On the weekend of March 16th, the club travelled to Aiken, SC to compete in the Augusta Invitational Regatta. We had a great weekend of racing in spite of very strong headwinds and choppy water, with every boat entered medalling. In fact, Alabama Crew came in first place in the collegiate overall team points championship! The results are as follows:

• Novice 4+ (Emily Oulton, Connor Graham, Avery Thomas, Tyler Gester, Garland Rodriguez) – Gold
• Novice 8+ (Emily Oulton, Joshua Yarbrough, Connor Buckley, Ben McGowan, Joey Selleck, Tony Wente, Mitchell Griest, Joseph Ewing, Tom Nordquist) – Gold
• Varsity 4+ (Sarah Axley, Guy Able, John Canada, Turner McCabe, Justin Tarbox) – Silver

The weekend of March 23rd was very eventful. After a series of unfortunate events including a blowout on the interstate, the replacement of three trailer tires, and the discovery that we didn’t have a jack in the trailer, Alabama Crew finally arrived in Gainesville, GA late Friday night to compete in the John Hunter Regatta. After a four hour rain delay Saturday morning, we once again had a great day of racing before enjoying the traditional post-race dinner at Cracker Barrel. Here are the results:
• Varsity 4+ (Sarah Axley, Justin Tarbox, Guy Able, John Canada, Turner McCabe) – 3rd in their heat. Did not advance to finals, but had a close race.
• First Novice 4+ (Emily Oulton, Ben McGowan, Joey Selleck, Tony Wente, Joshua Yarbrough) – 2nd in their flight.
• Second Novice 4+ (Jamie Woodham, Tyler Gester, Avery Thomas, Trevor Kidwell, Jim Ellis) – 3rd in their flight.
• Novice 8+ (Emily Oulton, Joshua Yarbrough, Connor Buckley, Ben McGowan, Joey Selleck, Tony Wente, Mitchell Griest, Joseph Ewing, Connor Graham) – 5th in their flight.

Upon returning to Tuscaloosa, we began a week of intense Spring Break training. Our rowers and coxswains put in a great deal of work before celebrating the end of training week with a surprise Easter egg hunt at the boathouse and are now enjoying the remainder of their Spring Break before we resume practice dark and early at 5:15 AM on Monday.

Our next regatta will take place on April 13th, 2013 in Tuscaloosa, and our final competition will be the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta in Oak Ridge, TN on April 20th, 2013. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more updates!

The varsity team, coached by Erika Baranek, had several successful entries. The first Varsity 4+, rowed by a crew of Raymund Bareuther, Erik Glynn, Clay Turner, Taylor Linville, and coxswain Sarah Axley finished first after starting second and walking away from competitor Tulane. The second Varsity 4+, consisting of Tom Ostby, Landon Mueller, Guy Able, Turner McCabe, and coxswain Tyler Bartlett, also had a great race, passing UTC for a second place finish just thirty seconds behind the first Varsity 4+.

The Varsity 8+, consisting of Raymund Bareuther, Erik Glynn, Clay Turner, Taylor Linville, Jason Grenier, Scott Burdick, John Canada, Kyle Nikonchuk, and coxswain Sarah Axley finally got their chance to shine after a devastating end to their race last weekend. They started first and quickly outpaced their competition to win first place over Tulane, Virginia Tech, and UTC.

The Varsity pairs had two successful finishes, with Justin Tarbox and Sascha Plante coming in first place over competitor Murray State and Reed Phillips and Kevin McDermott earning a bronze medal just 22 seconds behind Murray State.

The novice team, coached by Leigh Ann Lazarus, Daniela Sunrasa, Audrey White, and Sydney Sutton, also had a successful day at Melton Hill Lake. The Novice 4+, rowed by Connor Graham, Ethan Chavers, Jaron Nix, Garland Rodriguez, and coxswain Morgan Schlager came in third place, forty-five seconds ahead of fourth place finisher Virginia Tech. Novice coxswain Jamie Woodham jumped into a Georgia State mixed masters’ 4+ at the last minute to cox them to a first place finish in their race.

