!


Women's Varsity 4+ rowing through the Time Trial into the Semis!

The JV women formed a four and raced in the varsity four event. This event also went to the TT format with 29 entrants. The crew of Madison Piccirillo (s), Anneliese Braunegg (3), Michaela Kus (2), Emmeline Pearson (b) with Maria Tompkins on the ropes finished with the 15th fastest time earning them a spot in the Friday afternoon semi-final.

The WV4+ semi-final was stacked, and Case was the only club-status school in their semi. The crew finished in a time of 7:57 to finish 5th placing them in the third-level on Saturday. The crew couldn’t quite hang onto the sterns of Drexel, Boston U, St. Joe’s and UMass – all very top notch varsity programs. In the third level final, Case finished in fourth (16th overall) while trading blows in the next lane with the University of Chicago who took third.

The great news for the program is that the squad is young. The coaching staff is only losing a few folks to graduation, and the majority of the team is made up of sophomores and a strong novice squad behind them. We’ll see you on the water next year!

Friday night the students and a bunch of parents all met up at the Penrose Diner for dinner. Due to the cancellation of the alumni regatta dinner this year, we presented the winner of the Spartan of the Year award to Emily Schnittmann at this dinner too. During both days SARA hosted a tent with donuts and coffee for alumni and parents. We’ve now hosted a tent for a number of years, and we keep getting better and better placement along the shore. This year we were placed right at the 1750m with really great views of the racing and easy access to the concessions and grandstand. Please come next year!


Coaches Rachel, Aaron & Steph

Race results for the Dad Vail Regatta can be found HERE.

2018 Dad Vail Regatta Photo Gallery


Weather Hampers Spring Schedule

April 2018: This year’s weather wreaked havoc on teams in the upper Midwest and Northeast. Cold temps continued all the way through April limiting water time and cancelling a number of races. Also, two scrimmages that the coaches planned with U. Buffalo and Carnegie-Mellon did not pan out as anticipated, which further limited good quality racing opportunities this spring.

GVSU hosts the Lubber’s Cup each year, and this year’s race was cancelled due to severe weather in the forecast. The loss of this premier racing opportunity forced a number of programs to scramble to find good competition before the championship season ramped up. Case shifted last minute to the Redhawk Sprints, which was the same day as Lubbers. SARA also cancelled the alumni regatta the next weekend for the squad to be able to scrimmage GVSU and attend the Schaab Regatta.


Varsity Women Scrimmage Grand Valley in Michigan

April 21, 2018: The Spartan women’s varsity eight traveled to Allendale, Michigan to scrimmage Grand Valley State University. The bulk of the team were in Buffalo, New York at the Jim Schaab Collegiate Regatta. The morning scrimmage on the Grand River consisted of side-by-side racing in the eights, then a short break, and finally splitting up into fours for some more racing.

In the eights, our women jumped off to an early boat-length lead, but didn’t have enough base speed to withstand GVSU. The margin at the end of 2000m was 14 seconds to the Lakers.

After a short break, the eights split into fours for an ‘A’ and ‘B’ race. In the top fours Case fell to GVSU by just over 5 seconds. GVSU added a ‘C’ crew and three boats raced in the next scrimmage. Case ‘B’ was about 5 seconds off the ‘B’ crew from Grand Valley and over 30 seconds faster than their ‘C’ crew.


Women's 'B' 4+ jumping out to an early lead.

The event was a lot of fun for the team, and the connection respect between both squads improved markedly. Grand Valley sets a high bar for a club program, and it was great to pace off them for a morning.

Race results for the GVSU Dual can be found HERE.

2018 GVSU Dual Photo Gallery


Case Competes Against Upstate NY Colleges at Jim Schaab Regatta

April 21, 2018: The bulk of the Case rowing team traveled to Buffalo, New York to compete at the Jim Schaab Collegiate Regatta hosted by West Side Rowing Club. The regatta is an on-again, off-again event that’s been hosted by various Upstate NY clubs over the years. West Side is looking to boost collegiate rowing opportunities in the region and took on organizing duties this year.

The race was originally slated to take place on the Black Rock Channel near the West Side boathouse on the Niagara River. However, due to icy conditions (terribly cold spring this year), the race had to move to Tonawanda Creek. The change in venue reduced the number of lanes available, and the club was unable to shift to the timing infrastructure to the new site. Not ideal.

Case entered five crews into the heat-and-final format regatta. Due to the reduced venue, only 3 crews could race side-by-side with a “win or go home” progression. Case won their heats in the Men’s Varsity 8+ and Women’s Novice 4+ to progress to finals. Crews not making the cut were the Men’s Varsity and Novice Fours and the Women’s Varsity 8+. Our WV8 was actually our JV 8 since the top eight women were in Michigan scrimmaging Grand Valley State.


Women's Novice 4+ showing off their event winner t-shirts.

The WN4+ line up of Victoria Fan (b), Sam Magliato (2), Lindsay Kluender (3), Nicole Palmer (s) with Aleksa Sorgatz coxing beat SUNY Binghamton in their heat and SUNY Geneseo in the final to claim their winner’s t-shirts.

The men’s varsity eight beat both RIT B and Cornell’s club team to earn their spot in the final. The final saw the MV8 paired up against both crews from RIT (a varsity status program) and finished second splitting their ‘A’ and ‘B’ crews. No times were taken.

Overall, the race provided a large scrimmage format and provided some valuable racing experience to the crews before MACRAs. The team showed speed across all boat classes.

Race results for the Jim Schaab Collegiate Regatta can be found HERE.

2018 Jim Schaab Collegiate Regatta Photo Gallery


Women Medal in Each Event at MACRAs; Men Win Petits

April 29, 2018: Last Saturday morning, a determined CWRU program was taking a swing row on the Cuyahoga before getting the boats loaded to head to the concluding race of the "regular season," the MACRA Championships.

There was an electricity in the air, as these well-trained (if not a little tired) Spartans worked through some fine-tuning and talked through race preparation. This has been a long winter and an incredibly short spring, every week featuring either raging current, thunderstorms, or sub-zero temperatures.

"It'll be warmer in Cincinnati," said junior oarsman Ryan Norchi, as a drizzling rain kept a chill on the Cuyahoga shores. "Yeah, I can't wait to get down there," replied Maria Thompkins. After an arduous couple of training weeks and last-minute shifting of race venues and events, they were ready.

The MACRA Championships is an outstanding cross-section of racing, generally featuring some of the top-ranked teams in the country, including Grand Valley State University, Mercyhurst University, and the University of Michigan, This year's roster of teams did not disappoint. Case's Spartans traveled to Batavia, Ohio, outside of Cincinnati, to Harsha Lake and got a swing row together in the late afternoon. The wind had picked up...but they were ready.

MACRA
 
photosresults

The following morning, more changes came in. The regatta had gone from a stakeboat start to a floating start, and the conditions had calmed down substantially. After shuffling the timing of some races, the squad fell into a rhythm.


Women's Varsity 8+ Bronze Medalists
Back Row: Collins, Pezzuto, Scherner (c), Chu, Francissen
Front Row: Piccirillo, Iversen, Schnittman, Carlson

The first victories came in the heats, where the Case Women's Varsity 4+s came in first and second respectively in their heats, solidly beating teams from Cincinnati, Miami, Ohio State, Chicago, Marquette and Grand Valley. Then came an impressive 8-second margin of victory over their nearest competition in the Women's Novice 4+, with the Novii of Sparta taking out Northwestern, Cincinnati, Marquette, Chicago, Kansas and Cleveland State.

After the fours, the eights took to the water. The Women's Varsity 8+ turned the event into a two-boat race between themselves and Grand Valley, coming in second by a 9-second margin. This was a solid improvement over the 14-second margin that Case experienced during their dual meet a week ago against GVSU. It was going to look like CWRU, Mercyhurst and Grand Valley were going to be the top-tier boats going into the final, with DePaul, Northwestern, Chicago, Marquette, Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Miami off pace. The Men's Varsity 8+ put up a valiant effort in the second heat, earning a 4th place finish losing out to Kansas in third by 1.5 seconds. Along the way, CWRU defeated rival Chicago and an often-seen competitor this season in Ohio State. The MV8+ was off to the Petites in the afternoon.

In the Finals round, there was blood. The great heats placement on the part of Rachel Stanley's Varsity 4+s had not one but two CWRU boats in the WV4+ Grand Final. Case came in second place, only 4 seconds back from Mercyhurst University, and defeating Cincinnati, Miami, and Grand Valley. The other CWRU boat of Serena Lai, Helen Sanderson, Regina Velarde, Kate Bush and Elizabeth Tobin came in 6th with a solid finish. The crew of Maria Thompkins, Michaela Kus, Emmeline Pearson, Emily Judge and Kirsten Wetzel were the first CWRU crew on Sunday to medal, and they wouldn't be the last. The Varsity 4+ race at MACRA is a storied competition for the Club, as CWRU has had a boat in the Grand Final in 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014, and 1997. This result ties the best ever silver medal crew from 2014 with Mallory Miller, Abby Sevier, Collen Kennedy, Rachel Horetsky and Sheerin Sandhu, and was at that point the best big-boat finish for CWRU at MACRAs. Outstanding work in the Women's Varsity 4+s.

In the Women's Novice 4+ Grand Final, Case Western made it look too easy. The crew of Nicole Palmer, Lindsay Kluender, Samantha "Jordan" Magliato and Victoria Fan were led to a dominant victory by coxswain Alexsa Sorgatz. This 4+ put on a clinic for the rest of the novice boats, beating the field by 12.8 seconds to the next closest crew, and clocking nearly two minutes faster than the sixth place team. Always good to bring hardware back from MACRAs, as the Women's Novice 4+ brought the Larry Tolle Cup home to Cleveland. Fantastic work, especially from first-year coach and former President / Captain of the Spartans, Coach Stephanie Merlino.

The Men's Second Varsity 8+ was a straight-to-final affair, and with only 6 boats in the race, it could be anyone's event. The Spartans were made up of 2 varsity and 6 novice oarsmen, being stroked by varsity sophomore Ben Cehelsky and supported by varsity 5-seat Garrett Dore. The remaining novices who made up the balance of the M2V8+ were Sam Jelley, Finn Hittson, Rory O'Neill, Zubair Mukhi, Jaewon Yu and Ian Wise, with Genevieve Timmermann on the strings. After a spirited start, the mostly-novice squad performed ably and above their abilities, coming in 5th out of 6, and defeating the full-varsity 2V crew from the Milwaukee School of Engineering by 18 seconds! These men are going to be a force to be reckoned with next year, as they were a scant 6 seconds off of Michigan State.


Women's Varsity 4+ Silver Medalists
Thompkins (c), Pearson, Judge, Wetzel, Kus

The final two races of the day for CWRU were the Men's Varsity 8+ Petite Final and the Women's Varsity 8+ Grand Final. In the Men's 8+ Petite Final, the crew of Elizabeth Tobin, Tim Nehila, Sam Nutt, Ian Steiner, Ryan Norchi, Spencer McClung, Sean Mann, Andy Swyers and Will Warren had a fight on their hands. Once the flag dropped, it was a horserace from wire to wire. In a very exciting final 250m, both Ohio State and the Milwaukee School of Engineering came roaring into a sprint, and Case Western had just enough of a lead to hang on, winning the Petite Final 0.6-sec ahead of MSOE, and 1.3-sec ahead of Ohio State. This was a fantastic result, and showed the evolution of the crew over the course of the season with Ohio State as a marker of speed. The squad has come a long way from it's 2014 debut in the MV8+, where they came in 5th out of 5 in the heat and not making any final at all. A great evolution.

There was a great deal of anticipation in the buildup to the Women's Varsity 8+. They knew the relative speed of Grand Valley, and Mercyhurst was not to be underestimated. After a slow start, the Spartan women found their rhythm, and began to muscle into the pack. With very favorable conditions, Case Western found themselves in a fight for the first half. The crew was made of Emily Schnittman, Sarah Carlson, Ingrid Iversen, Joyce Chu, Steph Collins, Madison Piccirillo, Dani Pezzuto, Katie Francissen, and Natalie Scherner in the driver's seat. By the time they got to the 1,000 meter mark, things had shaken out, and the race was in 2 halves: CWRU, GVSU, and Mercyhurst in one half, the rest of the field in the back. With some very clean rowing, Grand Valley and Mercyhurst were duking it out, and CWRU just being outside of the conversation, but well ahead of the pack. Mercyhurst vs.Grand Valley developed into a barn burner, with Mercyhurst Lakers taking the Grand Valley Lakers by less than a second. Then, roaring into third place was Case Western! This bronze medal represents the best that CWRU has ever done at the MACRA Championship in a Varsity 8+ on either the men's or women's side. Congratulations to Coach Stanley and her Mighty Women's 8+.

After all of the racing, the regatta team began to tally the final results. We are pleased to report that due to the fantastic results across the CWRU program, Case Western placed 5th overall out of 17 teams as a program, earning 20 points. Considering that it is the third-smallest undergraduate population (MSOE and Mercyhurst, full-fledged varsity athletics programs, being the only schools with fewer undergraduates), this is an amazing achievement when placed across from heavily subsidized or varsity programs. Coaches Rachel Stanley, Stephanie Merlino, and Stella Willoughby-Miles deserve an abundance of praise for their thoughtful and enthusiastic approach to this team and this season.


Team Photo at the 2018 MACRA Championships

As MACRAs concludes the regular season, the team is looking towards post-season competition for select crews, and further on to next year. The MACRA medal-winning boats of the Women's Novice 4+, the Women's Varsity 4+, and the Women's Varsity 8+ will undergo some further personnel selection, and will head to the Dad Vail Championships in a few weeks, and possibly beyond. The men's team will be focusing on their final exams and establishing their summer workout program.

Finally, these fantastic results could not have been accomplished without the undying support and assistance of our stalwart alumni and parent corps. From the thousands of dollars raised to the well wishes and attendance at regattas, your support has been our biggest advantage for these many long months. Please accept our warmest thanks.

Congratulations to the Spartan Navy for their successful 2018 Regular Season Campaign and MACRA Championship success, and we look forward to concluding this academic year with a flourish.

Photos and videos can be found on the Spartan Alumni Rowing Association Facebook page.

Race results for the MACRA Championships can be found HERE.

2018 MACRA Championships Photo Gallery

Write up provided by Head Coach Aaron Marcovy


Spartan Women Sweep Redhawk Sprints

April 14, 2018: The extended winter weather forced the cancellation of the Lubbers Cup in Michigan so CWRU Rowing re-grouped quickly and entered the Redhawk Sprints hosted by Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The weather proved on regatta day proved to be rowable, but ended up being quite cold with rain all day. Case availed themselves well placing all-but-one boat in the final and the women sweeping their events in convincing fashion.

The regatta, held on Acton Lake in Hueston Woods State Park, hosted 7 clubs from Ohio plus Wheaton from Chicago. The format consisted of heats in each boat class then 4-boat finals later in the day. Racing was compressed to assure completion before some forecasted weather arrived that cancelled many other regattas throughout the Midwest.


Team Photos at the 2018 Redhawk Sprints in Oxford, Ohio

The women's squad fielded two varsity eights and a novice four. Each of the three crews won their respective heats by open water. Then the varsity and JV eight took first and second in the final pushing Ohio State into third by open water. The margin from our varsity to Ohio State was over 25 seconds! The novice four crushed their heat and then went onto win their final by 42 seconds over Cincinnati with Ohio State and Cleveland State in third and fourth, respectively.

On the men's side, Case boated a varsity 8, varsity 4 and a novice 4. The only competition for our novice crew, Xavier, scratched so the coaches through the crew in with the varsity races. In the heats for the fours, our varsity crew took first and advanced while our novices finished out of the money in fourth behind Ohio State, Cincinnati and Dayton. The men's varsity 8 took their heat easily to advance.

