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Lehigh Rowing Blog with Jen Lance

Jen Lance is a sophomore on the Lehigh rowing team.  Last season, Jen became the first freshman in Lehigh Rowing history to earn All-Patriot League honors.  She was also a member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.  While in high school, Jen was a NJ State champion, Philadelphia City Champion, and the winner of the most prestigious high school regatta, the Stotesbury Cup. She also raced on the international level at the Henley Women's Regatta on the Thames River in England.  Check back soon for her latest update.

Welcome back, Take Three! – August 14
As I am about to start my third year at Lehigh, the Mountain Hawks are already looking ahead to the fall racing season. This weekend marks two months until we head to Boston for the Head of the Charles, so we will waste no time once back on campus. The recruited freshmen class will head to Lehigh on Thursday, August 20th and the returning rowers will all be back by Saturday. Sunday morning we will all meet for the first time to go over logistics for the fall, fill out paperwork, discuss goals for the season, and just get to know our new teammates. Practices will begin Monday.

So….I hope all you readers out there had a relaxing and enjoyable summer. I know I did! Training over the summer was a good break from assigned workouts and evaluations. It allowed me to workout according to my own schedule and training plan. Although I broke my ankle and right now am in a cast, I look forward to returning to more regimented practices and anticipate more structured workouts.

On behalf of Lehigh rowing, we look forward to inviting walk-ons to our program. When you’re on campus and you see someone in Lehigh rowing gear, stop them and ask them what we’re all about. We are excited to see the contributions of the class of 2013!

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Spring Season Wrap-Up – May 4
Loyal Readers,
I apologize that it’s been so long since my last update. However, between our spring racing season and finals the Lehigh rowers have been keeping busy.  The 2009 spring season has been an exciting one — from duals on the Lehigh River to a weekend in Virginia to the medal races at Knecht Cup and Patriots.

The women have been putting in a lot of hard work on and off the water.  Technical practices have definitely improved our rowing, while many PRs on our last erg evaluation indicate we are still getting stronger.  At this point in the season, many of us believe the hard work we have put in has not directly translated into the results we expect.  Unfortunately, the fields are fast and our league is only getting faster.  We are definitely up for the challenge!

This is not to say we haven’t had successes this season.  The women’s V8 and JV8 both finished ahead of Iona and Franklin & Marshall in a dual on our home course.  The V8 had a strong race in Virginia, placing third at the Occoquan Sprints, beating crews from Hopkins, Virginia Commonwealth, and Loyola. At the Knecht Cup, held in Camden, N.J., both varsity women’s boats advanced to their respective finals. The women’s V8 semi-final was a strong showing for the Mountain Hawk’s — rowing one of the most solid pieces all season.  The two boats finished third in their finals, besting crews such as Villanova, Duquesne, and Temple.  We are definitely excited to perform in the totally different atmosphere present at Dad Vails.

Across the board, the men have had quite a successful season so far.  The Varsity men opened their spring season with a win over their Drexel rivals, followed by a win in the Petite final at both the Murphy Cup and Knecht Cup.  They went on to beat Iona and Franklin & Marshall on the Lehigh River and finished first in both their heat and final at the Occoquan Sprints in Virginia.  We’re excited to see their continued success at Dad Vails.  After that, they will be staying at Lehigh to train for the ACRAs held in Tennessee at the end of May.

At the Lehigh River Cup, the Mountain Hawks remained the keepers of the River Cup while earning the first ever Neuweiler Cup (by defeating Franklin & Marshall and Penn State).  The River Cup was again a success.  Many alumni and families came out to support us.  They later joined us at the Annual Banquet which was held at Saucon Valley Acres.  It was a fun night filled with recognizing scholar-athletes, parents, and alumni.  It was also a huge fundraiser and on behalf of Lehigh Rowing we would like to thank everyone for their generosity.

The Mountain Hawks are back in action at one of the largest regattas, the Dad Vails, held in Philly on May 8-9.  Check back- I look forward to updating you with fast times!

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Three-a-Days: AUSTIN — January 13th
How do I begin to describe Lehigh Rowing’s winter training trip?  If you’ve ever seen MTV’s The Real World: AUSTIN (hot tubs and late nights at the clubs) you might be able to imagine our trip — it was the exact opposite. The Real World headline reads: “This is the true story... of seven strangers... picked to live in a house...work together and have their lives taped... to find out what happens... when people stop being polite... and start getting real...The Real World.” Lehigh Rowing’s is more like: “This is the true story of 67 rowers and seven coaches…picked to stay in a Holiday Inn…workout together and have their rowing taped (and analyzed)…to find out what happens when people are tired, sore, and have hands full of blisters…and start getting real…on their eight-mile trek through the hills of Austin.”

Well now that I’ve made a completely irrelevant comparison to The Real World (only because it’s really the only other time I’ve cared about Austin) let me fill you in on the trip. We arrived back at Lehigh on New Year’s Day and departed at 4:00 AM on the 2nd. The bus ride, plane ride, trip to the Holiday Inn, and supermarket trips all ran as smoothly as they could have. We settled in and then ran about a mile to the Austin Rowing Club, where we rented boats. It was a GREAT facility, close to the hotel, and on a beautiful stretch of water. Our first practice on the water was extremely eventful, lots of sights to see!