The Novice 8+’s had a great afternoon of racing as well. The first Novice 8+, with a crew of Joshua Yarbrough, Tom Nordquist, Ben McGowan, Kyle Stephens, Tony Wente, Justin Hanneman, Connor, Mitchell Greist, Connor Buckley, and coxswain Jennifer Christie came in first by thirty-four seconds over Murrey State. The second novice eight, consisting of Charlie Murphy, Cam Lilly, Aaron Reynolds, Thomas King, Joseph Ewing, Avery Thomas, Tyler Gester, Sam Smith, and coxswain Emily Oulton edged out competitor UTC by three seconds to finish in third place.

It was a nippy afternoon for coxswains Jennifer Christie and Sarah Axley as they were thrown off the dock into the cold water by their gold-winning boats in sixty-degree weather, as well as for winning varsity pair Justin Tarbox and Sascha Plant as they voluntarily jumped in. However, they weren’t the only ones to meet a chilly fate. Varsity coach Erika Baranek was ambushed by her varsity rowers and launched into the lake in celebration for gold medal finishes in every varsity event.

The sheer number of medals brought home by Alabama Crew this weekend had some members jokingly questioning whether it was legal to bring so much metal over state lines. All crews are looking forward to showing off their skills with some great competition at the Head of the Hooch this coming weekend.

Alabama Crew came home with plenty of hardware this weekend at the 15th annual Hobbs Island Regatta in Huntsville, AL. This was the novices’ first race and we couldn’t have asked for a better turnout!

The club put forth a strong showing in the first event of the day, the varsity 4+ race. Raymund Bareuther, Erik Glynn, Clay Turner, Taylor Linville, and coxswain Sarah Axley came out on top, finishing first by thirty-five seconds. They were followed by Tom Ostby, Jason Grenier, Guy Able, Turner McCabe, and coxswain Tyler Bartlett finishing second, seven seconds ahead of Murray State.

The varsity 2- fielded two entries at Hobbs Island with Justin Tarbox and Sascha Plante, a lightweight pair, coming in third and Guy Able and Reed Phillips coming in fifth.

The novice 4+ with Tom Nordquist, Joshua Yarbrough, Connor Buckley, Ben McGowan, and coxswain Morgan Schlager sailed to a second-place finish just six seconds behind Sewanee and thirty-four seconds ahead of Georgia.

Alabama Crew’s three novice eights (coached by Leigh Ann Lazarus, Daniela Sunrasa, Audrey White, and Sydney Sutton) did a great job racing as well this weekend. The first novice 8+, with Joshua Yarbrough, Tom Nordquist, Ben McGowan, Kyle Stephens, Justin Hanneman, Tony Wente, Mitchell Griest, Connor Buckley, and coxswain Jamie Woodham came in third, just one second behind Murray State. The second novice 8+, with Turner McCabe, Jaron Nix, Sean Fleming, Charlie Murphy, Aaron Reynolds, Thomas King, Connor Graham, Garland Rodriguez, and coxswain Jennifer Christie finished first, edging out Murray State by just half a second. Ethan Chavers, Cam Lilly, Tyler Gester, Jim Ellis, Joseph Ewing, Avery Thomas, Samuel Smith, Garland Rodriguez, and coxswain Emily Oulton, Alabama Crew’s third novice 8+, competed in a separate race, where they came in first place by almost a whole minute.

Alabama Crew’s varsity 8+ (coached by Erika Baranek), Raymund Bareuther, Erik Glynn, Clay Turner, Taylor Linville, Landon Mueller, Scott Burdick, John Canada, Kyle Nikonchuk, and coxswain Sarah Axley started out strong, passing LSU within the first 500 meters and ending up several boat lengths ahead of their competition as they approached the finish line. Unfortunately, due to poor water conditions including heavy wind and white caps, their boat took on water and swamped about 100 meters from the finish, causing the crew to have to bail out of the boat into the river. Luckily, no one was injured and all rowers and the coxswain as well as the boat were taken safely back to shore by regatta officials and the Coast Guard Auxiliary who came to their assistance. Alabama Crew is very appreciative of those who came to aid our team. While the crew of the varsity 8+ is obviously disappointed about the outcome of this week’s race, they are looking forward to showing off their skills this coming weekend.

Ultimately, this weekend was a great success for Alabama Crew, with lots of new hardware added to the medal collection, three very wet coxswains (for those unfamiliar with rowing, it is a longstanding tradition for the crew of a winning boat to throw their coxswain in the water after the race), and four very proud coaches. Alabama Crew’s varsity and novice squads are looking forward to competing next weekend at the Secret City Head Race in Oak Ridge, TN, where we hope to add even more medals to the growing count from this season. ROW TIDE!