The men did not fare as well in the finals with the MV8 finishing second to Ohio State by three seats. Ohio State was clearly holding something in reserve since our boys beat them easily in the heats. The MV4 finished fourth overall (out of 11 entrants) and 28 seconds off the pace of Ohio State.

Photos and videos can be found on the Spartan Alumni Rowing Association Facebook page.

Race results for the Redhawk Sprints can be found HERE.

2018 Redhawk Sprints Photo Gallery


CWRU Bests U. Buffalo During Scrimmage on the Cuyahoga

April 7, 2018: The University at Buffalo travelled to Cleveland to race against CWRU on the Cuyahoga River. Due to freezing and windy conditions, the racing venue was changed from Aurora Lake to Cleveland.

Buffalo brought 4 varsity women in their newly formed club team, the UB Women's D1 program having been eliminated last year. They also brought 8 varsity men, electing to leave their novices at home.

The race course agreed upon was from the far end of the Turning Basin heading downstream, concluding at Marathon Bend. Although this is a bit of a hike to get to the starting line, it was agreed by the coaches that the athletes would get something out of the longer warm up.


Team photo after scrimmaging U. Buffalo in Cleveland

The first volley of racing was a WV 4+ from both CWRU and Buffalo, as well as a W2V4+ from CWRU. On the men's side, there were MV4+s from CWRU and Buffalo, and 2 M2V4+s from both squads as well.

The numerous coaches and crews launched and headed upstream. Once rounding the turn at Marathon Bend, the flotilla was greeted by an enormous debris field. The crews picked through it, emerging to a clear turning basin. The first patch of racing was held downstream, a 700m sprint from just upriver of the Basin through to I-490. In every matchup, CWRU bested UBuffalo:
700m Sprint, Upper Cuyahoga to I-490, Downstream:
Women's 4+s: 1) CWRU A; 2) CWRU B; 3) UBuffalo
Men's Varsity 4+s: 1) CWRU; 2) UBuffalo
Men's 2nd Varsity 4+s: 1) CWRU; 2) UBuffalo

After that brief piece, the flotilla picked through the debris downriver, and lined up again for a 2,200m race around the Cuyahoga's turns going from the West 3rd Street Bridge to the British Street Bridge. The races went Women's 4+s / Men's 2V 4+s / Men's 1V 4+s. The turns and wake from motor launches created challenges that we ably met by the crews, the launches necessarily staying close because of cold water rules relating to safety. The outcome to the 2,200m piece were the same as the shorter 700m piece. Due to logistics of timing, while placements were captured, timing was only captured on the Women's Varsity 4+ races.

WV4+ 2,200m, W3rd to British St., Downstream:
1) CWRU A - 9:44.64
2) CWRU B - 9:52.65
3) UBuffalo - 10:01.25

Once the crews came back to the CRF boathouse, the coaches discussed going to a different racecourse on the river. A few coaches went to check on the Flats Racecourse, and it was determined to be a viable course.

The Men's Varsity 8+s from UBuffalo and CWRU launched, with the CWRU Women's 1V8 set out to race the Men's 2V8+ from CWRU, and then the CWRU Women's 2V vs. CWRU Women's 3V 8+.

The results were cleaner, as the measured stagger was easier to set up as crews raced from the NS1 bridge to the Cereal Bulk Foods Terminal. In the Men's Varsity 8+, Buffalo started with a 1+ length stagger advantage to compensate for the outside of the turn on a coin toss. Buffalo was permitted to take the inside of the turn lane if they could gain 1 length clear water ahead of Case before the turn for safety, after already being given the lead on the stagger. Despite the UBuffalo advantage, CWRU took off well, and was approximately 3/4 length ahead of Buffalo by the time they had to get lined up for the turn around the Nautica Theater. After capitalizing on the turn advantage, the CWRU Varsity Men walked away on the straight back to the CRF.

Men's Varsity 8+, 1,300m NS1 to Bulk Foods, Upstream:
CWRU: 4:12.7
UBuffalo: 4:26.0

In all, good racing was had, and the squad is looking forward to seeing UBuffalo again at the Jim Schaab Regatta in Buffalo in two weeks

Photos and videos can be found on the Spartan Alumni Rowing Association Facebook page.

Write up provided by Head Coach Aaron Marcovy


CWRU Claims Cleveland Cup for 7th Year in a Row

March 24, 2018: Case Rowing competed in the 16th running of the Cleveland Collegiate Regatta (aka Home Schools) and claimed top honors in each event to take home the Cleveland Cup for the 7th year in a row. In the 16 years of the annual race between CWRU, John Carroll and Cleveland State, the Spartans have taking the cup 10 times.


Men's Varsity 4+ Racing Through Cleveland at the 2018 Home Schools
© Share the River

This year there were four races with all of those races counting toward the Cleveland Cup. The racecourse was approximately 1,500m from the Loraine-Carnegie Bridge to the to the British St. RR Bridge. The races were conducted as time trials, but from a standing start for each boat. Weather was sunny and 30°F with calm winds. Case took top honors in all races.

In the women's varsity 8, Case fielded two crews against JCU. The Case varsity won in a time of 5:25 and the Case JV took 2nd in a time of 5:56. JCU finished third in 6:08. The varsity men also raced JCU in eights and finished almost 40 seconds ahead in a time of 4:57.

In the fours, CWRU went one-two in both the women's and men's races. The top women's four beat third place JCU by 37 seconds. The men's varsity four beat JCU's top four (3rd place) by 44 seconds and CSU top four (4th place) by 54 seconds.

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

2018 Cleveland Collegiate Regatta Photo Gallery


Spring Training - Miles Make Champions in Gainesville, Georgia

March 12-16, 2018: Case Rowing ventured south to Gainesville, Georgia’s Lake Lanier Rowing Club and the 1996 Olympic Rowing Course for intensive spring training. The squad consisted of two men’s eights and three women’s eights. The team had previously trained in Gainesville during the 2016 spring break.

The structure of the training week was:
- ~10 on-the-water sessions
- ~5 land workouts
- Scrimmages on Friday
- Nutrition education sessions
- Coxswain education session
- Alumni fireside chat
- Wednesday evening off

The weather at the beginning of the week was cold and very windy, but only one session had to be cancelled (check out the planking photo in the gallery). Things perked up by the end of the week in time for a series of scrimmages against the other teams also there for training.


CWRU eights training on the 1996 Olympic Rowing Course

Friday morning saw the women’s team break up into fours and race the Ithaca 2V/3V, U. New Hampshire and North Park over 1000m. Our women’s top two boats won each flight. The men’s squad squared off against Marietta, Ithaca and UNH in eights over 9x1 minute pieces. The men were slightly off the pace of Marietta and Ithaca (both varsity squads) and traded places with UNH over the 9 pieces.

Friday afternoon, all squads lined up in 8’s to take a run at the full 2km Olympic course into a pretty stiff headwind. The women’s 1V race had Ithaca’s top crew and UNH face off against Case. The Spartan women didn’t quite have enough strength into the wind to hand onto the other (significantly) larger crews. They turned around and did a 1km sprint with the wind, and Case hung onto the stern of Ithaca and beat UNH. Word on the street is that Ithaca crew will be finalists at NCAAs this year. Our women’s 2V also lined up against the second varsity crews of Ithaca and UNH with similar results and margins into the wind.

On the men’s side Friday afternoon, it was Case vs. Marietta, UNH and Ithaca over 2km. Off the start, Ithaca and Marietta pulled away with Marietta being the class of the competition. Our men maintained a commanding lead over UNH. Ithaca gassed it to 1300m opening up almost 4 lengths on us, but into the last 700m we pulled to within a length. All crews rowed back up to the start for 1000m and 500m pieces, and we beat Ithaca over 1km and only were two seats down over 500m. Our men’s novice squad went up against Marietta’s novices and weren’t able to keep the pace. Marietta’s crew had 7 recruited athletes that rowed in HS. The strides our novices made during the week were exceptional, and they were able to rip off a 2k from a racing start.

Overall, these results are great. Still room to improve, but there’s some serious speed there this early in the season. Congratulations to the crews and coaches!

2018 Spring Break Photo Gallery


Case Wins 14th Hammer Cup; 8 Golden Hammers at Erg Sprints

February 25, 2018: In a repeat of last year's performance Case Crew dominated the competition again at the 29th running of the Hammer Ergatta by taking home 8 hammers and the overall points trophy. This year's race was held on CWRU's campus in Adelbert Gym and the "home course" advantage helped propel the team to their 4th Hammer Cup in a row. The Hammer Cup has been contested between Case and John Carroll since 1995 with Cleveland State joining the action in 2008. Case leads the series with fourteen wins to JCU's 8 and CSU's 2 wins.

This year Case took home 8 golden hammers (yes, actual hammers) from the nine races their entered. They also earned 6 silver hammers. Gold hammers for winners and silver hammers for second. The women's team had nine athletes break 8 minutes with varsity rower Sarah Carlson taking top honors with a 7:21.4! For the lightweight varsity women, Katie Francissen took top honors with 7:44.2. For the novices, Samantha Magliato pulled 7:34.6 in the open category and Aleksa Sorgatz pulled 9:17.8 for the lightweights.

Hammer 2018
Case won 14 of these!

The men's team also showed tons of speed and depth. The men had nine athletes break seven minutes with club president Ian Steiner leading the way with a 6:34.6 to win the Open Men's category. In fact, Case took the top 6 places in the men's open race! In the open lightweight race Sam Nutt pulled a 6:37.6 to take top honors. The fastest novice man was Finn Hittson with 6:38.0, which was fast enough to win. Ezra Chow was the fastest lightweight novice with 7:35.3 and second place.

The last event of the day was the Sledgehammer 6x500m mixed relay. Case entered three squads and finished 2nd, 3rd and 5th. The top two teams were varsity Case squads and the third crew were novices. The fastest Case relay team completed the 3km in 9:38.9 to take home the silver sledgehammer.

Race results for the Hammer Ergatta can be found HERE.

2018 Hammer Ergatta Photo Gallery


Join Us for the 2018 January Team Challenge!

JVTC

Click on these links to check out our team's progress:
2018 Individual meters for our team
Our team's standing against other teams: 2018

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. The goal is to log as many meters on a Concept 2 as possible between January 1 and 31.

JVTC Hats

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 have a new rule this year only for the current student team members: Our student team needs to beat the total of the UChicago student team in order to be eligble to win hats. Therefore, an individual student would have to meet two criteria for a hat: 1.) row 200km and 2.) the team would have to beat UC. Even if the team doesn't beat UC, students can still earn 50km and 100km prizes as normal.

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.

Past Year's JVTC Participation & Results:
2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
You can see the 200km hats on the above pages starting in 2012.


Top Eights Show Strong in Tennessee; Women Take Gold!

November 4, 2017: Case Crew took their top eights to the Head of the Hooch for the third year in a row and showed that last year's results were no fluke. The course in Chattanooga and early November date allows teams to extend their on-the-water season and guarantee good, fast and fair racing conditions. Therefore, it has become one of the largest regattas in the country and pulls in colleges across the south and a number of Midwestern colleges.

The regatta has become so large that they instituted a requalification scheme a few years ago. Case easily requalified for the 2017 event based on the top 10 performances last year. This year the women's varsity eight took gold against a field of 26 other colleges and clubs while the men took tenth against 35 other teams. This year the team split the varsity and novice squads with the novices wrapping up their season at the Speakmon Regatta in Columbus the weekend prior (see write up below).

The two-day event hosted over 200 teams and over 2,000 entries with the regatta site right in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. The 5,000 meter course is fairly straight, fair and easy to pass. With the city center venue and excellent course, the Hooch has grown into one of THE premier head races in the country. For northern crews, the early November timing also extends the competitive season. Case only raced on Saturday and the weather started out foggy, which delayed the start of racing. Conditions were fair but extremely muggy resulting in a few athletes seeking help with hydration after racing concluded.


Head of the Hooch gold medalists in the women's college & club 8+!
Schnittmann (s), Carlson (7), Judge (6), Chu (5), Wetzel (4), Piccirillo (3), Iversen (2), Francissen (b) Scherner (cox)

© row2k Media

The Case varsity women were event #8 and after the fog delay stormed down the course. The crew has improved each of the last years from 4th in 2015 and second last year to then taking the top spot in the 2017 race. Their second place finish last year gave them the second slot in the starting procession with only Georgia Tech to pass. Georgia Tech proved no match for the Spartans leaving only open water for the the line-up of Emily Schnittmann (s), Sarah Carlson (7), Emily Judge (6), Joyce Chu (5), Kirstin Wetzel (4), Madison Piccirillo (3), Ingrid Iversen (2), Katie Francissen (b) and Natalie Scherner (cox) to take gold. The other podium spots went to Clemson (6 sec behind) and Georgia (11 sec off pace).


Head of the Hooch Men's Varsity 8+
Hausladen (s), Nutt (7), Steiner (6), Fakult (5), Mann (4), Norchi (3), Fulton (2), Warren (b) and Tobin (cox)

© SportGraphics

The men's varsity 8+ of Matt Hausladen (s), Sam Nutt (7), Ian Steiner (6), Luke Fakult (5), Sean Mann (4), Ryan Norchi (3), Dave Fulton (2), Will Warren (b) and Elizabeth Tobin (cox) faced a deep field and finished 10th overall and four spots off last year's finish. The crew has had a bit of a grudge match against UAA rivals WashU over the last couple years. The crew from St Louis had the bow number right in front of our squad, but Case couldn't quite hang onto their stern. WashU finished 3rd overall and 16 seconds ahead of the Spartans. Florida took top honors with UNC Chapel Hill grabbing silver with the top five crews breaking 16 minutes.

The Hooch runs a qualification system for guaranteed entries in the next year's race. Both varsity 8's easily grabbed 2018 slots.

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

2017 Head of the Hooch Photo Gallery


Novices Gain Experience and Wrap Up Fall Season in Columbus

October 29, 2017: The Fall 2017 CWRU Novice Squad ended their on-water season at the 33d running of the Jack Speakmon Memorial Regatta in Columbus on Sunday, October 29. They were tired, confused, and bewildered, but determined to uphold Spartan Pride. Without experience, and in the dark and 39 degree cold, guided only by the kind direction of Coach Steph Merlino and the crazed mutterings of the Old Man, they got the Hudak and the James off of the trailer, onto the slings, properly rigged and, without hesitation, down to the water.

After exeriencing the excruciating boredom of the Griggs Reservoir on the way up to the start, and the utter chaos and lack of organization while being sent down the chute, the Novice Womens'4+ (Klunder, Fan, Palmer, Sorgatz, Paxson-C) and the Men's Novice 4+ (Wise, Yu, Hittson, Muhki, Timmermann-C) completed the 4500m race in 25:47.2 and 24:42.4, respectively. The Women claimed 3rd in their event against Cleveland State, Ohio State, John Carroll and Indiana University/Purdue University – Indianapolis, a finish that, but for a rather obvious timing error, should have been good for a Silver. The Men, competing against two Ohio State entries and a John Carroll boat finished 4th.

The Novices, after a brief rest, look to entering winter training, with a greater appreciation for the basics of the sport, and their collective eyes on the prize of victories in the Spring Season.

BREAKING NEWS (11/4/2017): The organizers of the Speakmon Regatta just reached out to the coaches of crews racing in the women's Novice 4+ event (our women's “3rd place” finish, remember?) to inform them that the wonky timing results have been reviewed and revised. The CWRU Novice Women's 4+ will be receiving their Silver, 2nd place medals shortly! Well done, Spartans! On to Spring and even greater success.

Thanks to Coach Tim Marcovy for the race write up.

Race results for the Speakmon Regatta can be found HERE.

2017 Speakmon Regatta Photo Gallery


Tough Racing, Tough Conditions in Marietta

October 28, 2017: Case Crew headed to southern Ohio to Marietta for an invitational event against Marietta College, University of Dayton and the Ohio State University club team. The format of the race consisted of a 6,000m head race followed by three 500m pieces. On the women's side the teams boated eights for the head races and all crews split up into fours for the sprints. The late October weather was terrible this year -- rainy and cold. The weather prevented us from getting good photos, though a few are available at the link below.

