Crew Club
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2003-2004 SeasonBy Jeff BrownFollowing the inaugural spring season the ISU Crew Club met the new school year with ferocity, but still striving for the same goal, to become a stable competitive sports club. With Mike Woolley at President, Matt Solnitzky at Vice President, Jason Franklin at Secretary and Dana Frits at Treasurer the new school year took off with a bang. Early recruitment took the club from 7 returning members to over 40 with new members.. New members were split into a Women's Novice Crew and a Men's Novice Crew, and were brought up to speed with the basics of rowing as well as physical condition training during the 3 weekly morning practices. The future looked bright not only for the new batch of novices to the club, but also for the returning members. Mike Woolley, Jason Franklin, Justin Gumm, Joel Dunham, Matt Solnitzky, and Jeff Brown returned to the club and formed the very successful Men's Varsity Crew. The Men's Varsity Crew began to practice even before the school year started. Rowing four times a week, the Varsity Crew quickly learned just how much dedication the sport of rowing requires, but also what the rewards of a good row could be. Coach Kafer instilled in them the belief that every practice counts and that results are always around the corner. The first races of the season were for the Varsity only, as the Novice squads trained to learn the basics until their first race later in the fall season. The first race of the fall season was the Head of the Des Moines, a 5 kilometer race on the Des Moines river. The Varsity Crew competed and were something of a dark horse to the Midwest rowing community. College crews from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wheaton, Kansas, and Kansas State among others were listed to row in the event, which would be the first true test of the Iowa State Crew Club. While waiting for the rolling start, this author can remember being laughed at, as no one had heard of a Iowa State Crew Club, and rather than assume they were a good crew, most seemed to think the worst. As the rolling start commenced, ISU pulled with full pressure, passing 2 boats in the first 1400 meters. ISU rowed on the Des Moines river daily and so the crew was helped by a bit of "home field advantage" and so ISU took to the water with their plan and executed it to perfection finishing in 5th place of 13. Thanks to the result at the Head of the Des Moines, the ISU Crew Club started with greater momentum in all of their activities. The next race was an away event, the Head of the Mississippi in Minneapolis Minnesota. In the event, the ISU Varsity shell raced to their best statistical finish in a head race to date. Starting late from the rest of the pack of 10 boats, the crew had to make up for lost distance, but in the process passing women's crews who split them from the rest of the event's field. The Crew rowed for the anticipated 5k distance, but nearly 3000 meters in the race, they found out that the race was actually some 3700 meters and that the end was almost near. Rowing at a controlled and strong pace the crew entered the final 400 meters pacing a CSBSJU shell, from whom ISU inched away while their opponents tried in vain a "power twenty". For their efforts the Varsity Men were awarded with 2nd place in a field of 10, including a win over the prestigious University of Minnesota "A" boat. Over the semester the crew club continued it's training and business. The Novice Crews were getting on the water, learning the proper rowing techniques and the general mood was very high. Two weeks after the Head of the Mississippi the Varsity Crew headed into a two day race weekend. The first race was the Quad Cities Classic in Rock Island Illinois, and the Varsity Crew hoped to continue with their success from the previous races. The race became hotly contested on the Mississippi River with ISU finishing in 3rd position out of 14 boats, as only Wheaton College shells A & B finished higher. The second race of the weekend was the Head of the Rock in Rockford Illinois. Due to illness the line up for this race had only been rowed in practices and so both crew and cox were excited to see how they would perform. Head of the Rock was the biggest exposure for the crew to US Collegiate Rowing. Teams from Notre Dame, Michigan, and Marquette raced and the atmosphere was very exciting for all. From the start of the race the ISU Crew was on top form, in fact the Crew passed 4 other Crews, including a bit of ISU lore where an U of Iowa boat rowing power 20s around 26 strokes-per-minute, was passed while the ISU crew "walked" through them at a long and strong 22 spm. "The Rock" was not the prettiest of races, but ISU powered down the course, finishing an outstanding 5th out of 32 boats, beating the likes of Iowa, Kansas, and Kansas State. After each race the Varsity Crew brought that newly gained energy to the general membership of the Club. The excitement for rowing