Hurricane Rowing Primed for Success in 2004-05
Aug. 23, 2004
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Entering her fourth year at the University of Miami, Head Coach Debra Morgan has laid the foundation that has turned the Hurricane Rowing program into one of national recognition behind a tremendous desire and determination to achieve excellence.
In 2004-05 that groundwork will be the core of a UM squad that will look to set a new precedence as the Hurricanes enter the season on the wake one of the most successful seasons in school history in 2003-04.
“We have spent the last three years working hard and keeping the faith that the work was going to pay off,” Morgan said. “It’s really satisfying to be able to look back and see how far the team has come in that time.
“I think this year’s team has the potential to be just as good, if not better than last year’s team,” Morgan added. “Our team is going into the year with a lot more confidence and they fully believe in our system. I think that is going to help tremendously in continuing our rise to the top.”
Morgan will face the challenge of replacing eight departing seniors from that 2003-04 team that produced an overall points title at the 2003 Head of the Chattahoochee Regatta and a state title at the 2004 Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships along with second-place finishes at the 2004 San Diego Crew Classic and the 2004 BIG EAST Challenge.
Among those eight include Miami’s first, and only, two-time Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) All-America Second Team and CRCA All-South Region First Team selection, Jenny Krawec in addition to Ananda Chou, Bridget Gallagher, Jordanna Heywood, Jacqui Juilen, Yennisha Pino, Rachel Sander and Caroline Stuart – all of which combined for a total of 31 varsity letters while at UM.
While the test of reloading a program after the departure of such a strong senior class may seem insurmountable, the Hurricanes are more than capable of meeting and surpassing the raised expectations based on a tremendous amount of depth coupled with valuable experience gained last season by the UM junior varsity and novice crews.
“We were able to reach a number of goals last season, but those accomplishments are behind us now and we look forward to once again reaching new goals this year.”
“We lost a lot of great talent due to graduation. It will be extremely tough to be faster this year without those athletes, but we have several truly exciting athletes returning from the novice eight last year that are ready to step up and make a mark on the varsity squad this year,” Morgan said.
Among those returning athletes who will take on the responsibility of anchoring the Hurricanes in 2004-05 are the rising senior class of Anna Cohen, Julie Crane, Deirde Curran and Yassi Haririna,.
Cohen, a fifth-year senior, and Crane, a three-year letterwinner will be depended on heavily, serving as co-captains while Curran will make an impact after rowing with both varsity eight and junior varsity eight last season. Haririna, who is considered by the UM coaching staff to be one of the hardest workers on the team, looks to improve even more as she heads into her final season.
The Hurricanes fleet of underclassman will also play a major part in the team’s success this season with the likes of juniors Rachel Clausing, Jacquilyn Haywood, Ashley Marincsin and Laura Comeau and sophomores Karen Wiley, Sarah Conlon, Natasha Lejer, Laura Coltman and Sarah Stocks all primed for standout seasons.
Clausing, a CRCA All-South Region Second Team selection in 2003-04, will miss the fall season while studying abroad in Australia, but should return in the spring without missing a beat. Haywood and Marincsin enter the season with an enormous amount of potential while still refining their technique behind two full seasons of experience. Comeau returns for another great year after a summer of racing and observing Canadian National Team practices.
Wiley returns this season after holding the stroke seat of the UM varsity eight as a freshman in 2003-04, and along with Coltman, who competed with the novice eight and varsity four last year, head the Hurricanes’ sophomore corps while Lejer is poised for a full season of action after missing the fall of 2003 with mono. Conlon will also make waves this season and Stock, a walk-on freshman from a year ago, enters the season with an incredible upside.
As with last season, Miami’s incoming freshman class should make an immediate impact at each level of the program. Among those newcomers include Bethany Krawec – sister of Jenny Krawec – and Emy Huntsman.
The depth and experience of the Hurricane squad will be a major asset as the Hurricanes take on some of the nation’s top teams in 2004-05 in addition to competing as member of the tradition-rich Atlantic Coast Conference.
In their inaugural season in the ACC, the Hurricanes’ 2004-05 slate features four home events to be held at Indian Creek in Miami Beach, including the 12th-Annual Head of the Creek and the Second-Annual Hurricane Invitational.
During the 12-event schedule, Miami will compete in six different states with trips to Georgia, Virginia, California, South Carolina and Tennessee in addition to seven races or regattas held within the state of Florida.
“We have an excellent race schedule this year highlighted by the addition of the Rivanna Romp – a three-mile head race hosted by the University of Virginia – a race with Duke University here in Miami Beach and the ACC Championships in Clemson,” Morgan said.
Miami opens the 2004 fall season October 17 as the host of the 12th-Annual Head of the Creek before the UM varsity crew heads to Gainesville, Fla. for the Head of Chattahoochee, November 6-7.
The 2004 fall schedule concludes with the Hurricanes’ novice squad taking part in the Fall Florida Regatta, November 13 in Melbourne, Fla. while the varsity crew competes at the Rivanna Romp November 14 in Charlottesville, Virginia hosted by defending ACC Champions, Virginia, who concluded the 2003-04 season ranked fifth in the final CRCA/US Rowing polls.
The Hurricanes return in the spring, hosting the Second-Annual Hurricane Invitational, March 12-13 in Miami Beach.
Miami will also take part in a pair of dual scrimmages in the month of March, taking on national powerhouses Yale and Syracuse.
“Our March scrimmages with Yale and Syracuse will serve as an excellent early season test in the spring. Going up against the two national powers in an informal scrimmage setting will really allow us to take some chances and see what we can come up with,” Morgan said.
UM makes a return trip to the San Diego Crew Classic, April 2-3 in San Diego, California and will look to improve on last year’s impressive second-place finish by the varsity eight.
The Hurricanes will defend their state title at the 2005 Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association (FIRA) Championships, April 10 in Miami, one year after sweeping the field to take first place in eight events at the 2004 championships.
“Since we won every event we entered at the 2004 Florida State Championships, it isn’t possible to better that result,” Morgan stated, “but we will definitely be trying to match it.”
Miami heads to Clemson, S.C. for the ACC Championships, April 17 and will try to unseat five-time ACC Champions, Virginia, who has won 19 out of 20 races since in the five years of the ACC Championships.
The Hurricanes will use what should be a very difficult dual race with ACC-rival Duke, April 29 in Miami Beach as a tune-up as the 2004-05 season culminates with the 2005 Central/Southern Sprints, May 14-15 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
With one of the most experienced teams in Morgan’s tenure at Miami, paired with a highly competitive schedule among the nation’s best, the 2004-05 Hurricanes will take to the water with the confidence and commitment to take UM to the next level while etching their place in the tradition of Hurricane Rowing.
