NSU Horizons Fall 2011

Ask any member of NSU’s women’s rowing team what makes champions and each will say teamwork. “This is the ultimate teamwork sport,” said Lauren Boudreau , a junior majoring in biology at the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences and a team captain for the second year. Intense teamwork propelled the Sharks to become the number one rowing team in the Sunshine State Conference’s South Region and number four in the nation during the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) champi- onships. The team has competed against some of the country’s dominant crews, including six-time defending national champions Western Washington Univer- sity. Since forming eight years ago, the rowing Sharks have won four Sunshine State Conference titles and earned seven bids to the NCAA Division II National Championships. Mary Lenington from the University of Texas—Austin is the new rowing head coach following former head coach John Gartin’s departure to Oklahoma. Teamwork is part of a rower’s routine, and it starts early. The rowers leave daily at 4:35 a.m. from NSU for practice in a park that fronts the Intracoastal Waterway in Hollywood, Florida. From the moment the rowers arrive at the park until the boats are on the water, each movement is choreographed, explained assistant rowing coach Lauren Spinka. “It is a bond to get all the members of the boat rowing in synchronization. And, if the chemistry is off, the row isn’t good,” said Claire Kurlycheck , a senior majoring in environ- mental sciences. The training schedule for the rowing team is intense. In addition to the time on the water, practice and training take four hours a day. The rowers weight train twice a week, exercise at the NSU Strength and Conditioning Complex, and undergo complete cardio training three days a week. The grueling schedule pays off. “There is no tired option, not if you want to win a national championship,” said Boudreau. “We see each other at our best and worst,” said Catherine Plesko , a sophomore who is considering sports management as a major. “We push each other.” Of the 45 rowers on the team, 38 are returning members. The high percentage of returnees is consistent, helping to attract new rowers. “When new rowers apply, they see a history because of the continuity of the team. It gives them a sense of identity that this is what a Shark rower is,” said Spinka. The student-athletes generally are divided into three boats of nine rowers and four boats of five people; a couple of two-person boats also are used. One person in each boat acts as the coxswain, whose duties are to lead and steer the boat on the water. The team has three captains and a volunteer coach, Robin Casioli , a graduate student at the Oceanographic Center. While the sport of rowing is demanding, Spinka stressed that the coaches are proud that the team has a solid 3.0 grade point average. “I know I received a good education at NSU,” said Elizabeth Hurley , who recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences. These champion rowers also are honing life skills while on the water. “The skills I learned as a young rower transferred to my professional and personal life,” said Spinka. Rowers by nature are “highly motivated people,” she added. “They all want to be successful, to win. And the sport encour- ages that because it tests you. Rowing’s physical and mental demands challenge you.” n athletics 38 horizons Rowers Make Waves with Teamwork By Oline H. Cogdill