Friends of Grand Valley Rowing,

On Sunday, April 9 while driving on I-80-90 (The Ohio Turnpike) one of our eight man shells, the “Coach Bob Sawicki”, a front line racing boat flew off our trailer while in transit. We learned that one of the special straps that held the boat was worn and broke in heavy winds. The boat landed on the berm of the highway and broke into two pieces, it was a total loss. Thank God no one was injured and it did not affect traffic.

We have since reviewed and replaced any straps that might be considered compromised and have been working with insurance to replace the boat. As you know we are in midseason and in need of every piece of equipment at our disposal. Luckily, the new varsity eight man shell, the “Mike Keeler” purchased with an anonymous alumni gift and Student Senate funding arrived this week. The manufacturer, Hudson Boatworks brought the new boat last Wedsnesday along with a loaner to get our guys through the season. That loaner (valued at $29K) is a 2008 Hudson Elite Predator and is in mint condition. Our 2V loves the boat and has closed the gap on the 1V by about 10 seconds.

With the expected insurance settlement of around $14K and the hopes of a donor who woud like naming rights, we could replace the totaled shell with a new or newer boat. Thus everyone on the team would benefit from the improvement to the fleet. I know times are tough for all and I know you have all been very supportive of the Laker Navy and our successes. I am asking if you and/or anyone you know is in the position to help in any way, please consider a gift to replace the boat. Any gift no matter its size would be appreciated.

The hope is that we can raise enough funds along with the insurance settlement to purchase the loaner or a new boat for our growing program. Thanks so much for your continued support of the Laker Navy.

The tradition started in 1964 continues!

The Laker Navy
Coach John and Staff

Tax deductible gifts can be sent to:
Grand Valley State University Rowing Club
1 Campus Drive
110 Kirkhof Center
Allendale, MI 49401

Or:
Submit Gift Electronically

Last weekend Grand Valley competed in two races. The Women’s Varsity and Novice Crews traveled to Ann Arbor on Saturday to compete in the University of Michigan’s Women’s Invitational, then all crews competed against University if Rochester on Sunday at New Lake in Allendale.

On Saturday, the Women’s Varsity and Novice teams drove across the state to compete against University of Michigan, Oklahoma, Indiana and Buffalo. Bad weather caused an hour delay and some scheduling modifications, resulting in the varsity events being divided into two events. One event included a race between University of Michigan, Oklahoma, and Indiana, and the second event became a two-boat dual between Grand Valley and Buffalo, but in the end results were pooled. Both the Women’s 1V and 2V fell to Buffalo and came in fifth overall in their respective races. Grand Valley Women’s 1V finished in 7:23.11 behind Buffalo’s 7:15.34. University of Michigan won the event in 7:11.15. Oklahoma (7:13.79) and Indiana (7:15.66) finished in second and third respectively. The Women’s 2V finished in 7:27.17 behind Buffalo’s time of 7:19.45. University of Michigan also won the Women’s 2V event with a time of 7:00.87, followed by Indiana in 7:10.22, and Oklahoma in 7:13.02. The novice boats competed in a series of shorter pieces off the course in more protected water. Grand Valley Women were supported by huge turnout of parents who graciously supplied the crews with food after the races.

On Sunday, Grand Valley was joined by crews from the University of Rochester to compete in a 2000 meter race at New Lake just outside of Allendale. Grand Valley had a very successful day coming out victorious in every event. In the Men’s Novice 8+, Grand Valley finished in 8:46.14 to University of Rochester’s 9:17.94. The Men’s Novice/Lightweight 8+ had GVSU finish in 8:29.69 ahead of UR in 9:07.59. The Women’s 1V and 2V, fresh off of races with Buffalo from the day before, both finished in first ahead of Rochester. The Women’s 1V finished in 9:41.29 well in front of Rochester’s 10:11.18. The Women’s 2V also proved themselves with a large margin of victory with a time of 9:39.53 over Rochester’s 10:40.11. The Men’s 2V faced University of Rochester’s 2V/Lightweight crew and came away in first with a time of 7:36.31 to Rochester’s 7:46.86. The Men’s Varsity 8+ race saw competition between Grand Valley’s 1V and 2V against Rochester’s 1V. Both of Grand Valley’s boats fought ahead of Rochester with the 1V finishing first in 7:34.61, and the 2V finishing in a close second in a time of 7:44.3. Rochester rounded out the race in 8:07.75. The most intense race of the day occurred between the Men’s Varsity Fours with coxswain. Grand Valley had two men’s boats against one crew from Rochester. Each of the three boats battled down the 2000 meter course with each crew holding the lead for some portion. In the end, Grand Valley’s second boat composed of the bow four from the Varsity 8+ came in first with a time of 7:53.91, followed by University of Rochester in 7:54.89, and Grand Valley’s first boat composed of stern four of the Varsity 8+ came in third in 7:56.94.