The women's varsity 8+ finished strong placing first in the head race and the JV 4+ placed 5th over the 6km distance. The men's squad improved significantly versus last year's effort finished just over a minute off the pace of Marietta's varsity crew in the head race.

After winning the head race, the women's squad broke up into three fours for the sprints. The Varsity 4+ took second place behind the top 4+ from Dayton in all three sprints. The JV 4+ won two of the three sprints and scratched the third while the 3rd 4+ beat Dayton's Novice 4+ in the first sprint then off the pace for the next two sprints.

The varsity men's 8+ just didn't have the juice against Marietta's and Ohio State's top 8's. The third place results in each of the sprints did't tell the story of year-ove-year margin improvements (they're there) and how competitive the racing was (it was). The Case JV 8+ lost the first sprint to the in-state rivals, then put their head down, committed to the effort, and won the next two sprints in convincing fashion. Well done boys!

Case only brought their varsity squad to this event. The novices headed to Columbus for the Speakmon Regatta the same weekend. You can read the Marietta College official event write ups here: Men's Team and Women's Team.

Race results for the Muskie Chase can be found HERE.

2017 Muskie Chase Photo Gallery


WV4+ Top Collegiate Club 2nd Year in a Row in Boston

October 21-22, 2017: Case Crew sent women's and men's varsity fours to Boston for the 53rd Head of the Charles Regatta. The world's largest regatta hosted 2,271 crews over two days on the Charles River. The women's four of Emily Schnittman (s), Steph Collins (3), Ingrid Iversen (2) and Sarah Carlson (b) with Natalie Scherner coxing finished in 16th place out of 53 finishers in the Women's Club 4+ event. The women's finish position re-qualified the boat for next year's regatta -- the third time in a row for this event. The men's four of David Fulton (s), Luke Fakult (3), Matthew Hausladen (2) and Ryan Norchi (b) with Elizabeth Tobin (cox) raced on Sunday in the Collegiate 4+ event and finished 26th our of 40 finishers and just missed out on re-qualification in a deep field.


Women's Club Four: Schnittman, Collins, Iversen, Carlson & Scherner

The women's four improved on last year's finish position by three slots and again finished as the top collegiate club crew in the event. Ten of the top 11 finishers in the Saturday event were collegiate varsity D1 programs, which puts our women's 16th place position in good perspective. They also finished ahead of 16 other crews from varsity status programs!

This year's women's line-up featured Emily Schnittman at stroke who was the only returning athlete from last year. The bow three rowers were all in the last year's novice 8 that took silver at Vails. Having such a young crew demonstrate this much speed again on the national stage is harbinger of the talent within the squad.


Men's Collegiate Four: Fulton (s), Fakult (3), Hausladen (2), Norchi (b) & Tobin (cox)
© SportGraphics

The 2017 running of the regatta benefitted from tremendously fast conditions and wonderful weather. Course records were set in 35 events across both days of racing. A combination of little-to-no current (the race runs against the current), favorable wind, and brilliant fall weather led to fast racing all around. Alabama's winning time in the Women's Club 4+ broke the course record by 17 seconds.

On the men's side, the coaches seat-raced the squad intensely to pick the final crew. According to Head Coach Marcovy, it was the most detailed and rigorous seat racing he's ever performed in his career. The team had only taken men's and women's fours to the Charles on four occasions before, and the women typically race in the club event and the men typically race in the historically deeper collegiate event.

UNC's winning time of 16:04 was also a course record for the Sunday Collegiate Fours race. Our men finished six spots out of qualification position, but only 8.4% off the winning time. The 8.4% margin for this year's crew is the second best in the team's history just tenths of a second off the 8.35% margin set by the 2005 men's four of Dave Simpson (s), Alan Valenti (3), Chris Shoemaker (2) and Brian Chorney (b) with Meg Grow coxing. Therefore, even though re-qualification wasn't earned this year, the margin indicates a historically fast crew racing in a deep event.

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

2017 Head of the Charles Photo Gallery


Impromptu Scrimmage Shows Case Still Head of the River in Cleveland

October 17, 2017: The Case coaches wanted to test a new timing system so they invited the other Cleveland colleges to an impromptu scrimmage on the Cuyahoga River one fine Tuesday morning. Crews from Case, John Carroll and Cleveland State took part with Case posting four of the fastest five times!

Our men's varsity 8+ took top honors followed by the varsity 4+. The men's 4+ from Cleveland State posted the third fastest time for the 4.5km course from the Turning Basin to the British Street Railroad Bridge. The next two slots were taken by our women's 4+ and women's mixed novice/varsity 8+. All four Case boats beat all crews from John Caroll -- men and women!

Thanks to Coach Aaron Marcovy for the scrimmage details.

Race results for the Spartan-Tartan Scrimmage can be found HERE.


Varsity Takes Spartan-Tartan Honors

October 14, 2017: After 5 years of trying to find a weekend, the coaches at Carnegie Mellon University and CWRU were finally able to find a weekend where a scrimmage could happen.

On a very pleasant fall morning, the CMU Tartans came to participate in what we hope is the beginning of a renewed tradition. (After all, the name “Spartan / Tartan” couldn’t brand itself any better, could it??).

The scrimmage was a friendly match-up between the UAA rivals and provided a nice tune up before the Head of the Charles. Case took top honors in each of the varsity races, and CMU's more experience novice crews rowed the upstream course faster than our fresh crop of novices.

Spartan Tartan 2017
Combined group photo with Carnegie-Mellon and Case Western Reserve at the Spartan-Tartan Scrimmage.

The Buffalo Lower Lakes Freighter made it’s entrance causing a 45 minute delay, and several pleasure craft made the regatta adapt, but after three rounds of racing, the scrimmage was deemed a great success. The event was joined by several Cleveland-based alumni and parents—it was great to see you all! Parents even came in from Pittsburgh and beyond to root for rowers from Carnegie Mellon.

The conditions were flat, with about 75’ and sunny. The race course, 2,750m, was from the deep pocket of the Old River Bed back to the CRF docks. Overall a great experience.

Thanks to Coach Aaron Marcovy for the race write up.

Race results for the Spartan-Tartan Scrimmage can be found HERE.

2017 Spartan-Tartan Scrimmage Photo Gallery


Case Rowing Brings Home Bucket of Fourths from Rochester

October 7, 2017: The rowing team from CWRU headed east to the Head of the Genesee in Rochester, New York and brought home three 4th place finishes in the marquee eights races. The regatta is split between two days with the colleges rowing on Saturday and the master/juniors races on Sunday. The state of New York has a tremendous number of colleges with rowing teams, and the regatta brings most of the upstate New York crews to race. The weather was rainy and overcast for the beginning of racing and let up as racing progressed.

The women's varsity four was first up in the rain and had the most adventurous race of the regatta. The provisional results had them placed third overall. However, one of the slower local crews protested the result saying that Case had pushed them across a couple buoys. The protest was upheld and 60 seconds were added to the time to push the crew down to ninth overall. My understanding is that even with the penalty Case still beat the other college so it was done mostly out of spite, apparently.

Next up were the men's varsity and JV eights. Both crews finished fourth in their respective races behind three varsity-status crews. Varsity crews at the DIII level are extremely rare. RIT took the top spot in both races, and our V8 beat out RPI, SUNY Binghamton and SUNY Geneseo.

The women's varsity 8+ was last up with improved weather and also took fourth place behind varsity-status programs Hamilton, RIT and William Smith. They also finished ahead of varsity status programs from Colgate, Rochester and Ithaca along with a few club programs. This is one heck of a result considering Ithaca garnered the "at large" bid to last year's NCAA DIII national championship. RIT were also at NCAAs and our women finished only 20 seconds off their pace.

Next up for the team is a scrimmage in Cleveland against UAA rivals Carnegie-Mellon then onto the Head of the Charles for the top men's and women's fours. Go Spartans!

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

2017 Head of the Genessee Photo Gallery


Medals Across the Board at the 2017 Head of the Cuyahoga

September 16, 2017: Case Rowing brought their A-game to the 22nd running of the Head of the Cuyahoga and medaled in all boat classes entered. The highlight of the day were the varsity women taking gold and silver against Penn State, Miami, John Carroll and Ohio U. The weather was beautiful for the racing, and times were fast (more on that later). The race is run along a winding 4,800m course from the I-490 bridge downstream to Rivergate Park.

The varsity men brought home two silver medals in the big boats. The V8 was beaten by over one minute by Westerville High School in a time that would imply they are the junior national team (more later as promised). The V8 had bow number 1 in the event and were not passed and beat crews from Penn State, Miami, Ohio U and John Carroll. In the V4, our men came in second behind a WRRA crew that's been rowing together for years and also won masters Canadian Henley last month. The V4 beat six other collegiate crews to earn their silver medal.

MACRA 2017
CWRU Men's Varsity 8+ racing to silver at the 2017 Head of the Cuyahoga
© Share the River

The timing differential in the MV8 (and all pre-lunch times were suspiciously variable) would have also implied that Westerville passed Case given the bow number order and intervals between starts. Case was not passed, and the high schoolers were not the national team so the regatta timing was questioned. No resolution was to be had, and it was coincidence that the head official in charge of timing was a coach of said high school. Apparently the timing stop watches were reset during the lunch break, and the after lunch times seemed to be closer to what the local coaches would expect.

The women's varsity team claimed the top two spots in a deep field. The V8 beat our JV8 by nearly a minute (race was after lunch). A solid looking Penn State took the bronze nearly 40 seconds off the JV. The speed and depth shown by our JV8 is really amazing. In 5th place was a composite crew of ex-juniors from The Foundry coming back from their college programs to try and take on Case - the boathouse grapevine got back to us... We won. They didn't. Congratulations Spartan ladies!

MACRA 2017
CWRU Women's Varsity 8+ racing to gold at the 2017 Head of the Cuyahoga
© Share the River

Rounding out the men's results were a novice men's 4+ that was the only entrant, but they rowed a very respectable time to earn their gold medal. Chris Ryu also raced in the single for a bronze medal and teamed up with the silver medalist from Mercyhurst/Foundry to race the double and earned a gold. Coach Emeritus Tim Marcovy raced his single to 10th place in the men's D-F single and in 3 seat of a WRRA masters 4+.

After only a couple weeks back on campus to prepare, they splits the crews are showing this year are promising. Barring injuries and/or drop outs, we hope to see more hardware out of the squad this fall!

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

2017 Head of the Cuyahoga Photo Gallery


CWRU Crew 2016-2017 Regatta Schedule

Below is the Case Crew 2016-2017 racing & event schedule with links to the results and photos for each event. For a write up about each completed event continue to scroll down. If possible, please come and cheer the team on!

We have not yet set the date of our spring alumni regatta, but it will be held in conjunction with our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and dinner. If you would like to become a member of the SARA Board, take a leadership position, or vote on current business please come to or dial into the AGM.

Date: Event: Location: Results: Photos:
Sept 17 Head of the Cuyahoga Cleveland, OH - Cuyahoga River results photos
Oct 8 Mercyhurst Autumn Classic Findley Lake, NY results photos
Oct 22-23 Head of the Charles Boston, MA (Women's Club 4+: Event 17 Saturday) results photos
Oct 29 Muskie Chase Marietta, OH - Lindamood/Van Voorhis Boathouse results photos
Nov 5-6 Head of the Hooch Chattanooga, TN (select boats only) results photos
Feb 5 Hammer Ergatta Cleveland, OH - John Carroll Campus results photos
Feb 24-25 24 Hour Ergathon (fundraiser) Cleveland, OH - CWRU Campus 830,000m photos
March 11-17 Spring Break Trip Lake Guntersville, AL   photos
March 25 Home Schools Regatta Cleveland, OH - CRF Boathouse results photos
April 1 SUNY Invitational Regatta Geneseo, NY - Conesus Lake results photos
April 8-9 Lubber's Cup Spring Lake, MI results photos
April 15 Alumni Regatta & SARA AGM Cleveland, OH results photos
April 30 MACRA Championships Harsha Lake, Bethel, OH results photos
May 12-13 Dad Vail Regatta Philadelphia, PA results photos

View details of previous seasons here.

 


Novices Shine in Philly: WN8+ Silver and MN4+ 10th!

May 12-13, 2017: Case Crew took three crews to Philadelphia cautiously optimistic about the novice squad's chances at the small and mid-size school national championship regatta. The women's novice 8+ had been posting fast times all spring and came away with a silver medal -- the team's first-ever big boat medal! The men's novice 4+ advanced to the Saturday semi-final, finished 4th, and ultimately finished 4th (or tenth overall) in the Petit Final. The lone varsity crew to make the trip was the men's varsity 4+ -- probably the most difficult and deepest event at the entire regatta -- that finished out of the running after the Friday time trial.

The two-day race in Philadelphia was founded in 1934 and functions as the de facto small and mid-sized college championships. Crews compete on the 2000m Schuylkill race course with time trials, heats and semis on Friday and finals on Saturday.

In order to squeeze in more events and provide more Saturday racing opportunities, the regatta has moved to time trials for events with lots of entries. For 2017, our men’s varsity and novice fours had to compete in time trials on Friday morning. With only 16 entries, the women’s novice eight contested traditional heats and finals.

DV
 
photosresults

In the women’s novice eight, the Spartans won their heat easily beating varsity-status crews from Bucknell and Rollins by over 10 seconds to advance straight to the grand final. The crew of Madison Piccirillo (b), Katie Francissan (2), Micensie Barrett (3), Kirsten Wetzel (4), Steph Collins (5), Emily Judge (6), Sarah Carlson (7), Ingrid Iversen (s) with Natalie Scherner coxing had the fastest time coming out of the heats.


Women's Novice 8+ posing with their silver medals on the awards dock.

In the women’s novice eight final, it was a wire-to-wire drag race between local favorites St. Joes and the Spartans. The two crews paced the field by over 8 seconds, but St. Joes had just a bit more juice and beat case by just over 1 second to take gold. The silver medal for our crew signifies a high-water mark for the program marking the first time we’ve earned a medal in a big boat class at Vails. On their way to silver they beat varsity-status (i.e. recruited athletes) from Bucknell, Duquesne and Drexel.

On the men’s side, the men’s frosh/novice four finished in 9th place out of 30 crews, which advanced them to the semi-finals on Friday afternoon. In the semi, the crew of Tim Nehila (s) Chris Hadiono (3), Spencer McClung (2) and Ben Cehelsky (b) with Jessica Mu coxing drew a tough heat against a few varsity crews and finished fourth. With only the top two advancing to the grand final, they would be racing in the Petit Final on Saturday. In the second level final they finished fourth (10th overall) behind Bowdoin, MSOE and Delaware – a tremendous result!


Men's Novice 4+ racing to 4th place in the semi-final.

Probably the most difficult race in the regatta is the men’s varsity four. The event attracts the top four rowers from many smaller programs and the JV guys from the top varsity programs. Liam Hoye (s), Matt Hausladen (3) Ian Steiner (2) and Sean Mann with Elizabeth Tobin coxing took a swing at the big boys and were just off the pace. The Friday time trial had 35 crews and Case finished in 25th, which placed them in the fifth-level final on Friday. However, due to inclement weather Friday night into Saturday the minor finals were cancelled.


Men's Varsity 4+ pushing through their time trial on Friday.

SARA again hosted a parent/alumni tent, which was well attended throughout the two days of racing. During the rains on Saturday the capacity of the tent was fully tested. Our tent position improved slightly from previous years with our placement about 400m from the finish line. It’s a good time so make sure you come down next year!

Click here for complete race results.