Erika Baranek, Alabama Crew’s new varsity coach, is a recent graduate of The University of Alabama and a veteran rower. She began her rowing career in 2004 as a freshman at Gloucester High School in Gloucester, VA. She continued rowing throughout high school, competing and medaling at nationals three of those years. After graduating from high school in 2008, she made her way to Tuscaloosa and began rowing for The University of Alabama Women’s Rowing team. Some of her accomplishments as a rower for the Crimson Tide include stroking the First Novice 8+ to a first place finish in the Grand Final at the 2009 SIRA Championship, stroking the First 8+ to earn a bronze medal in the Club 8+ race at the 2009 Head of the Charles Regatta, earning gold as part of the Second Varsity 8+ at the 2011 SIRA Championships, and finishing fourth in the petite final in the Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy race at the 2011 San Diego Crew Classic. A dedicated student as well as an athlete, Erika was named to the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll all four years of her college career. In the Summers of 2010 and 2011, she helped coach for Gloucester Rowing Association summer camps. Erika now works in Tuscaloosa. Apart from coaching, she is very active in church and enjoys baking, horseback riding, community service, and teaching CPR/First Aid/Lifeguarding and swim lessons.

Leigh Ann Lazarus, Alabama Crew’s new novice coach, is also a graduate of The University of Alabama, as well as an Alabama Crew alumna and a Level One Certified USRowing Coach. She rowed for Alabama Crew from 2004-2006, serving as a girls team captain, and then for The University of Alabama Women’s Rowing team from the time it became a varsity sport at UA in the Fall of 2006 until she graduated in 2008. While rowing for UA’s women’s varsity team, she served on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee. Some of her greatest accomplishments and proudest moments in rowing were winning Gold at the Hooch in the Women’s Lightweight 8+, Silver at the Head of the Charles in the Women’s Club 8+, and Silver at SIRAs in the Women’s Championship 8+. She earned her Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree from The University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2011 and now works full-time as a physical therapist at several Skilled Nursing Facilities in Northport, training geriatric populations in functional mobility. In her spare time, she enjoys road cycling and Ultimate Frisbee. Leigh Ann is looking forward to serving as the novice coach, saying, “I’m excited about coaching never-evers and hope that I can share my enthusiasm and passion for rowing and fitness with them.” Alabama Crew is thrilled to have the chance to work with someone with such strong historical ties to the club in a coaching capacity.

As for Erik Glynn and Jason Grenier, two varsity rowers who took the 2011-2012 year off from rowing in order to provide our team with coaching, we know they are looking forward to laying “hands on” this season as rowers once again. Alabama Crew appreciates all of the dedication and hard work they both put into keeping things moving forward in a time of transition.

Be sure to check back frequently for the latest news from Alabama Crew. Happy Fall Season and Row Tide!

Overall, this weekend was success and a great experience! Row Tide!

Varsity
2nd Place – Men’s Collegiate Varsity 4
3rd Place – Men’s Collegiate Varstiy 8

Novice
1st Place – Men’s Collegiate Novice 4 (A)
3rd Place – Men’s Collegiate Novice 4 (B)
2nd Place – Men’s Collegiate Novice 8

The men’s rowing team was featured in a recent article in the Crimson White, a campus newspaper, which is available to all 30,000 students at the university! Use the link below to read it:

Click Here to Read

1. Tyler Bartlett – Bronze, 500m Coxswain Dash

2. Scott Burdick – Silver, Novice 2k / Bronze, Team Relay

3. Clay Turner – Silver, 500m Open

4. Taylor Linville –Bronze, Team Relay

5. Chloe Moore –Bronze, Team Relay

6. Sarah Axley – Bronze, Team Relay

7. Tom Ostby –Bronze, Team Relay

8. Matt Hennigan – Silver, LtWt 500m Dash

9. Erik Glynn – Silver, Men’s Collegiate Open 2k / Bronze, Team Relay

Right now, the team is preparing for water practices.  They are working hard on school work and staying diligent in their workouts.  We’re almost ready for racing season.  Row Tide!

Erik Glynn

Varsity Coach