The weekend’s races may have been small, but provided Grand Valley with an opportunity for more racing, as well as practice rowing in windy conditions. Next the crews look forward to a weekend off for Easter, then will travel to Indianapolis for MACRA on April 30th.

Coach Dennis Kamrad had tears in his eyes when he met his crew after their race. The nine girls encircled him, sweaty and smiling, just off the water from their final in the Knecht Cup in Camden, New Jersey. In the Women’s Varsity Eight race, Grand Valley was the only club team to move beyond semi-finals, and one of two club teams to make it out of heats. Originally hoping only to gun for a medal in the Grand Final, they were holding onto fifth place off the line. But the fight wasn’t over yet.

Coxswain Vanessa Dean says, “Coach K. told us it would be insanely hard to even make it to finals. In my mind, we wanted to see what we could do; see how fast we could be. I don’t think there was a point when we focused on anyone else. We were just worried about ourselves.” If the girls had focused on anyone else, they would have noticed Rutgers pushing past them at the 250-mark, compromising Grand Valley’s brief stint in the top spot. They would have noticed dropping back by two seats. They would have seen Duke pressing into them from an inside lane, and they would have wondered about Old Dominion’s sprint. But eyes locked in, they sprinted through the finish line – a mere three tenths of a second in front of Rutgers. But it was enough to take gold.

The 2V women also made their coach proud this weekend. They pulled away from Dad Vail competitor Mercyhurst to win by open water in the Women’s Club DI/DII race. Sophomore Jess Vogl said of the race, “The older girls in my boat feel really competitive with Mercyhurst. I wanted to pull for them.” And she did – the boat, comprised of six sophomores, saw Mercyhurst move back into them with 500 meters to go, and responded with the energy of a crew that has something to prove. They will see Mercyhurst again in the DII race at Dad Vail this year after taking silver to them in 2009.

The Varsity men also made the Grand Final race in their event. They took sixth to competitive crews including Trinity, Temple, Delaware, and Drexel. Junior captain Jimmy Wilkie says, “We knew it was going to be a close race. If we can stick with them this early, we’re in a good position. It’s early. We’d almost be worried if we did too well, because we don’t want to peak out yet.” The men, who look to gain significant speed in the coming weeks, dropped down about a boatlength from the field with 500 to go, fought with Drexel through the sprint, and finished about five seats down. Temple won the event.

The Men’s 2V pulled through to a second-place finish overall after an equipment malfunction 300 meters into the race rendered them short one rower. With seven athletes rowing, they maintained their lead on two of three crews in their race, falling short to Hobart. “The first 200 meters were perfect,” says Zak Armstrong, whose seat fell off the tracks and grinded across the slides for the middle 1000 before he began rowing quarter slide. He was frustrated but is ready for another shot in the following competitive races in May. “We’re pumped. We’re moving well at practice. We were confident.”

The novice men also made an impressive showing at Knecht Cup, taking fourth place in the Novice Eight, and second place in the DII/DIII Novice race. The guys rounded out GVSU’s presence in almost every Grand Final race. Grand Valley’s women’s pair raced in the petite final, qualifying in their race on Saturday and rowing to a fifth-place finish early Sunday morning.

Of the day’s events, Coach Kamrad says, “I was proud about how well the team handled the situations in each race. I was extremely excited about their ability to accept extreme pressure without losing their focus on technique and what needed to be done to win. We still have a long way to go, and we’re going to be tested next week. But it gives us confidence that we’re on the right track and we have every opportunity to reach the goals we set for ourselves this season.”