2017 Dad Vail Regatta Photo Gallery


Novice Women Claim First-ever Big Boat MACRA Gold

April 30, 2017: The regional championship MACRA regatta was held this year on Harsha Lake just outside of Cincinnati again this year. Conditions were cool and overcast with a steady, stiff cross head wind. Rains overnight raised lake levels claiming some competitor's tents. Case entered six crews across five events with all crews making either the Grand or Petit finals.

The women's novice 8+ event was final only, and the Case women blasted off the starting pontoons to a commanding lead and were never challenged. The final margin had them 35 seconds off of the second place crew from Miami. This performance comes after a similarly commanding result from a few weeks prior at Lubbers Cup where the novice women won both their dual races against regional powerhouses Grand Valley and Marquette. The line up was Ingrid Iversen (s), Sarah Carlson (7), Emily Judge (6), Steph Collins (5), Kirsten Wetzel (4), Crystal An (3), Katie Francissen (2) and Madison Piccirillo (b) with Natalie Scherner coxing.

The team has never won a medal in an eight event at MACRAs. We've won a few silvers in the four and golds in singles. The gold medal in the novice 8+ is a historic one for Case Crew and hopefully portends good things for years to come!

The novice women weren't really pushed in the race and finished the stake boat, buoyed course into a stiff cross headwind in 7:15.5. For those of you out there in the know, this is a legit result. Period. Great job ladies!

The varsity women were broken up into Varsity and JV fours with the Varsity crew winning their heat and finishing fourth overall in the Grand Final. The JV women grabbed the last qualifying spot in their heat and were able to finish 5th in the Petit final behind powerhouse Grand Valley and three varsity-status programs from Eastern Michigan, Charleston and Drake. This race marked the end of the collegiate career of Colleen Kennedy (3-seat V4+). She's been in a number of record setting boats for Case Crew over the last four years, and we wish her well.

MACRA 2017
CWRU Women's Novice 8+ with Coach Stanley and their MACRA medals and O'Keefe Cup

The novice women's squad is deep enough to also field a reserve 4+, and this crew finished second in their heat ahead of conference rivals UChicago and ultimately finished 6th in the Grand Final.

Men's racing at MACRAs is unbelievably deep with most of the Grand Finalists in the eight also making Saturday afternoon appearances at Vails. If you want to be competitive in Philly you need to be competitive at MACRAs. The varsity men drew Michigan, Mercyhurst, Michigan State and Ohio State in their heat and finished behind them in that order to earn a spot in the Petit Final. In the Petit they finished 3rd and 9th overall behind Ohio State and DePaul.

The coaching staff also fielded a JV 8+ comprised of a mix of varsity and novice rowers to test fitness and give championship racing experience to the novices. The crew was off the pace a bit finishing behind Michigan, Mercyhurst and Michigan State and ultimately finished 3rd in the Petit Final with a respectable 6:51 finish time.

Race results for the MACRA Championships can be found HERE.

2017 MACRA Championship Photo Gallery


Alumni vs. Students... Alumni Always Win!

April 15, 2017: This year marked the 13th alumni regatta with nearly 30 alumni and parents visiting over Easter weekend. This year's event featured racing in the morning followed by the christening of three new shells to the Spartan Navy. In the evening it was almost standing room only with 75 folks crammed into the upstairs of the Flat Iron Cafe to hear coaches, students and alumni speak while enjoying some good cheer.

A number of races were held with most of the alumni getting to race the 600m side-by-side sprint twice. Crews were "lined up" just downstream of the red swing bridge and raced to dock at the boathouse.

Alumni Regatta 2017
Side-by-side racing in women's fours!

The alumni ranks were bolstered by some recent graduates with still impressive erg scores. As a result, many of the alumni crews were victorious this year -- margins improved upon by the generous starting conditions. The "serious" races were in the men's 8 and women's 4. The stacked men's eight for the alumni took off the line at nearly 40 spm and settled into the mid 30's. Stroke Kevin Cronin '16 is resident at the high performance group at Potomac Boat Club since graduating last December. The alumni crew hung together against a fast charging student crew to win the sprint by nearly a length.

The women's 4+ race featured the most recent top three team erg scores (Sevier, Kennedy & Merlino) with coach Rachel Stanley in the bow. The fast crew had the outside lane and wider turn and were still able to squeak out a half length win over the student crew of Thompsen (s), Schnittman (3), Carlson (2) and Iversen (b).

Alumni Regatta 2017
2017 alumni group photo!

Everyone decided they were game for a second race so additional line ups were created and shells procured to race fours, pairs and doubles. In the fours race, the alumni crew of Rathburn (s), Chorney (3), Bachmann (2) and Fakult (b) couldn't hang onto the speed of the student four. An exhibition race between the pair of Liam Hoye and Kevin Cronin against Chris Ryu and Doug Brubaker in a double was held. Some strokes were taken, and we're still not quite sure what happened. On the women's side, Abby Sevier and Steph Merlino reprised their pairing against students Anna Thompsen and Emily Schnittman. With 100m to go the race was interrupted by WRRA learn to row crews, but there were still smiles all around due to one last chance to splash about in boats!

At the conclusion of the regatta we christened three shells into the fleet: Class of 2007, Perseverance, and Grandma Liz (click on links for shell dedication photos). Significant financial support for the three shells came from alumnus Paul Buchheit with naming gifts provided by Bowley, Chorney & Uber (Class of 2007), the Lubowe family (Perseverance) and the McClung family (Grandma Liz). The Class of 2007 is a 2011 Pocock Hypercarbon Mid/Heavyweight hull purchased from Cornell University. The Perseverance is a 2006 Pocock Hypercarbon Midweight hull purchased from Evans Rowing Club. The 2009 midweight Resolute 4+, Grandma Liz, was completely refurbished to "like new" condition and purchased from the Resolute factory.

Alumni Regatta 2017
Spencer McClung, Carly Lubowe & Brian Chorney with their trophy blades.

In the evening, we gathered at the Flat Iron Cafe for buffet dinner and a few speeches and presentations. You can see the SARA presentation here. Coach Aaron's season overview can be seen here.

Alumni Regatta 2017
Colleen Kennedy & Liam Hoye with SARA President Doug Rathburn (left) & Head Coach Aaron Marcovy (right)

The students provided a nice introduction to the agenda and followed up current rowers Ben Cehelsky, Ingrid Iversen and Emily Schnittmann providing testimonials of what rowing on the team means to them. Next up was Aaron Marcovy, the head coach, providing an update to the team's progress over the previous year. Doug Rathburn's presentation included an overview of SARA accomplishments and handing out the Spartan of the Year award to Colleen Kennedy and Liam Hoye. You can view photos from the event here.

Thank you to everyone that made the day's events special and for everyone's overwhelming generosity to the team. Go Spartans!

Race results for the Alumni Regatta can be found HERE.

2017 Alumni Regatta & Dinner Photo Gallery


Case Wins 4 of 8 Races at 2017 Lubbers Cup

April 8-9, 2017: This year marks the second invite for the Case Western Reserve Crew Club to attend the prestigious 22nd Annual Don Lubber's Cup Regatta in Spring Lake, Michigan. The regatta is hosted by Grand Valley State University.

This is arguably some of the best competition that CWRU will see all year until Dad Vails, and being one of the smallest schools, it puts the rowers in a healthy position to grow.

The squad fielded four boats at this uniquely-formatted "double dual" format regatta, a Women's Novice 8+, a Women's Varsity 4+, a Men's Novice 4+, and a Men's Varsity 8+. Eleven teams competed in the regatta and Case finished in seventh based on the points methodology.

Lubbers 2017
Men's Varsity 8+ powering through the finish of the stroke at the 2017 Lubbers Cup.

This regatta is special because it is designed to have 3 races over two days, all 2,000m. Competitors race only one or two other shells in each race, and they cycle through so that they see most of their competitors. The teams are judged not only on time, but also margin of victory.

Unfortunately, due to high winds causing unfair lane assignments, the racing on Sunday was cancelled, and trophies went to teams based largely on times and placement.

The Squad performed admirably, with a bit of cross tail wind pushing them down the course. The Men's V8 had a good showing against Grand Valley and Minnesota in their first round, and bested Illinois in one of the closest matches of the regatta in their second race. Former WRRA coach Cameron Carter, current coach of Illinois, was on hand, and had nothing but good things to say about his former program. He later extended an invitation to perhaps scrimmage in the fall season as both teams continue to improve.

Lubbers 2017
Women's Novice 8+ crushing Grand Valley State at the 2017 Lubbers Cup.

The Novice Women's 8+ had a fantastic weekend, starting out strong against the Number 2 ranked team in the country, Grand Valley State. The Mighty Novi beat them handily, by 14 seconds in the first round, so we will see what the rankings yield next week. In their second round, they had a dominant 35 second victory over the Marquette novices. An outstanding showing.

The Women's Varsity 4+ had great opposition in Purdue and Marquette. The row was rough, and didn't fully demonstrate speed, ultimately falling to Purdue on the order of 4 seconds. After some reflection and regrouping, the Varsity women came out ready to fight by the afternoon. In the second round, the Varsity women had a great rhythm, beating a Purdue novice boat and an Eastern Michigan University 4+ by 22 seconds. This garnered a commentary from the EMU coaches, who communicated how great our women's squad was shaping up to be.

In the Men's Novice 4+, our greenhorns performed quite well, and due to the format of the regatta were raced in the Open category. In the first round, they fell under a Michigan freshman boat, but coming up nearly 13 seconds above the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. By the afternoon, the MN4+ was in the groove, coming against a tough Michigan freshman boat, and almost clipping a Michigan State varsity boat.

Lubbers Cup 2017
Corgi Coxswain

All told, it was a great day of racing against some fantastic competition. The quote of the weekend came from the regatta host and head coach of Grand Valley State University, John Bancheri, to said that he and University of Michigan head coach Gregg Hartsuff had been speaking, and remarked at how exciting it was to see Case Western come ready to compete at Lubber's Cup, and further showing how it is possible for a smaller school population to put out quality rowing teams.

Our Varsity Oarswoman Ashley Yoon did a great job of gathering photos, and they can be found HERE.

Race footage is captured and updated at our regattas as frequently as possible, and is generally uploaded to the CWRU Rowing YouTube channel, which can be found HERE.

Special thanks go out to Grandma Stevens (our new rower Alex Stevens' grandmother) for hosing the women's team this weekend - it was like being at home! We are so grateful for your support. Also, thank you to the Steiners, Francissens, and Iversens for attending - as well as bringing a fleet of corgis.

We are looking forward to hosting an outstanding Alumni Regatta this coming Saturday, April 15th, and we may have a surprise guest crew of Carnegie-Mellon coming to race the squad ahead of time on the Cuyahoga, but that is going to be a game-time decision to be worked out this week.

Thanks to Head Coach Aaron Marcovy for the Race Report!

Race results for the Lubbers Cup can be found HERE.

2017 Lubbers Cup Photo Gallery


Case Wins 5 of 7 Races at SUNY Invitational

April 1, 2017: Case Crew headed east to take part in the SUNY Invitational Regatta hosted by SUNY Geneseo on Conesus Lake. The event is an informal scrimmage amongst a few Upstate New York SUNY schools. Due to some scheduling SNAFUs, Case was without a race this weekend, and SUNY Geneseo was gracious enough to allow the Spartans to join the fun. Schools participating were: SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego, Canisius College and St. John Fisher College

Conditions were a bit choppy on the smallest of the Finger Lakes. Winds were significant at 12-15 mph with conditions almost unrowable if not for the straight tailwind direction. Case handled the conditions well by finishing first or second in each event entered.

The Spartan women were undefeated in all three races -- varsity 8+, varsity 4+ and novice 8+. The men won the men's light/JV 4+ and novice 8+ races, but fell to Geneseo in both varsity 8+ and varsity 4+.

The most dramatic event came in the WV8 race when 2-seat lost her oar popping completely out of the oarlock with 500m to go. The women had a comfortable lead and with some deft coxing regained composure, did a racing start, and regained the lead to win over Genseo by 5 seconds!

Head coach Aaron Marcovy was able to post video of most of the races, and the videos can be accessed via the race result link below:

Race results for the SUNY Invitational Regatta can be found HERE.


Case Dominates Home Schools for 6th Straight Year!

March 25, 2017: Case Crew raced John Carroll for the fifteenth annual Cleveland Cup. Case won all six contested races to extend their cup winning streak to six and nine overall. Cleveland State were unable to boat crews this year due to attrition and injury.

This year there were seven races with six of those races counting toward the Cleveland Cup. The racecourse was held in dual-format, which is two boats side-by-side. The race also followed an interpretation of "Oxbridge" rules, which provides for safety as boats make turns. The overall course was approximately 1,500m, and was run from the NS1 railroad bridge at the mouth of the Cuyahoga, and was finished at the Merwin’s Wharf docks at Rivergate Park.

Home Schools 2017
Women's Varsity 4+ Pushing to the Line Against John Carroll.

The two lanes were determined by coin flip, called by each club president during the Coaches and Coxswains briefing. Staggers were assigned to each lane, depending on the size of each boat.

In almost every race Case was able to make up the stagger while in the Flats before the first major bend allowing them to cruise to the finish. The tightest race was in the women's varsity four where JCU pushed the Spartan women all the way to the finish. Our WV4 of Kate Bush, Michaela Kus, Colleen Kennedy and Emily Schnittman with Carly Lubowe coxing was able to hold them off to post a winning margin of 3.8 seconds - just over a length.

Head coach Aaron Marcovy was able to post video of most of the races, and the videos can be accessed via the race result link below:

Race results for the 2017 Cleveland Collegiate Regatta can be found HERE.

2017 Homeschools Photo Gallery


Spring Miles in Alabama; Men Scrimmage 'Bama

March 16, 2017: Case Crew headed south to Lake Guntersville in Alabama for their spring break. Due to a shift in the school's spring break, the timing was earlier, which precluded the team from going to Gainesville. Unseasonably cool and windy conditions greeted the team and it was a challenge to row a full complement of miles. Alumnus Brian Chorney '07 made the trip to help coach along with assistant coaches Kate & Eric Krengel to help head coach Aaron Marcovy handle the crew.

Spring Break 2017
Spring miles on Lake Guntersville in Alabama.

The Case men were able to scrimmage the crew club from the University of Alabama -- a team that finished just 4 seconds off them at the Hooch. The men's squad had lost a couple key rowers for spring and struggled in the scrimmage to hold onto the stern of Alabama. Although a week of high winds prohibited as much rowing as was scheduled, the conditions for the scrimmage were reasonably advantageous, with 5-6 MPH gusts and a decent temperature.

The scrimmage consisted of four 2,000m pieces with approximately 10 minutes rest. The first 2 lengths were structured, with each 500m segment being governed at 24, 26, 28, and 30 strokes-per-minute respectively. The last 2 lengths were “open rating,” meaning an ungoverned sprint structure. Alabama' V8 was the strongest in recent memory with 5 seniors.

Scrimmage Results:
Piece 1:UA 1v wins, 3 lengths over CWRU 1v
UA 2v finishes 2 seats over CWRU 1v
Piece 2:UA 1v wins, 1 1/2 lengths over CWRU 1v
CWRU 1v finishes 1/2 length over UA 2v
Piece 3:UA 1v wins, 2 1/2 over CWRU 1v
Piece 4:UA 1v wins, 4 lengths over CWRU 1v

2017 Spring Break Photo Gallery


Case Wins 13th Hammer Cup; 8 Individual Hammers at Erg Sprints

February 5, 2017: Case Crew dominated the competition again at the 28th running of the Hammer Ergatta. This year's race was two weeks earlier than normal and classes start one week later than normal, but the reduced training time did not stop the Spartans from claiming their 3rd Hammer Cup in a row. The Hammer Cup has been contested between Case and John Carroll since 1995 with Cleveland State joining the action in 2008. Case leads the series with thirteen wins to JCU's 8 and CSU's 2 wins.

