Rowing team looks for more consistency
- Aug. 15, 2012
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The goal for the Kansas Rowing team is to avoid the late-season struggles that plagued them after a great start to last year.
Head coach Rob Catloth said that these late season struggles were a result of the team’s youth.
“We had a young team last year, predominantly a freshmen and sophomore squad and I think early in the season they had good speed and times,” Catloth said. “As the season went on they ran out of gas or had a hard time maintaining where they were and that happens when you’re young.”
44 of the 65 women on the team last spring were freshmen and sophomores, which increases the importance of gaining valuable rowing experience.
With only five seniors graduating from last season’s team, the hope is that the team will grow and mature in order to maintain their consistency throughout the season and avoid last season’s fall-off.
Cathloth signed nine student-athletes to national letters of intent in the spring. This list included: Martha Belot,Olivia Cowan, Kelsey Dick, Maggie Duncan, Gabrielle Hacker, Brieannon Mingus, Jessica Scheer and Tessa Scott.
There were also three student-athletes signed during the fall period: Breeona Foster, Casey Kelly and Briana Piña.
The Kansas rowing team had another type of addition in the offseason with the hiring of Carrie Callen, a Kansas graduate who served as the graduate assistant and assistant coach for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes from 2006-2012.
“As our new recruiting coordinator she’s been doing a really good job recruiting,” Catloth said, “having the experience of being at a Big Ten school for six years should really help our team.”
Sophomore Erin Brogan looks to be one of the standouts this season after an impressive freshmen season where she was in the team’s top boat for much of the season. This summer Brogan was invited to camp put on by U.S. Rowing for the top 20 freshmen rowers in the country.
The Kansas Cup, which is the annual competition with Kansas State in the spring, is one of the most important of the season and one the Jayhawks look to be more competitive in after being swept last season. The team also looks to improve in the Big 12 Championships after winning a race in the competition.
—Edited by Ryan McCarthy