was also growing as all Crews would get to row at the next race, the Head of the Iowa in Iowa City. ISU fielded the largest number of boats to date with a Men's Lightweight 8+, Mens Varsity 4+, Women's Novice 8+, and a Men's Novice 8+. The day of the race was cold and gray, but that did not dampen the spirits of the now formidable ISU Crew Club. The first race of the day was the Men's Lightweight 8+, combining the Varsity and Novice Men under 165 pounds. A clean and powerful race was rowed for what seemed like a sure win, but ended in silver as ISU finished behind Kansas State over 5000 meters. The next race was the Men's Varsity 4+, rowing in yet another large pack or 29 boats. ISU Finished well in 9th, and were able to beat many of the regular opponents. The second half of the day at the Head of the Iowa featured the Novice Crews, both who had put in great effort during the previous 2 months to reach their competitive debut. The Women's Novice 8+ rowed first rowing in a field of officially sanctioned rowing teams, but despite their competitor's funding and resources, the Women finished an exciting 30th of 33. The last Crew was the Men's Novice 8+, a shell who was the most powerful of any in the Club's history. What should have been a great row, was marred by equipment failure placing ISU at 13th of 13. Regardless of the results of the day, the team had succeeded in such a way that was not thought possible before recruitment commenced only 2 months before. The ISU Crew Club had gone from a small band of highly dedicated rowers to a Men and Women's Sports Club with nearly 30 members. As the head season ended, the future of the Club looked very promising for all involved. Not all developments were as positive off the water for the club. The adoptive home of the Crew Club, the Des Moines Rowing Club had decided to end the working relationship that had been developed the spring before. It was a hard blow to the fledgling club. The team would have no home at the end of the Spring semester. In response to this blow the Board and Crew formulated a plan for their own club house and equipment purchases. The purchase of a brand new Kaschper 8+, thanks to funding from the Government of the Student Body, was finalized and the shell was delivered. It was stored in the State Gym hanging from rafters until it was needed. What would have been the death procession of less hardy clubs became a defiant march towards establishing a stable organization. When the spring season came to head, some 20 rowers were ready to compete in their first full spring regatta season. The first race of the season was at the Upper Midwest Collegiate Sprints in Omaha. 3 shells were entered for the, giving a everyone on the team a chance to race 2000 meters. Omaha was another event where team spirit helped to make the day more than just a race. The Varsity Men competed in a 4+ event placing 4th. The Novice Women showed their impressive form thanks to numerous returning members by finishing 5th. The Novice Men rowed well but just out of the medals. All three Crews came just short of a medal, but with the results and energy from the members, the spring season had plenty of promise. The second of the races was held in Moline Illinois as a duel with Augustana. ISU was able to field 6 boats for 3 races, including a mixed 8+ event. The first race was a Women's 4+ race, including 2 ISU shells and 1 Augustana shell. In what were less than idea conditions, both boats battled for much of the 2000 meters and in the end ISU A won over ISU B and in 3rd Augustana. This was a momentous event, as this was the first win ever recorded for the ISU Crew Club. The second race was a Men's 4+ race, were the ISU boats had the disadvantage of only rowing with their race day lineups once before, but when the race came, no disadvantage was found at ISU A came 1st followed by ISU B, both some 16 seconds ahead of Augustana. The last race of the day, was a fun race of sorts, a Mixed 8+ event with 2 ISU boats and 1 Augustana boat. ISU. From the beginning it was obvious that is was just ISU's day with a 1 2, ISU A over ISU B. Thanks to these outstanding results the ISU Crew Club were ready to race in their most important event, the Cy-Hawk Regatta. For the 2nd year the Cy-Hawk (according to ISU) or Hawk-Cy (according to Uof I), would be held on the Des Moines River. The day would be split into two events. The first being a Men's A race and Men's B race. If there was only one race of the season this would have been it for the ISU Men. The Men's A boat consisted of the Varsity rowers who had all been with the team from the start of it all, at Coralville reservoir a year earlier. The returning men knew that the task would not be easy, but as they had shown themselves faster in all of the head races of the fall going 13-0 versus the Hawkeyes' times, and taking the winning momentum from the beginning of the spring season the crew was ready. The lineup of the first ISU crew with potential of winning the Cy-Hawk trophy