This year's event was held in the DeCarlo Varsity Gym on John Carroll's campus. The well organized event saw Case take home 8 Hammers (yes, actual hammers) in almost every event they entered. Gold hammers for winner and silver hammers for second. The women's team had six athletes break 8 minutes with novice Sarah Carlson taking top honors with a 7:31.7! Colleen Kennedy took top honors in the Open Varsity race with 7:44.9. The open lightweight race saw Maria Tompkins finish second with 8:02.6, one second off the pace, and the novice lightweight race was won by Katie Francissen in 8:20.8.

Hammer 2017
Case women ready to start.

The men's team also showed some speed and depth. The men had eight athletes break seven minutes with Matt Hausladen leading the way with a 6:29.3 to win the Open Men's category. Alumnus Dou Brubaker even took part taking fourth with a 6:41.8 in the open race. The fastest novice man was Tim Nehila with 6:55.3 to take second. The lightweight men's squad had Andy Swyers take 5th in the Open event with 7:19.2 and the novice race had Andrew Thomas taking 4th in 7:51.2.

The last event of the day was the Sledgehammer 6x500m mixed relay. Case entered three squads and finished 2nd, 4th and 6th. The top two teams were varsity Case squads and the third team were novices. The fastest Case relay team completed the 3km in 9:48.8 to take home the silver sledgehammer.

Race results for the Hammer Ergatta can be found HERE.

2017 Hammer Ergatta Photo Gallery


It's Time for the January Virtual Team Challenge!

  Rower Meters
1 Thomas Schwertner 409,189
2 John Calhoun 301,400
3 Sarah Carlson 290,155
4 Douglas Brubaker 272,383
5 Daniel Bachmann 232,879
6 Ian Steiner 217,290
7 Doug Rathburn 212,905
8 Matthew Holdren 209,399
9 Tim Nehila 206,287
10 Rachel Stanley 205,368
11 Emily Judge 202,468
12 Matthew Hausladen 200,859
13 Ryan Norchi 200,498
14 Sean Mann 200,383
15 Thomas Hudak 200,205
16 David Fulton 200,030
17 Spencer Mcclung 200,018
18 Kaitlyn Bush 200,005
19 Thomas M. Hudak 200,000
20 Benjamin Lindstrom 179,158
21 Kelli Anderson 165,567
22 Robert Tinsley 153,805
23 Evan Halprin 153,000
24 Liam Hoye 152,650
25 Stephanie Collins 150,796
26 Abigail Sevier 143,791
27 Martin Matsumura 133,544
28 Anna Thomsen 130,952
29 Michaela Kus 127,641
30 Erynn Rathburn 126,093
31 Colleen Kennedy 117,377
32 Kevin Cronin 117,013
33 William Warren 114,183
34 Tim Marcovy 113,464
35 Sharon Romilly 113,276
36 Ashley Yoon 112,328
37 Emmeline Pearson 108,226
38 James Wehn 107,975
39 Ram Fish 105,710
40 Andrew Thomas 104,452
41 Masato Miyagi 104,201
42 Maria Tompkins 102,989
43 Andy Swyers 100,695
44 Jim Aker 100,459
45 Sophia Houghton 100,422
46 Benjamin Cehelsky 100,384
47 Ozgur Bolat 95,469
48 Garrett Dore 95,105
49 Anneliese Braunegg 52,861
50 Emily Schnittman 48,881
51 Stephanie Merlino 45,216
52 Chris Moore 42,980
53 David Simpson 33,624
54 Karla Rosenman 25,609
55 Stephanie Doran 21,521
56 Amy Moore 18,327
57 Julia R 18,086
58 Sara R 13,038
59 Tom Attenweiler 10,491
60 Janet Clark 8,099
61 Carol Brubaker 8,071
62 Nina Ma 7,145
63 Lindsey Simpson 4,546
64 Greta R 4,349
65 Trisha Krofcheck 1,042
Total Team Meters 8,256,332

February 3, 2017: Sixty-five alumni, students & friends pitched in to row 8,256,332 meters in the annual C2 January Virtual Team Challenge (JVTC). For the challenge rowers had to row as many meters as possible between January 1 and January 31 then log their daily meters using the Concept 2 Logbook. The results were then ranked against other teams. The SARA team finished in 20th place out of 578 teams -- right in line with last year's 19th place finish! Our meter total was about 130km less than last year, which was a record. Thank you to everyone that participated.

The Case/SARA team continued on form by beating the alumni team from the University of Chicago for the third year in a row. We beat both the individual teams from UC - the students and alumni but their combined total of 10,933,940m still beat our combined student and alumni total. Stacking up our alumni agains their alumni it wasn't close with SARA coming ahead by a couple million meters. In the battle of the undergrads, UC came out on top.

A new competitor emerged this year from Colby College with the team name Snow Pond Training Center. The combined student/alumni team pulled over 9.8 million meters for 16th place. A new target for next year's challenge!

Leading the charge for SARA this year was alumnus Thomas Schwertner who rowed 409,189 meters beating his last year's total by over 100km! The top undergraduate finisher was Sarah Carlson with 290,155m and the top alumni finisher was last year's overall winner Ninteen people passed the 200km mark this year to earn a free hat -- the same number as last year. Congratulations to everyone and a special thank you to the 19 alumni and students earning their 2017 hat.

Team Results: Team Total # Rowers Avg. Meters/Rower
Colby College - Snow Pond TC 9,816,357 meters 70 140,233
Case Crew - Spartan Alumni 8,256,332 meters 65 127,020
University of Chicago Crew 8,044,658 meters 44 182,833
U Chicago Alumni Crew 2,889,282 meters 16 180,580
UMass Amherst - Aging Aggies 2,574,421 meters 16 160,901
Purdue University Crew 2,180,516 meters 7 311,502
Ithaca College Alumni 2,096,080 meters 10 209,608
Fat Cats-Princeton Alums 768,271 meters 5 153,654
Grand Valley Rowing Alumni 701,673 meters 4 175,418
Notre Dames - Olden Domers 683,984 meters 13 52,614

JVTC

Past Year's JVTC Results:
2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010


Eights Dominate in Tennessee!

November 5, 2016: Case Crew took their top eights to the Head of the Hooch for the second year in a row and proved that they could hold their own against the best of the south. The early November race is a beacon for rowing colleges across the south and a number of Midwestern colleges. The women's varsity eight took silver against a field of 28 while the men took sixth against 35 other teams. For the first time the team took a novice eight, and our women placed 12th out of 40 crews.

The two-day event hosted over 200 teams and over 2,000 entries with the regatta site right in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. The 5,000 meter course is fairly straight, fair and easy to pass. With the city center venue and excellent course, the Hooch has grown into one of THE premier head races in the country. For northern crews, the early November timing also extends the competitive season. The 2016 edition has excellent, flat water with sunshine and almost no wind.


Head of the Hooch silver medalists in the women's college & club 8+!
L-R: Schnittmann, Yoon, Sevier, Chu, Kennedy, Merlino, Thomsen and Pearson with Josh Zuccala held

Case's events were on Saturday with the varsity women early in the morning. The line-up was Emily Schnittmann (s), Ashley Yoon (7), Abby Sevier (6), Joyce Chu (5), Colleen Kennedy (4), Steph Merlino (3), Anna Thomsen (2), Emmeline Pearson (b) and Josh Zuccala (cox) Given their fourth place finish last year, they were given the first bow number and led the procession for the 2016 running. In the head racing format, crews are started every 10-15 seconds. By the time the Case women came into the last thousand they had opened up nearly a minute gap to the next crew signifying a potentially very fast time. When all of the results were tallied the crew finished second overall and 10 seconds behind Georgia Tech.


Head of the Hooch Men's Varsity 8+
Hoye (s), Cronin (7), Hausladen (6), Smith (5), Norchi (4), Steiner (3), Mann (2), Ryu (b) and Tobin (cox)

© Sport Graphics

The men's varsity 8+ of Liam Hoye (s), Kevin Cronin (7), Matt Hausladen (6), Phil Smith (5), Ryan Norchi (4), Ian Steiner (3), Sean Mann (2), Chris Ryu (b) and Elizabeth Tobin (cox) faced significant competition and finished 6th overall looking strong on the course. Texas, Georgia Tech and UNC Chapel Hill were the class of the field taking the top three spots and breaking 16 minutes. Providing significant motivation for the winter was being bumped down from last year's fifth place finish by URA rivals WashU by 2 seconds! WashU also pipped the Spartans at last year's URA championships. Can you say April 1 show down?


Head of the Hooch Women's Novice 8+
Iverson (s), Lai (7), Carlson (6), Judge (5), Wetzel (4), Barrett (3), Hicsasmaz (2), Piccirillo (b) and Mu (cox)

© Sport Graphics

The women's novice 8+ took to the waters for the first time in an organized regatta. They had raced in the Mercyhurst and Marietta scrimmages, and took to the Tennessee River like professionals. The crew consisted of rowers Ingrid Iverson (stroke), Serena Lai (7), Sarah Carlson (6), Emily Judge (5), Kirsten Wetzel (4), Micensie Barrett (3), Innes Hicsasmaz (2), Madison Piccirillo (bow) with Jessica Mu as coxswain, and their time of 19:48 was good enough for 12th place overall. The top 11 spots contained 9 varsity status crews implying 3rd place out of the club crews. And the team beat 28 other crews.

The Hooch runs a qualification system for guaranteed entries in the next year's race. Both varsity 8's grabbed 2017 slots. The women's novice event only had 10 slots so our women just missed out.

This regatta signified the last competitive race for a number of team stalwarts. Abby Sevier, Steph Merlino, Colleen Kennedy and Kevin Cronin and now officially alumni! If you have been impressed by the result of the crews in the last few years, you will see these four in almost every one of those photos. Thank you for your dedication, and welcome to SARA!

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

2016 Head of the Hooch Photo Gallery


Women's Team Strong in Marietta; Men Pick Up Speed

October 29, 2016: Case Crew headed to southern Ohio to Marietta for an invitational event against Marietta College, University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton and the Ohio State University club team. The format of the race consisted of a 6,000m head race followed by three 500m pieces. The women finished strong placing third in the head race and winning two of the sprints. The men were in contention, but finished off the pace against the other squads. Overall the coaches were pleased with the speed of the crews and are looking forward to the varsity and novice eights racing in Chattanooga.

The late October weather was almost too hot for racing with temperatures in the 70's and slight wind. This was the second year for the invitational in this format. Case was not invited last year, and the team's recent gains in speed have not gone unnoticed prompting and invite for this year. An incarnation of the Marietta Invite existed in the 90's and the team was invited to that race in 1995.


Team Photo at the 2016 Muskie Chase in Marietta, Ohio

The Case women had Dayton's number all day -- beating them in the head and each sprint. In the head they finished 1 second off Ohio State and four seconds behind Cincinnati. They then won the first two sprints, but fell in the third 500m piece to Cincinnati by a second. A tremendous result that bodes well for next weekend's Hooch where the V8 will have the first bow number of 27 in the Collegiate/Club 8+ event!

The regatta was also another chance for the novices to gain experience before the Head of the Hooch next weekend. The novice women's 8+ beat the other novice boat from Dayton in the head race, but then came short in each of the sprint pieces. The coaches also raced a couple novice women's fours in the head race, but not the sprints. The top novice women's four was beaten by the varsity squad from Dayton and beat the crew from Cincinnati. The second novice women's four finished in fourth place of four. The novice men only raced an eight and finished a minute off the only other novice crew entered from Cincy.

The varsity and JV men improved on their performance from Mercyhurst. A timing glitch meant no times for the top crews from Marietta and Cincinnati were taken in the head race. The V8 finished just over a minute off Ohio State and Dayton in the 6km head race with the JV crew finishing 50 seconds off them. In the sprints it was a close run affair with Case finishing with the 5th and 6th fastest times each run.

Race results for the Muskie Chase can be found HERE.

2016 Muskie Chase Photo Gallery


Women's Varsity 4+ Top College Club Program in Boston

October 22, 2016: The Case Crew women's varsity four headed to Boston for the 52nd Head of the Charles Regatta. The world's largest regatta hosted over 10,000 athletes over two days on the Charles River. The women's four of Abby Sevier, Steph Merlino, Emily Schnittmann and Colleen Kennedy with Josh Zuccala coxing finished in 19th place out of 59 finishers. The position re-qualified the boat for next year's regatta and was 12 places higher than last year's record breaking performance. The crew coached by assistant Rachel Stanley took honors as the fastest college club program in the Club Fours event and beat number of renowned varsity status programs as well -- including crews from Miami (FL), Boston U, Marist, Lehigh, Temple and Princeton(!).


Charles Qualifiers: Sevier, Merlino, Schnittmann, Kennedy and Zuccala (cox)
© row2k.com

The weather during the race as challenging with cross headwinds most of the way and alternating drizzle/deluge rain all the way down the course. The crew's technique and timing started to waver in the back half of the race, but the team's extensive training regimen allowed them to maintain power through the drive to keep the hull speed up. As a result they held an amazingly stable pace throughout holding onto 19th place at each of the four timing points along the winding 3 mile course. Due to their placing last year the team was given bow number 27 placing them in the middle of the pack and amongst faster crews to help push the pace.

The women's squad were extensively seat raced in order to find the fastest combination. Even though this year's line-up contained three rowers from last year's qualifying four, there were no guaranteed seats. The line-up was shuffled with Abby Sevier setting the pace from stroke and Steph Merlino backed her up in 3-seat. The bow pair had Emily Schnittmann in 2-seat and Colleen Kennedy in bow. Josh Zuccala took the rudder with last year's coxswain Masato Miyagi making his way to Boston to support Josh with the challenging course.

The crew were hosted in Boston by Steph's mom. The cheering squad consisted of coaches, parents and alums. Recent graduates Doug Brubaker, Gavin Brown and Matt Holdren came to show their support. Alumni also raced with Alan Valenti '09 raced for Riverfront/Hartford in the men's senior master 8+ placing 27th of 62 crews. Alumnus Evan Halprin '02 MGT'03 raced in the director mixed double for Station L and finished 18th of 37 finishers.

The team was disappointed to not be granted a lottery entry for the men. However, the women's excellent result this year guaranteed an entry for next year's race for the second year in a row!

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

2016 Head of the Charles Photo Gallery


Case Off the Pace Against Mercyhurst & Canisius

October 8, 2016: Case Crew participated in an informal scrimmage against Mercyhurst College and Canisius College on Findley Lake just east of Erie, Pennsylvania. Case struggled to hold onto the other two colleges in blustery conditions, and provided good early feedback that when it's race day you come to race.

The event was an invitational hosted by Mercyhurst to showcase their team to local dignitaries and members of the school's Board of Trustees. Mercyhurst sponsors varsity men's lightweight and varsity women's programs while Canisius has a varsity women's squad. Case both their men's and women's club squads to battle in the head/sprint format. The schedule featured a 5k race on a looped course around the lake followed up by a 500m sprint. Final rankings were calculated by multiplying the sprint time by five and adding it to the 5k time. Case competed in five of the eight events offered.


Women's Varsity 8+ racing on Findley Lake, NY.

In the men's races, the varsity and JV eights both finished behind the two entries from Mercyhurst. The men's novice eight finished nearly 7 minutes off the pace of Mercyhurst in the combined time.

The women's varsity 8+ finished fourth behind Mercyhurst and the two Canisius entries, however, they finished ahead of the Mercyhurst B entry by 1.5 minutes. The top women's 4+ finished third overall behind Mercyhurst and Canisius in a 8-boat event. The second entry from Case in the women's varsity 4+ finished in eighth.

The women's novice 8+ event was an all-Case affair with two entries. The "A" entry with a little more experience finished nearly 8 minutes ahead of the Case B entry filled with true novices that had only a couple weeks under their belt. The event provided some valuable race-format experience that will pay dividends later this fall.

Click here for complete race results.