From Sunday to Thursday, with the exception of Monday (we had the afternoon off), we practiced on the water in the morning, on land in the early afternoon, and back on the water later in the afternoon. We had great weather, other than our day off when it was warmer in Bethlehem than Austin. In addition to practices, we had the opportunity to bond tremendously off the water. We did a lot of team building exercises, including a relay race. It was good to be able to compete with each other in a relaxed atmosphere — little did we know this was the sorest we would be all week.

We definitely improved our fitness and technique while in Austin but I think we achieved two other things that are even more important. I think the freshmen now feel or should feel like an integral part of the team. They really embraced the trip and have definitely made us faster. I think we are faster because we are taking advantage of every opportunity to bond with our teammates. The other important aspects that we built on in Texas are our team goals, individual goals, and the general culture of Lehigh Rowing. We discussed what it will take to be champions and how we are going to get there — what we expect from our teammates and coaches and what they expect from us. We looked at our successes from the fall, from regattas to extra workouts, and each made a pact to try and have a stronger second semester — more extra workouts and more medals!

So although our winter training trip wasn’t exactly a Real World experience, it was still a successful one. On behalf of the team I want to thank the coaching staff for taking 70 athletes across the country and organizing a trip that could not have gone better (except for running up Mount Everest)!

Back in Bethlehem classes have started and we moved back to Grace Hall to continue our training on the ergs. The goal of the winter is to improve our fitness and stay motivated toward the goals we have for the spring. I will keep you updated on our winter progress!

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Winter Training and Heading to Austin – December 23
The Frostbite Regatta was a successful race across the board. The men’s V8 finished third overall, in front of Penn State, SUNY Maritime, and Lafayette. This is a very respectable finish considering they experienced technical difficulties. The men’s freshman 4 placed second and the JV 8 placed fourth. This winter the women took a different approach after the Freshmen and Varsity 8s won their respective races at the Frostbite Regatta. After a tough fall and much seat racing we took winter workouts into our own hands. Other than an erg test, training became our own responsibility with busy schedules as finals approached. Coach sent us workouts each week but we did them individually or with partners on our own time rather than organized team practices.

Both the men’s and women’s team entered Lehigh’s annual Turkey Trot, a three-mile run up the Lehigh mountain. We were separated into teams, each which prepared for the big day in their own way. It was a good break from studying and a fun workout which helped join the classes.
In addition to individual workouts, each of us has had a personal meeting with Coach Meltzer and/or Coach Schneider to discuss our roles and achievements of the past fall season and the future goals we have for the spring. In our evaluations we received their thoughts on many aspects of our athletic performance, from fitness to technique and attitude. This was a great way to see how we can improve and what we, as well as our coaches, expected from ourselves in Texas and beyond. We really appreciated these and we know they took a lot of time, so thank you coaches!

We have also been having leadership meetings as a team. In these meetings, led by Julie Sterrett, we have shared our feelings on what it will take to be top-three in the Patriot League. These have helped tremendously; when we talk about our expectations we make sure everyone is on the same page.

As 2008 wraps up, Lehigh Rowing is looking into the 2009 Spring season. Training will begin on January 2nd in Austin, Texas where we will have land and water practices a few times a day. This will be a time for both the men’s and women’s teams to get some time on the water when recent training has consisted of indoor workouts.

I will keep you posted on our progress in Texas. Happy Holidays!

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The CHARLES – October 31
As always, the Head of the Charles definitely lived up to all it’s said to be. Not only did we embrace the atmosphere and exciting regatta, we put forth results that Lehigh is proud of (making the weekend that much better).

The bus ride started off quiet, but the closer and closer we got to Boston the more excited we became. We hit a lot of traffic near the course because of the massive amount of trailers, rowers, and spectators coming and going. We finally reached the trailer, which was conveniently located near the finish and an awesome spot to watch the races. (Nice work trailer driver!) After rigging the boats, we went out for a pre-race practice. The river was overflowing with shells and it was near impossible to get any work done, but it did allow us to familiarize with the course and take in all that is happening on the Charles.

We departed from the course and headed to our hotel, The Hilton Garden Inn, where we were lucky enough to stay last year as well. The men checked-in and had dinner provided at the hotel. The women traveled to Kristen Merlo’s house where her parents had a WONDERFUL dinner prepared. However, perhaps the best part of their hospitality was: rolling up on her street in the Easton Coach bus and having a fan club (the Merlo’s) outside awaiting our arrival. The dinner was delicious and it was a great night for us to relax but focus on the races to come. We arrived back at the hotel, bed early for the women’s V8 and men’s club eight who were racing Saturday.