oar for the first time was given to Jason Franklin at coxswain, Jeff Brown at stroke, Joel Dunham at 3, Mike Woolley at 2, and Matt Solnitzky at bow. Once the teams had arrived the coin was tossed and ISU won, choosing the middle of the river on a downstream course of 1500 meters. Oxford and Cambridge, Yale and Harvard have their famous duel races, but this race was just as important for Iowa State and Iowa. From the words of the starter "Are you ready? Go!" the race belonged to ISU, wherein the first 200 meters ISU cleared a full shell length from Iowa. Each crew rowed their own race, but when the first boat crossed the finish line to the air-horn, it wasn't until 16 seconds that the horn was blown again. Iowa State had won commandingly over Iowa. In the span of roughly 1 year, Iowa State went from loosing their first 2 races to Iowa, to winning the next 14 races versus their rival in the second year of the Club. For the rowers that had formed the Club and kept it alive through meager times, they were now on the top of their sport. Much as Oxford and Cambridge have their Isis and Goldie race, this day had their "B" boat race as well. The fortunes that favored ISU A did not do the same for the B shell as Iowa pulled away and finished by clear water. From what had seemed like a quaint weekend race the year before, the current day's results ensured that Iowa State would be there to race Iowa in the Cy-Hawk Regatta for years to come. The shame of midwestern rowing is that the river thaw and finals week limit the rowing season to little more than 1 month and a half. With this fact of nature, ISU found themselves with only one race left, but possibly their most competitive regatta to date, the Midwestern Rowing Championships in Madison Wisconsin. The weeks leading up to the final race in Madison saw Iowa State dedicate themselves to a new level of focus and a new level of commitment. Sunday April 24 might have been a cold dark morning, but 18 rowers were ready to meet their challenge with fierce determination. The first race was the Women's Novice 4+. Placed in an event that is typically dominated by Wisconsin, both Women's shells did the best, but only ISU A advanced into the consolation or "Petite" finals, in which they eventually finished 4th. The Novice Men competed in the Novice 4+ event, but yet again the tough field of 6 shells, including 3 Wisconsin shells, did not allow ISU to show their due potential, as ISU did not advance. Fortune did favor ISU later in the day as the final two events were also the two with the most promise, the Novice Women 8+ and the Varsity Men in the Lightweight Men's 4+. The Novice Women took the early lead in their heat, only to have the race restarted due to another boat's equipment failure. On the re-row, ISU managed to finish well enough to go into the Petite final, where they finished in 3rd on a near deadheat with Beloit College by 2.2 seconds. The final event of the day was the Men's Lightweight 4+ race. The Varsity athletes had trained hard all year, but had realized that their smaller stature could not ensure consistent finishes against other open weight class boats, and so they trained with a goal to row lightweight . Each athlete was required to weight less than 160 lbs, with the boat averaging 155. The fine-line to lightweight rowing is to loose weight, but not compromise strength or health, the varsity men met this goal with each man loosing at least 5 lbs to secure a place in the event. The Cy-Hawk winning lineup was kept for a race that would be the last for some, and the Crew had great potential going against a lineup of Kansas, Creighton, Xavier, and Lawrence. In the early stages of the race it was a dead heat with Kansas, Lawrence, and ISU, by midstage Kansas had taken the lead and Lawrence was challenging ISU for second. That challenge by Lawrence was refused as ISU held their place and finish 2nd to Kansas with Lawrence at 3rd. With the emotional leadup to the day, and the excitement of such a big race, ISU Crews, both old and new finished in fantastic form, taking finishes in 2nd, 3rd, and 4 positions. Each year the Crew Club is special and no two will ever be the same. But the lasting impacts of the 2003-2004 season are that it showed how fortunes can change for the better despite outside influences and that when the right elements come together, along with determination and perseverance, great things can happen. With the future looking limitless for the Iowa State Crew Club, it is assured that the team will meet and exceed these achievements in the years to come. 2003-2004 Women's Crew Men's Crew Varsity Crew Dana Frits John Dashner Jeff Brown Andrea Smook Tolga Meco Joel Dunham Jessica Lambert Jay Mueller Jason Franklin Angel Modtland Nic Osterhaus Justin Gumm Jessica Parkhurst Alex Rodriguez Matt Solnitzky Maryn Ptaschinski Halim Meco Mike Woolley Kate Schroeder Megan Sellheim Coxswains Natasha Bleimehl Jason Franklin Coach Chris Kafer |
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