2016 Mercyhurst Autumn Classic Photo Gallery


Case Crew on Fire at the Head of the Cuyahoga

September 17, 2016: Case Crew defended their home waters at the 21st running of the Head of the Cuyahoga. The students were back on campus only a couple weeks before being tested only the winding Cuyahoga River. The weather gods almost scuttled the entire endeavor with thunderstorms bearing down on Cleveland. The first twelve events were launched and caught much of the rain. After a slight pause, racing resumed with almost perfect weather and slight tailwind. The second thunderstorm forecasted only threatened and missed the racing. Fortunately, none of the Case events were adversely affected by the weather.

The team performed exceptionally well throughout the day. The race course ran from the scissor bridge near the steel mill to the boathouse -- about 4800m.The men's and women's eights dominated, and the top men's four also won. The coaches tried not to double up the athletes, which gave a look at a top eight and second fours for both quads. No novice boats were fielded.

The women's varsity 8+ of Emily Schnittmann (s), Ashley Yoon (7), Abby Sevier (6), Joyce Chu (5), Colleen Kennedy (4), Steph Merlino (3), Anna Thomsen (2) and Emmeline Pearson (b) with Josh Zuccula coxing looked comfortable throughout the race. The crew beat two club crews from the Cleveland Rowing Foundation and Three Rivers by over 1.5 minutes. Collegiate crews from John Carroll and Ohio University were off the pace finishing in fourth and fifth respectively.

HOTC
 
photosresults

The men's varsity 8+ of Liam Hoye (s), Kevin Cronin (7), Phil Smith (6), Matt Hausladen (5), Ian Steiner (4), Ryan Norchi (3), Chris Ryu (2) and Wyatt Saint Clair (b) with Elizabeth Tobin coxing also comfortably won their event against five other crews. The closest crew from John Carroll finished 1.5 minutes off Case for silver. The core of the Spartan crew were the varsity eight from Vails last season and their summer conditioning showed as they powered down the 3 mile course.


Women's Varsity 8+ comfortably leading the field into the last thousand!

The men's squad boated two fours against eight other crews. The top four of Ben Lindstrom (s), Luke Fakult (3), Sean Mann (2) and Dave Fulton (b) won by over 20 seconds against the University of Toledo. The second four of Wyatt Saint-Clair (s), Peter Fedrizzi (3), Tyler Ward (2) and Andy Swyers (b) with Helen Liu steering placed 5th about 25 seconds off John Carroll and Cleveland State.

The women's varsity four of Maya Monroe (s), Kate Bush (3), Maria Tompkins (2) and Helen Sanderson (b) with Oona Haffey coxing struggled a bit to find speed and finished 10th in a 20-boat field.

The alumni ranks were not as strong this year with only a handful of us racing. Erynn Rathburn '99 raced her single to second place ahead of alumna and former coach Patty Wolford in the Women's Master Single A-B. Former coach Chris Sheridan took a crack at the C single and was off the pace of a sculler from Toledo to finish second. Current assistant coaches Rachel Stanley and Sharon Romilly took second in a seven-boat Women's Open Pair field. Doug Rathburn '97 was the only entrant in the masters A-B single and got a consolation gold medal, but earned it due to being in the group of scullers pummeled by the morning thunderstorm.

The alumni ranks were not as strong this year with only a handful of us racing. Erynn Rathburn '99 raced her single to second place ahead of alumna and former coach Patty Wolford in the Women's Master Single A-B. Former coach Chris Sheridan took a crack at the C single and was off the pace of a sculler from Toledo to finish second. Current assistant coaches Rachel Stanley and Sharon Romilly took second in a seven-boat Women's Open Pair field. Doug Rathburn '97 was the only entrant in the masters A-B single and got a consolation gold medal, but earned it due to being in the group of scullers launched and then pummeled by the morning thunderstorm.

Doug then teamed up with three current rowers to take on the Men's Open Quad event -- the first time offered at the HOTC. Tim Marcovy arranged for the crew to borrow a shell then found out the morning of that the boat did not have any steering. The crew of Chris Ryu (s), Kevin Cronin (3), Phil Smith (2) and Doug Rathburn (b) rowed half of the course distance pulling with only one side. Smiles were beaming as the gold medals were handed out after a nearly 40 second win! Next year... rudder.


Men's Open 4x storming into the last bend with no rudder!

Click here for complete race results.

2016 Head of the Cuyahoga Photo Gallery


Big boats race on Saturday at Vails!

May 13-14, 2016: Case Crew ventured to Philadelphia with three crews seeking to make a statement at the small and mid-size school national championship regatta. The first-ever women's varsity representing Case at the regatta advanced all the way to the Petit Final and finished 12th overall out of 26 crews. The men's novice 4+ advanced to the Saturday semi-final but finished 3rd and didn't advance. One of the toughest events in the country is the men's varsity 8+ at Vails, and our crew improved on last year's performance but were still not able to advance out of the reps.

The varsity women's programs have NCAAs, the big division I men's programs have IRAs, and after getting kicked out of IRAs the club teams formed ACRA for their national championship. However, the 80-year old Dad Vail Regatta is the last, true all-comers regatta that is the de facto national championship for small and mid-sized colleges whether you're varsity-status or club. Dad Vail hardware is extremely difficult to earn and racing on Saturday (advancing from heats on Friday) is a mark of a fast, national level crew. Fully subscribed events run three semi-finals of six boats each, which means Saturday crews are in the top 18 in the country.

DV
 
photosresults

The women's varsity 8+ of Ashley Yoon (b), Emmeline Pearson (2), Joyce Chu (3), Hannah Olson-Williams (4), Colleen Kennedy (5), Anna Thompson (6), Steph Merlino (7) and Emily Schnittman (s) with Elizabeth Tobin on the ropes rowed consistently all weekend. They drew eventual winners UMass in their Friday heat and took second place to advance against Georgia Tech, John Carroll and varsity program Sacred Heart. This result marked the first-ever time Case has advanced an eight of any type -- women, men or novice -- to the semi-finals at Vails.


Women's Varsity 8+ posing with their lovely Pocock eight, the Triple H.

The weather on Saturday for the semis and finals was forecast to be blustery in the afternoon so race organizers switched everything around and compressed the schedule to finish before 2pm. Beautiful conditions greeted the WV8 for the breakfast time race, and they put in a tremendous effort to finish fourth behind powerhouses Fordham, Grand Valley State and Purdue. The fourth place finished grabbed them a spot in the 2nd level final and marks the first-ever big boat (4+ or 8+) from Case to advance to the finals in the team's history!

The effort from the morning semi beating varsity program La Salle and club Marquette showed in the women's legs for the lunch time petit final. The wind also picked up and the start sequence had them slightly misaligned at the "go". Some fatigue and early course adjustments had our ladies chasing the field from the back. They finished 6th and just a couple seconds off Georgia Tech, the team they comfortably dispatched in the heats.


Men's Novice 4+ racing to 3rd place in the semi-final.

The men's novice 4+ of Dave Fulton (b), Will Warren (2), Sam Nutt (3) and Ben Lindstrom (s) with Oona Haffey (cox) had an impressive showing pulling the 13th fastest time in the heats in a drag race against the varsity men's program from Wentworth Tech -- perennially strong in fours. Their second place heat finish garnered them a place in the Saturday morning semi-finals. In the semi they drew a Murderer's Row of opponents and finished a strong 3rd just missing out on a finals berth. The semi saw Michigan and Villanova taking the top two spots, but Case beat varsity program Drexel on their home course as well as crews from Grand Valley and the varsity squad from Union College.

On a side note, the men's novice 4+ endured the most heated and protracted selection process of the year. The novice squad has six or seven excellent athletes all deserving of post-season racing. The final crew selection was only made days before the event to try and determine the absolute fastest combination. Selection is a mixture of science and art with Head Coach Aaron Marcovy making the statement "I even did a least squares analysis" to help try and determine the way forward.


Men's Varsity 8+ giving Minnesota a race in the heats.

The men's varsity 8+ of Chris Ryu (b), Sean Mann (2), Ryan Norchi (3), Liam Hoye (4), Kevin Cronin (5), Matt Hausladen (6), Luke Fakult (7) and Phil Smith (s) and Masato Miyagi (cox) came to Philly to lay it on the line. They were given reasonable lane draws and ultimately a good repechage. Coaches Aaron and Rachel Stanley followed all races on their bikes and the boys raced to their potential executing the race plans perfectly. In the heat they drew and finished behind Delaware, Grand Valley and Minnesota. Knowing the potential speed in the heat, the crew "shut it down" at the 1000m mark, but were still able to hang onto the stern of the Minnesota crew. This base speed set them up well for the rep later on Friday afternoon.

In the rep the boys left it on the course and executed a great race, but came up a bit short finishing fourth behind Club-Varsity programs Bucknell and UMass-Lowell and the varsity-status program from Loyola Maryland. In the 7-boat rep they finished well ahead of Florida, club-varsity program Lehigh and cross-town rival John Carroll. While the result was the same as last year -- not advancing past the reps -- the team is demonstrably faster than last year. And with a boat full of sophomores and freshman it bodes well for the next couple years in this event.

We also sponsored an alumni tent for the weekend generously catered with donuts and coffee. The tent, located at the 500m to-go point, offered parents and alumni a great place to watch the racing. It was also nice when the rain came Friday afternoon for the MN4+ heats and MV8+ reps. Thank you to all of the parents and alumni who came down to the Schuylkill to cheer the team on this year!
We'll see you next year.

Click here for complete race results.

2016 Dad Vail Regatta Photo Gallery


Alumni, Students & Parents on Saturday.


CWRU Crew 2015-2016 Regatta Schedule

Below is the Case Crew 2015-2016 racing & event schedule with links to the results and photos for each event. For a write up about each completed event continue to scroll down. If possible, please come and cheer the team on!

This year's alumni regatta will again be on April 23, and in conjunction with the event we will hold our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and dinner. If you would like to become a member of the SARA Board, take a leadership position, or vote on current business please come to or dial into the AGM.

25th Anniversary

Date: Event: Location: Results: Photos:
Sept 19 Head of the Cuyahoga Cleveland, OH - Cuyahoga River results photos
Oct 3 Head of the Genesee Rochester, NY results photos
Oct 11 Head of the Grand Lansing, MI results photos
Oct 17 Head of the Charles Boston, MA (Women's Varsity 4+ only) results photos
Nov 7 Head of the Hooch Chattanooga, TN (select boats only) results photos
Feb 13 Hammer Ergatta Cleveland, OH - Cleveland State Campus results photos
Feb 26-27 24 Hour Ergathon (fundraiser) Cleveland, OH - CWRU Campus 848,008m photos
March 7-11 Spring Break Trip Gainesville, GA   photos
April 2 URA Championships Indianapolis, IN results photos
April 9 Lubber's Cup Spring Lake, MI results photos
April 23 Alumni Regatta & SARA AGM Cleveland, OH results photos
April 23 Home Schools Regatta (w/ guest Toledo) Cleveland, OH results photos
May 1 MACRA Championships Harsha Lake, Bethel, OH results photos
May 13-14 Dad Vail Regatta Philadelphia, PA results photos
May 28-29 ACRA Championships - tentative Gainesville, GA    

View details of previous seasons here.

 


MACRA Championship Recap

May 1, 2016: The regional championship MACRA regatta was held this year on Harsha Lake just outside of Cincinnati this year. An ominous weather forecast did not materialize and wonderful summer weather greeted the team. With flat water and temps in the low 80s provided perfect racing conditions, and the team held their own against tough competition. The regatta attracts large clubs and small varsity teams from throughout the Midwest.

The women's varsity 8+ raced to second place in their heat to secure a berth in the Grand Final where they placed fourth overall. The top three places went to Grand Valley, Eastern Michigan and Mercyhurst and ahead of Drake, Vanderbilt and Marquette. EMU, Mercyhurst and Drake are varsity status programs.

The men's varsity 8+ couldn't quite muster grand final speed in their heat and finished fourth. Vowing to improve a slow start in the heats they stormed out of the blocks in the Petit Final and dragged raced Michigan State for 2,000m to win the second level final ahead of MSU, Northwestern, Marquette and Miami.

MACRA 2016
MN4+: Haffey, Nutt, Warren, Saint Clair & Fulton with Coach Marcovy

The men's novice four of Wyatt St Clair, Sam Nutt, Will Warren and Dave Fulton with Oona Haffey steering took the team's only medal from the regatta finishing third overall behind Michigan and Ohio State. The crew reached the grand final by finishing 3rd in their heat behind Ohio State and Michigan's second boat. To medal in the final the crew knew they'd have to improve on their performance to go ahead and beat Michigan B along with Michigan State and MSOE.

MACRA 2016
Women's Varsity 8+ at the 2016 MACRA Championships in Bethel, Ohio.
L-R: Tobin, Schnittman, Merlino, Sevier, Kennedy, Olson-Williams, Chu, Thomsen & Pearson

The team also brought JV eights for both men and women. Few of the teams had that much depth (a resounding endorsement of Case) and the JV events were finals only. This was the first time in team history the crew fielded full JV eights throughout the spring season for both men and women. Case was just a bit off the pace in the first go around finishing 4th out of 4 in the women's race and 6th out of 6 in the men's race.

Race results for the MACRA Championships can be found HERE.

2016 MACRA Championship Photo Gallery


Alumni: They Came, They Raced, They Gave!

April 23, 2016: Nearly 45 alumni and parents descended upon Cleveland for the annual alumni regatta and dinner. The day's programming included the Cleveland Collegiate Regatta (aka Homes School), an alumni mixed 8 race and an evening dinner on CWRU's campus.

The regatta venue changed to Aurora Lake in the Cleveland suburbs for both the Home Schools and alumni racing. The lake itself can host 2,000m 4-lane races without turns making it a better option for side-by-side racing than the Cuyahoga. The Home Schools event pitted CWRU, Cleveland State and John Carroll in the 14th running of the Cleveland Cup, but the first time on Aurora Lake.

During the intermission between varsity and novice races, the alumni had a chance to race. The format changes a bit every year based on who shows up and what type of racing the alumni want to do. Since the varsity men were done with their racing for the day the idea was to split up the men's varsity 8 and mix them into the alumni crews. This gave the alumni a chance to row with the undergrads as opposed to against them this year. The MV8 also provided some "training wheels" to the crews and ended up being pretty fun for the participants.

Alumni Regatta 2016
Some flawless side-by-side alumni/student mixed 8+ racing!

Tim Marcovy aligned the crews in the middle of the lake for a side-by-side 2.5 minute piece that ended in a draw. Team founder Tom Hudak stroked one of the crews and set off at a 38 to give you a sense of the seriousness of the affair. The event was partially hosted by the lake association, which provided a nice pontoon boat for spectators to follow the races. You can see video of the alumni/student mixed eights here.

At the conclusion of the regatta Tom Hudak had a surprise in store for his wife Heather. The women's varsity 8+ has been racing in the Heather Hawkins Hudak unbeknownst to her. The alumni regatta was her first chance at seeing the shell, and she had the honor of sprinkling Champaign over the bow! You can see photos of the dedication here. The shell is a 2007 Pocock Hypercarbon lightweight hull purchased from Ithaca College last autumn. The shell won a couple NCAA championships and the women's team absolutely love it!

Alumni Regatta 2016
Tom Hudak dedicating the latest addition to the Spartan Navy in honor of his wife.

In the evening, we celebrated 25 years of Case Crew in style in the new Tinkham Veale Student Center right in the heart of campus. Between alumni, parents and current students we had nearly 90 guests including representatives from the athletic department.

Alumni Regatta 2016
SARA VP Dan Bachmann (left) with the winner Masato Miyagi and last year's winners Steph Merlino & Abby Sevier.

The students provided a nice introduction to the agenda and followed up current rowers Anna Thomsen and David Fulton providing a testimonial of what rowing on the team means to them. Next up was Aaron Marcovy, the head coach, providing an update to the team's progress over the previous year (presentation link here). Doug Rathburn's presentation included an overview of SARA accomplishments, handing out the Spartan of the Year award to Masato Miyagi, and announcing a couple major gifts. You can view his presentation here. Masato's award was prefaced by an outstanding Oscar-like intro from last year's winners Abby Sevier and Steph Merlino.

The major unveiling during the dinner was the history book project led by Tim Marcovy and Meg Grady Attenweiler. The 200-page book was shown to the public for the first time and Tim said a few words about the project. The book features passages from each head coach of the program supported by anecdotes and photos provided by alumni from each of those eras.

The other major unveiling, coupled with significant financial support from alumni, was the re-naming of the SARA coaching endowment in honor of Tim. Tim has been a stalwart of Case Crew for its full 25 years. Even if he wasn't actively in a coaching launch he was always supporting the team somehow. The main coaching endowment for the team is now the "Timothy A. Marcovy LAW'77 Rowing Coach Endowment".

Alumni Regatta 2016
The raffle underway at the 2016 Case Crew Alumni Dinner. It was a fun evening!

To wrap up the evening Doug announced another major gift from crew alumnus Paul Buchheit. Mike and Trish Krofcheck also ran a hugely successful raffle of crew merchandise to support the team that raised a ton of money. The overall support of the team this year has blown every previous year's results out of the water.

Thank you to everyone that made the day's events special and for everyone's overwhelming generosity to the team. Go Spartans!

Race results for the Alumni Regatta can be found HERE.

2016 Alumni Regatta & Dinner Photo Gallery


Case Crew Dominates Homes Schools for 5th Year in a Row!

April 23, 2016: Aurora Lake in the Cleveland suburbs played host to the 14th running of the Cleveland Collegiate Regatta. Case won the Cleveland Cup sponsored by the Cleveland Rowing Foundation for the fifth year in a row losing only one of the eight events contested -- overall 8 times in the history of the event.

Cleveland Home Schools 2016
Men's Varsity 8+ at the 2016 Cleveland Collegiate Regatta in Aurora, Ohio.
Miyagi (c), Smith (s), Fakult, Hausladen, Cronin, Hoye, Norchi, Mann & Ryu (b)

The annual challenge sees cross town rivals from CWRU, Cleveland State and John Carroll race for Cleveland bragging rights. The weather for the regatta was a bit chilly with temps in the 40s, but racing was fair and conditions relatively calm along the course. This was the first year the event was moved from the Cuyahoga River location. Parents showed up in force and provided food and refreshments to the team. The alumni regatta and racing were also held in conjunction with Home Schools with an alumni/student mixed 8+ event held during intermission.

The lake is managed by the Aurora Lake Association and we have been developing a relationship with the lake association after holding an event there last spring too. The lake affords 4-lane 2,000m straight line racing. The lake association provided on-site support that also included the use of a pontoon boat for spectators. The University of Toledo and University at Buffalo Men were also invited to participate necessitating the better course. Buffalo backed out the day before due to a last minute administrative issue.

In terms of racing, Case dominated the event. The team won everything on the women's side by open water and the men's team only lost the Men's JV/Novice 8+ to Cleveland State. The race actually pitted CSU's varsity squad against Case's undersized frosh squad in what was the closest race of the day. The men's varsity 8 beat John Carroll by over a minute and the men's fours took the top two places in both the varsity and novice races.

The event was a good test of a larger event on Aurora Lake utilizing SARA's new dock. The successful event also helped cement the relationship with the lake association in the hope it becomes the more official home race course of Case Crew. We hope to see you at an event on Aurora Lake in the future!

Cleveland Home Schools 2016
Captain Liam Hoye accepting the Cleveland Cup.

Race results for the Home Schools can be found HERE.

2016 Cleveland Collegiate Regatta Photo Gallery


Strong Showing for Case Crew at 2016 Lubbers Cup

April 9-10, 2016: Blustery winter conditions met Case Crew at their first-ever appearance at the 21st Annual Don Lubbers Cup in Spring Lake, Michigan. The Lubbers Cup is a two-day round robin set of races hosted by Grand Valley State University. The main players are the large, dominate club programs in Michigan and they invite a few other clubs to fill out the program. Based on Case's impressive performance last year at MACRAs and Vails, the team was extended an invite.

Lubbers Cup 2016
Lindstrom, Warren, Nutt & Saint Clair with cox Kabins and the Scott Cup for MN4+

The weather was not favorable to rowing this weekend. Temperatures were in the 30's for all races and the wind was severe. Races during Saturday morning program were shortened to ~1300m after the varsity races. Then there was a long break, almost 6 hours, before the winds died down enough to hold eights races. Sunday morning saw the wind shift direction to a brutal 18-20mph cross headwind that proved difficult for rowers and coxswains. Sunday morning it also snowed sporadically making for fun viewing in near white out conditions for the varsity eights.

The team's best result came from the men's novice four that only got to race on Saturday morning over the shortened 1300m course. The event results for each boat class were determined by margin of victory. So if a crew won your race they received 0 points and those trailing were awarded a point for each second they were behind. Therefore, the winner was the crew with the lowest total of points across all of their races. The men's four handled the deteriorating conditions extremely well and beat the University of Illinois by 34 seconds and University of Cincinnati by over a minute. The other two flights of the men's four on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning were cancelled so these margins of victory stood and the crew brought home the Coach Jim and Chris Scott Cup!

The women's varsity 8+ had a strong showing winning their Saturday morning race against DePaul and Illinois in convincing fashion of a shortened course. In their second flight Saturday afternoon they were paired up with Grand Valley and Purdue who were ranked as the 1st and 3rd best 8's in the country going into racing. The crew didn't quite have the juice to hang onto these crews, but they did hang on! On Sunday morning it was a similar story with the women's V8 racing against varsity programs Drake and Robert Morris. Case led RMU into the 1000m mark, but just could not hang on to the speed with the incredible headwinds to finish third.

Lubbers 2016
Team photo at the 21st annual Don Lubbers Cup in Spring Lake, Michigan.

The men's varsity 8's came on the wrong side of a couple close races. In the first flight of the weekend they were 3 seconds off Illinois and one second off DePaul. They had a second shot at Illinois in the second race and came up a couple inches short. You can see the finish line photo HERE. The MV8 saved their best race for last finishing only 5 seconds off Notre Dame and well ahead of Michigan State.

The JV eights for both men and women were a bit mixed. In each race on the men's and women's sides the JV squads finished off the pace. The depth of the other programs was just a bit too strong, and our second boats didn't handle the rough conditions as well as the top eights. As the coaches finalize the line ups going into the MACRA and Dad Vail championships having some race experience in tough conditions will help those trying to grab a seat in the top eights.

Race results for the Lubbers Cup can be found HERE.

2016 Lubbers Cup Photo Gallery


Rough Water, Strong Performance at URAs

April 2, 2016: The Spartan Navy took to the waters of Eagle Creek in Indianapolis this past weekend against UAA rivals from Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Chicago for the 9th running of the URA Championships. Strong winds churned the waters of the lake, but the Case rowers persevered to win almost every race they entered. The team took home the men's and women's team point cups -- a first for both in team history!

The women's team led the way winning every event they entered. The varsity 8 took the top 8 from Chicago in just over 20 seconds. The women's varsity 4 also took Chicago by over a minute, which bodes well for the team since UC was faster than Case last spring. The women's novice 8 also looked strong and confident in the rough water to beat a struggling UC crew by 3 minutes, which also won the team the Barry Cup. More info on the regatta trophies can be found here. The JV and novice fours were also on form taking wins by significant margins of UC and WashU crews.

The men's team took home gold in both the novice 8 and novice 4 events. The novice 8 won by over two minutes against a UC crew that struggled in the rough water. The novice 4 looked convincing with a couple length win over both UC and WashU, which also won the team the Kesten Cup. Coach Marcovy threw together a new line-up in order to place an entry into the JV 4+ event, but the crew had a rough go of it in the conditions to finish at the back of the pack.

The most interesting event of the day was the first event. Inexperience on top of inexperience between the aligner, coxswains and chase launches pointed the race away from the finish line. It wasn't until about the 1500m mark that everyone realized that progress was in the wrong direction. WashU made the correction first with UC pushing Case further away from the finish tower. Case and Chicago were clearly the class of the field but ended up finishing in 2nd and 3rd, respectively, due to their late course correction.

Conditions prevented the men's pair and varsity four from racing.

Kesten Cup 2016
Sam Nutt, Will Warren, Wyatt Saint Clair, David Fulton with cox Oona Haffey and the Kesten Cup for Men's Novice Fours

Look back at past results of URAs and you will never see such a dominating performance. Historically Case has not managed to hang onto the sterns of Chicago and WashU. However, this year's speed bodes well for the rest of the spring. Go Spartans!

Race results for the URA Championships can be found HERE.

2016 URA Championship Photo Gallery


Spring Break Miles in Georgia

March 6-10, 2016: Case Crew headed south to Gainesville, Georgia and Lake Lanier for spring break training. Coaches Aaron Marcovy and Rachel Stanley shepherded the 44 rowers and coxes that attended the trip. Much of the week focused on technical drills, long steady state pieces, and a few faster AT pieces as they progressed later in the week.

The team was able to get in some preseason racing in with the men scrimmaging Marietta on Wednesday and the women went up against High Point University on Friday morning.

The men have faced Marietta a couple times this year and have come up short each time. However, during this trip the gap closed slightly showing an improvement in speed. The varsity eight were just off the pace of the Pioneer varsity. Also, our JV 8 similarly were off the pace of their JV squad.

The women fared better in their outing against High Point. The Case Varsity pulled 7:19 for 2km vs. 7:48 from High Point. The High Point second boat took our second boat after our ladies struggled after taking wake from a launch.

Rower Sean Mann put together this excellent highlight video from the week:

Tons of photos from the week are also here in the 2016 Spring Break Photo Gallery


Team Pulls nearly 850km in 24-hour Erg-a-Thon

February 26-27, 2016: Case Crew completed its annual 24-hour Erg-a-thon on campus pulling just over 848km as a team. The team started rowing on Friday afternoon and a flywheel kept spinning until the following day. The event is an annual fundraiser where parents and friends chip and the students also run a bake sale for passers-by.

The total of 848,008 meters rowed over the 24hr period blew away our goal of 'rowing to Dad Vails' (which was only 682,362m). Chris Ryu erged a full marathon, while Joyce Chu and Andy Swyers both rowed half marathons. Liam Hoye racked up the most meters over the ergathon with 66,666m total. In general, rowers signed up for hour-long shifts over the 24 hrs to make sure that someone was on the erg at all times.

30 different people (non-rowers) competed in 500m sprints to win gift cards. About $60 was raised from the 'donate a dollar to make a rower sprint for 100m' campaign. Unsurprisingly, Daniel Marcovy (at the insistence of his father) was a major donor in this particular stunt, as the Marcovy family seems to enjoy watching Case Crew suffer on the erg.

Most rowers sent out letters to friends and family asking for donations, but since money is still being sent in and collected, we don't have an overarching figure on this front as of yet. The goal was for each rower to fundraise $150 for the event.

2016 Erg-a-thon Photo Gallery

Thanks to Colleen Kennedy for the update

Erg-a-thon 2016


Case Crew Wins Hammer Cup for 2nd Straight Year

February 21, 2016: Case Crew set the bar high for Cleveland colleges during the 27th edition of the Hammer Ergatta. This year's results build upon a strong program instituted by head coach Aaron Marcovy and saw the team bring home the Hammer Cup for the 2nd straight year. The Hammer Cup has been contested between Case and John Carroll since 1995 with Cleveland State joining the action in 2008. Case leads the series with twelve wins to JCU's 8 and CSU's 2 wins.

This year's event was held in the Student Recreation Center on Cleveland State's campus. The well organized event saw Case take home Hammers (yes, actual hammers) in almost every event they entered. The women's team had 7 athletes break 8 minutes with Abby Sevier breaking 7:20! In fact, the Open Women took 5 of the top 6 slots, the Novice Women took three of the top four and the novice lightweights took all three top slots. The second fastest woman was Joyce Chu in the novice event pulling a 7:37.1 who just learned to row on the erg a couple months ago!

wish list
Domination by Hannah Olson-Williams (2nd), Steph Merlino (3rd) & Abby Sevier (1st) with the coaching staff looking on.
photosresults

The men's team also showed speed and depth. The men had ten athletes break seven minutes with junior Liam Hoye leading the way with a 6:21.5 to win the Open Men's category. The Case men took all top 5 slots in the Open category. The novice men's category has Case taking all three top slots with Freshman Ryan Norchi taking the golden hammer in 6:44.0. The lightweight team shows some promise with the novices taking all 6 top spots with Wyatt SaintClair winning in 7:05.4. Take a look at 20 years of Hammer results to see just how fast and deep this squad is.

The last event of the day was the Sledgehammer 6x500m mixed relay. The official results show Case in 2nd, 4th and 9th, but the winning squad was all men while every other team was mixed. The top two teams were varsity Case squads and the third team were novices. The fastest Case relay team completed the 3km in 9:41.7 to take home the silver sledgehammer.

Jim Ridge of WRRA and Share the River created this wonderful video from the event to highlight the variety and intensity of the racing. Zach Lewis of the Plain Dealer also raced and did a write up about his experience here on Cleveland.com or here in PDF

Race results for the Hammer Ergatta can be found HERE.

2016 Hammer Ergatta Photo Gallery


It's Time for the January Virtual Team Challenge!

  Rower Meters
1 James Wehn 422,723
2 Chris Ryu 308,854
3 Thomas Schwertner 304,216
4 Dan Bachmann 300,350
5 Tom Hudak 291,000
6 Doug Brubaker 279,000
7 Doug Rathburn 260,900
8 Kevin Cronin 260,596
9 Abigail Sevier 235,329
10 Rachel Stanley 231,225
11 Ryan Norchi 228,985
12 Luke Fakult 224,266
13 Matthew Hausladen 202,814
14 Mike Krofcheck 202,056
15 Philip Smith 200,846
16 Kelli Anderson 200,447
17 Brian Chorney 200,002
18 Benjamin Lindstrom 200,001
19 Evan Halprin 200,000
20 Sean Mann 184,801
21 John Calhoun 171,082
22 Masato Miyagi 170,357
23 Liam Hoye 163,786
24 Wyatt Saint Clair 161,706
25 Ashley Yoon 148,071
26 David Fulton 144,739
27 Ian Steiner 140,367
28 Helen Sanderson 138,994
29 Maria Tompkins 137,368
30 Colleen Kennedy 132,256
31 Peter Fedrizzi 130,168
32 Ram Fish 119,777
33 Sam Nutt 119,219
34 Gary Clark 112,884
35 Tuck Pescosolido 108,870
36 William Warren 108,269
37 Jess Wilson-Woodrow 106,500
38 Erynn Rathburn 102,106
39 Christian Juengling 101,586
40 Daniel Hong 100,693
41 Chris Bowley 100,105
42 Michaela Kus 93,720
43 Jennifer Roberts 81,421
44 Grace Karabinus 80,990
45 Emily Schnittman 80,236
46 Janet Clark 63,875
47 Eileen Gordon 49,866
48 Jennifer Lohmeier 41,097
49 Lucas Vroege 37,000
50 Carol Brubaker 28,883
51 Trisha Krofcheck 26,370
52 Karla Rosenman 26,270
53 Jessica Powell 22,500
54 Tom Attenweiler 20,687
55 Amy Moore 19,636
56 Lauren Boucher 18,939
57 Heather Babish 14,933
58 Nina Ma 8,351
59 Meg Grow 6,537
60 Margaret Attenweiler 5,000
Total Team Meters 8,383,625

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!

To join the team follow the instructions 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.

Status as of February 2 at 10am
Case Crew - Spartan Alumni - 8,383,625 meters
University of Chicago Crew - 6,488,814 meters
Purdue University Crew - 5,526,667 meters
U Chicago Alumni Crew - 3,302,144 meters
Grand Valley Rowing Alumni - 1,094,699 meters
Notre Dames / Olden Domers - 699,955 meters
Fat Cats-Princeton Alums - 230,607 meters

JVTC

Past Year's JVTC Results:
2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010


Varsity 8's Place in Top 5 at the Head of the Hooch

November 7-8, 2015: Case Crew men's and women's varsity eights headed to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the last great head race in the fall - The Head of the Hooch. The early November event draws thousands of competitors from across the South and Midwest to the beautiful 5,000m downstream course on the Tennessee River. Case sent their two top eights to race on Saturday with the women taking fourth out of 30 crews and the men places fifth out of 28 crews.


Hooch WV8: Schnittmann, Merlino, Sevier, Kennedy, Olson-Williams, Roberts, Thomsen, Monroe with Miyagi (cox)
© SportGraphics

The coaches seat raced the squads during the weeks after the Charles to identify the fastest potential line up. This included allowing the frosh/novice squad to participate in the mix. The final line ups included two rower each from the frosh/novice squad. The women's 8+ line up of Emily Schnittmann (s), Steph Merlino (7), Abby Sevier (6), Colleen Kennedy (5), Hannah Olson-Williams (4), Jen Roberts (3), Anna Thomsen (2), Maya Monroe (b) and Masato Miyagi (cox) were first up in the morning. The crew finished in fourth with only four crews finishing with a sub-18 minute time. Taking the top three spots were community rowing from Boston, Clemson University and the Chicago Rowing Foundation. Trailing the Spartans were a full list of UAA and Division I colleges.


Hooch MV8: Fakult, Ryu, Norchi, Mann, Cronin, Hoye, Smith and Holdren with Kabins (cox)
© row2k

Rain fell most of the day Saturday, but it didn't slow down the crews. The men's line up of Matt Holdren (s), Phil Smith (7), Liam Hoye (6), Kevin Cronin (5), Sean Mann (4), Ryan Norchi (3), Chris Ryu (2), Luke Fakult (b) and Liana Kabins (cox) took 5th overall. The crew were only 18 seconds off the winners from UNC Chapel Hill. Adrenaline was at play with the team reporting sub-1:25 splits off the start. The pace tapered a bit as the boys settled down to beat another long list of UAA and DI schools in Chattanooga for the race.

The race marked the end of the Case rowing careers of a number of team stalwarts. With spring racing not allowing grad students, the phenomenal performances at the Hooch capped marvelous careers for Abby Sevier, Steph Merlino and Matt Holdren.

Racing in the big boats was complete before lunch on the first day and the team drove back to Cleveland. Chris Ryu '16 hung back in order to race on Sunday in the Champ Single. The temperatures from Saturday dropped from the mid 60's to the mid 50's on Sunday. The wind also picked up to give the course a strong cross tail wind, which made progress to the start a bit dicey. Chris finished in 13th place with a time of 19:53.8 in a field of 17 scullers.


SARA Men's Master 4x: Rathburn, A. Marcovy, T. Marcovy & Brubaker
© SportGraphics

Alumni were also in action at the race with SARA racing a men's master quad on Saturday morning. The line-up of Doug Rathburn (s), Aaron Marcovy (3), Tim Marcovy (2) and Doug Brubaker (b) dusted off the SARA racing shirts (cotton in a rain storm = not a great idea) to finish in 11th out of 14 crews. Most importantly they beat the alumni entry from WashU. Doug also raced in the master single event on Sunday placing 10th out of 16 scullers.

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

2015 Head of the Hooch Photo Gallery


Women's Varsity 4+ Finish Strong in Boston; Qualify for Next Year!

October 17, 2015: The Case Crew women's varsity four headed to Boston for the 51st Head of the Charles Regatta. The world's largest regatta hosted over 10,000 athletes over two days on the Charles River. The women's four of Steph Merlino, Abby Sevier, Colleen Kennedy and Hannah Olson-Williams with Masato Miyagi coxing finished in 31st place out of 63 finishers. The position re-qualified the boat for next year's regatta. This performance was the first ever re-qualification for a Case team boats in team history!


Charles Qualifiers: Merlino, Sevier, Kennedy, Olson-Williams and Miyagi with Coach Rachel Stanley

The crew were not lucky with the bow draw. They drew number 64, or last in the line of Women's Club Fours. In order to qualify they would have to battle through the best clubs and colleges in the country. There are conflicting reports on how many crews our ladies actually passed, but they were many. The men's club 8+ event started right after them after a short pause, and no men's crews were able to catch our crew!

Cold and blustery conditions proved difficult for many crews. White caps were reported in the Charles River Basin where the race starts. Stiff head winds battered against the crews for most of the course leading to unusually slow times across the board. Temperatures were on the edge of comfort hovering in the 40's for most of the day.

By finishing in the top half of the field, Case is guaranteed an entry in the event for the 2016 regatta. On their way to the top tier finish, we beat a number of marquee crews including Princeton (!), Bryn Mawr, Penn State, Rutgers, Vanderbilt and RPI to name a few. Great job ladies!

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

2015 Head of the Charles Photo Gallery


Strong Showing at the Head of the Grand in Lansing, MI

October 11, 2015: Case Crew traveled to Lansing, Michigan for the third year in a row to test their mettle against the strong programs based in Michigan. The race, hosted by Michigan State, is an informal head race on the Grand River covering 3,300m. The Sunday event hosted only collegiate crews and both the men's and women's team placed 4th overall in points behind the likes of Grand Valley, Michigan State, Notre Dame (men) and Eastern Michigan (women).

Grand 2015Novice women heading to the water.

The performance versus last year shows the progress the team has made. In the women's varsity 4+ event CWRU's "A" entry was 2:08.5 off of the gold medal time (GMT) in 2014, while in 2015 they were off 0:57 off the pace with the JV 4+ 1:22.0 off of the GMT. In the 2014 MV8+ CWRU was off the mark by 1:12.8, and in 2015 were 0:46.0 behind and the JV 8+ were 1:47.0 off the winners. In 2015 the team fielded double the number of crews as well!

In the women's varsity 8+, Case finished behind both Michigan State entries and Eastern Michigan's "A" entry -- both varsity status programs. They also were beaten by Grand Valley's "A" entry by 25 seconds to finish in 5th out of nine entries. In the women's novice 8+ it was all Eastern Michigan and Grand Valley boats with Case tying with two GVSU entries for third place out of 8 crews.

As mentioned above the Men's Varsity 8+ improved greatly over last year's row. They took 4th overall behind Grand Valley and two Notre Dame crews. However, of note is the team beat both entries from Michigan State, which we believe this is the first time ever for our program! The men's novice 8+ finished in the middle of the pack against a number of larger program entries. The men's varsity 4+ had a good race finishing 4th in the pack of large schools and far ahead of the smaller schools entered.

Grad student Doug Brubaker brought his single along and raced an exhibition against eight pairs to finish 7th!

We cannot stress the progress the team is making. In the overall team point category, both squads finished fourth behind the larger schools with Case finishing with double digit points finishing in the mix within all races. Take a look at the results for yourself below...

Click here for complete race results.

2015 Head of the Grand Photo Gallery


Medals for Varsity Women and Novice Men in Rochester

October 3, 2015: Case Crew passed on the Head of the Ohio for the first time since 1993 seeking tough Division III competition in Rochester, New York at the Head of the Genesee. The competition on offer, regatta organization and recent weather in Pittsburgh prompted the move to Rochester. The two-day Head of the Genesee plays host to most of the upstate New York teams - both club and varsity sponsored programs -- and the Saturday events are college only. The Case women's four of Steph Merlino (s), Abby Sevier (3), Colleen Kennedy (2), Hannah Olson-Williams (b) and Masato Miyagi (c) walked away with the Margaret Bodenstedt Cup for open fours. The Novice squad also posted solid results finishing with silver in the men's eight and fourth in the women's eight. The men's varsity eight finished in the middle of the pack behind mostly varsity programs and just off the heels of UAA rival Rochester -- closer than a Case men's 8 has ever been to Rochester.


Merlino, Sevier, Miyagi, Kennedy and Olson-Williams with the Margaret Bodenstedt Cup for Open Fours

As the east coast was being battered by a tropical storm, wind and rain forced the postponement of the event. The organizers eventually re-grouped and instead of holding the 4,000m event on the Genesee River moved it over to the Erie Canal. The dead straight, two-boat wide Erie Canal served Case well for racing and putting down fast times.

Case entered two women's fours into the open event. And as noted before took home the Cup while the JV squad took 10th overall out of 14 crews. Overall there were nine varsity crews in the event with our JV crew beating three. The regatta typically plays host to a handful of Division I schools that were not in attendance this year. Take a look at the names of the previous cup winners in the gallery: Cornell, Syracuse, Brock, McGill, etc. During the awards ceremony the announcer was pleasantly surprised to be handing the cup to regatta newcomer CWRU!

The men's novice squad fielded two crews and the coaching staff split experienced rowers with true novices. The crews finished second and seventh out of nine crews claiming the second medal for Case. The boys are eager to see how they hold up against the Michigan teams at the Head of the Grand next weekend.


All smiles from the men's novice 8+ with their Head of the Genesee silver medals!

The women's novice squad finished 30 seconds out of the medals in fourth out of 11 crews. DIII Varsity powerhouses Ithaca and Rochester took the top two spots with club team SUNY Geneseo claim the bronze. Behind the Spartans were four other varsity squads from RIT A & B, William Smith and Rochester B.

Click here for complete race results.

2015 Head of the Genesee Photo Gallery


Case Crew Alumnus Honored by Case Alumni Association

Case Crew alumnus Ram Fish '95, MS '95 has been honored with the Meritorious Service Award by the Case Alumni Association (CAA). All of the 2015 alumni award winners will be honored on campus during homecoming weekend October 8-11.

Fish 2015

The CAA citation reads:

After completing both his bachelor's and master's degree in computer engineering at the Case School of Engineering, Fish received an MBA from Yale University's School of Management in 2001. With more than 20 years experience in developing products, Fish has become a true leader in his field. Previously, Fish worked for Apple and Nokia and founded two successful startups, BlueLibris and Fonav.

In his role at Samsung Electronics, Fish was responsible for driving new initiatives focused on disruptive technologies and platforms for the health and wellness market, including wearable technology.

Ram is still an active rower when time permits at the Bair Island Aquatic Center in Silicon Valley. He has extended an open invitation to alums wishing to row if ever in town. He went out for a practice with the varsity men and you can see the photos here.


Students Claim Cuyahoga Medals in Every Event; Alumni Not-so-much

September 19, 2015: Case Crew fielded 11 crews across 8 events and took home hardware in all eight events at the 20th running of the Head of the Cuyahoga (HOTC). Every member of the team, varsity and novice, raced collegiate teams from Marietta College, Ohio University, Miami University, and the University of Toledo along with the other Cleveland home schools John Carroll University, and Cleveland State University. The weather threatened thunderstorms all day and wind blew steadily from the south giving a push to crews down the first main straight to Marathon Bend and then to Tower City. Most of the students raced the course twice resulting in a 20km day.


Alumni Men's 8+ at the 2015 Head of the Cuyahoga
L-R: McCormick, Juengling, Pfahl, Krofcheck, Uber, Bachmann, Brubaker, Rathburn and Monroe (cox)

The Spartan Alumni Rowing Association was in force and entered the Masters Men's 8+ and 4+ events. The alums put on a brave performance, but a lack of performance and age handicap saw both crews finish well down the pack. However, there were lots of smiles and delusions that they would be faster next year. The eight was made up of a mix of alumni along with inactive & active rowers while the four of Uber, Rathburn, Krofcheck and Bachmann did not go faster due to their all-alumni status.

On the women's side, a brewing rivalry is being formed between Case and Miami of Ohio. The teams met up last spring over 2000m on Aurora Lake and Miami got the best of the Spartans in the big boats. Miami came north for the HOTC and took the Open 8+ gold over Case who were 9 seconds off the pace. In the varsity 4+ Case lost out to last year's event winners from Upper Arlington by 50 seconds for silver.

Most of the novice women's squad picked up an oar three weeks ago and did not quite have enough juice to keep up with the Cleveland State squad filled with mostly novices from the spring. The novice women's 8+ took silver ahead of Westerville RC, but were still over 1.5 minutes off the CSU pace. In the novice women's 4+ Case took third behind Cleveland State and Greater Columbus Rowing Association.

The Men's squad faced off against Marietta College, a varsity program, in the V8 and V4. Case fielded one 8 and Marietta brought their varsity and JV crews. Case drew bow number 1 and held off Marietta's V8 all the way to Collision Bend, but a wide course around the turn brought the crews level. The SARA 8 was in position to watch the crews race to the old boathouse, but Marietta was just too strong and passed Case under Carter Road. The final verdict had Case just under a minute off the winning pace and ahead of the Marietta JV 8+ by over a minute.

Cuyahoga 2015
Women's JV 4+
Kus (b), Powell (2), Schnittman (3), Karabinus (s), Kabins (c)

In the men's varsity 4+ a similar result was in the cards with the Case top four of Holdren, Cronin, Liam Hoye and Ryu taking silver in between the varsity and JV crews from Marietta. Case's JV four finished in 7th place ahead of crews from Cleveland State, Orchard Lake, Miami, Ohio and John Carroll.


Engine Room of the Case Men's Varsity 8+
L-R: Fakult, Hausladen, Cronin, Hoye, Ryu, Holdren and Kabins (cox)

The men's frosh/novice recruiting class was fill with rowers that had experience in high school. The experience showed in the novice 8's and fours. Case fielded two novice 8's with the more experienced crew winning over John Carroll and the three-weeks-into-the-sport novices finishing behind JCU in third. The lone novice 4+ entry also on their event ahead of crews from Cleveland State, Ohio University and a high school composite crew from Pittsburgh.

A number of current CWRU grad students also entered a handful of small boat events with James Wehn taking gold in the Masters C 1x and Doug Brubaker placing 2nd in the Open 1x. In the women's open pair former U. Chicago rower Aurelie Merlo and Christina Liu formerly of Emory placed a respectable fourth in the event. The duo try to squeeze in a few outings between medical and graduate school commitments and are extremely appreciative of the team and SARA equipment.

Current and former coaches also got into the act. Assistant Coach Bob Gannon and former head coach Patty Wolford raced the mixed double for WRRA. Assistant Coach Tim Marcovy was also spotted in a couple WRRA shells throughout the day.

Cuyahoga 2015
Rathburn '97 & Vroege '17

At the conclusion of racing alumni, students and parents gathered to celebrate the addition of three(!) eights to the Spartan Navy. The shells were acquired by SARA from Ithaca College and Cornell University this summer and have been put into daily use by the crew since classes started. SARA acquired a 2007 Pocock lightweight 8+ for the women's team and two matching 1999 heavyweight Resolute eights for the men's team.

SARA provided the funds and a number of alumni and parents stepped up to defray some of the costs. The women's eight was sponsored by team founder Tom Hudak '92 and named after his wife. Tom wasn't in attendance so we did not officially christen this shell and will wait until he is in town next spring. Seven of the seats in the women's eight were ultimately sponsored by parents and alumni.

The Resolute 8's were also both sponsored and both were christened at the event. The family of current rower Lucas Vroege '17 dedicated the "Don McGrath" who was Lucas' grandfather. Doug Rathburn '97 provided the funded to name the second eight the "Alumni Victorius". You can see photos of the christening here.

Thanks to everyone that came to the race, braved the weather and provided for a wonderful christening ceremony!

Click here for complete race results.

2015 Head of the Cuyahoga Photo Gallery


Tons of Photos and Race Results

SARA Gallery

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!


 

 

 

Make donations with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!

 

Amazon

 

 

Death Row T-shirt

 

Send mail to the webmaster with questions or comments about this web site.
Update your information HERE.
S.A.R.A. is an independent, not for profit 501(c)(3) corporation.
© Spartan Alumni Rowing Association
Last modified: February 13, 2024
Supporting Case Crew and the Spartan Navy since 2003