Saturday the women’s V8 and men’s team arrived at the river to be greeted by the lightweights who had just successfully weighed in! We had breakfast at the tent which was located on the bank of the Charles, a privilege that not many crews were able to experience. Throughout the day we christened the “Steven J. Lee Family II” (dedicated by the Lee Family) and “The Bus” (dedicated by the Kelly, Loguidice, and Rogers families). Both of these ceremonies were surrounded by Lehigh rowers, families, and alumni; hopefully these shells continue to bring speed to the Lehigh rowing program.

Then the racing! The Men’s Club Eight put forth a strong race besting crews from Navy, Lafayette, Northeastern, and Boston University; they placed 26th out of 69. The varsity women had great success too. After a boat pow-wow, we acknowledged that every rower in our boat wanted this race to be different; we wanted to pass boats, pass them fast, and embrace each stroke as it came. This plan was executed perfectly. We came through the start and quickly passed a crew, then another, and another until we successfully passed five boats in the course of the 4800 meter race. Happy with our race, we waited to hear the results: ninth out of 45 and the second fastest college crew. We finished ahead of boats from Lafayette, Holy Cross, Marist, and Boston University. The only college to finish ahead of us was nationally ranked Yale.

The highlight of the day, however, was the Club 4’s race where we entered a boat with two Lehigh coaches (Jason Moorehead and  Phil Bresenhan) along with the another Moorehead and friend. The four looked strong and fit, although they may not have been the youngest crew out there. They crossed the finish line, barely fatigued and finished in front of an astounding fifteen crews. We are expecting to see them come back even stronger next year, after a long year of training.

We left the course, extremely happy with our results and walked across the street to the Harvard football stadium where the Mountain Hawks took on the Crimson. As the visiting team, there was a huge crowd that nervously watched the final minutes; a close game, but Lehigh lost in the remaining seconds. After taking the scenic route to find the bus, we headed to the hotel to prepare for dinner at Bertucci’s.  We arrived at the restaurant, but only after we stopped for ice cream (clearly, a perk of Lehigh crew). Families and alumni joined us to eat, celebrate the success of the crews that already raced, and prepare for the two remaining races.

When we arrived at the river Sunday morning it was colder and windier than it had been earlier in the weekend. However, this did not slow the M-Hawks down. The women’s lightweight boat looked strong as they passed the Lehigh tent and proved their strength with an 11th place finish over Holy Cross and Radcliffe. Between races we christened a new pair to the Lehigh fleet, “The Boys” (dedicated by the Anderson family). The men crossed the line in 15 minutes and 47 seconds and in a 13th finish out of 38 entries — very respectable when facing some of the fastest colleges in the country.

Lehigh boarded the Easton Coach Bus, led by Leo, proud of the racing weekend.

THE BUS RIDE HOME- emotions/activities throughout the eight hour trip from beautiful Boston to the great Bethlehem included:

5PM - hungry, freezing, on edge, “glad we’re out of the cold”

6PM - starving, frustrated, HOT (there was an internal heater on the bus), “but at least we’re stopping to eat at 7!!!”

7-9PM - sitting in traffic on the back roads…still no food, you can imagine the interactions on the bus

9PM - FOOD!

10PM - full, tired, quiet, comfortable, CONTENT.

11PM - HOT, “I want my own seat…I have so much work to do…we should be back at Lehigh already (and we’re only in Connecticut).”

1AM - Bus arrives at Lehigh, “Good night! What a fun weekend! I have no complaints of the trip.”

Lehigh will finish up the fall racing season this weekend in Philly at the Frostbite Regatta!

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Racing! – October 16
Over the past few weeks, the team has had many opportunities to show our speed. The first Head of the Lehigh took place on our home course against Loyola (Md.) and Franklin and Marshall. This allowed our entire team the opportunity to race — walk-ons too! Lehigh women swept the board in all events including the Novice 4, Varsity 4, and Women’s 8 (which fielded five Lehigh eights). In the four, we had a great race and pulled ahead of Loyola in the beginning meters. Ironically, the girls I passed in that race became my boatmates in the eight — Loyola was short a few rowers so senior Emily Marshall, sophomore Jill Ireland, and myself entered the engine room of Loyola’s brand new V1. Although we did what we could as honoree Greyhounds, it wasn’t enough to beat the smoking fast Lehigh Varsity 8. On the men’s side, the freshmen came out first over Loyola and F&M, the four finished second, and the men’s Varsity 8 and 2V finished third and fourth, respectively. The Head of the Lehigh was a successful day on and off the water. Not only did it give us the chance to prepare for Navy Day, but also to show the novices what Lehigh Rowing is all about (not erging or three loops for time).

This past weekend the Mountain Hawks headed to Philly for the Navy Day Regatta where we fielded men’s and women’s eights in the Freshmen, Dad Vail, and College events. This was a chance to race competition that we will continue to see through the remainder of the fall and into the spring. The head race was a test of mental toughness and a race against the clock. Each crew started lengths behind, making it nearly impossible to be called off other boats. Lehigh freshmen started to set the bar for the season with a fifth place finish on the women’s side and ninth on the men’s. Both of these events put forward at least 20 crews. The success continued with the Dad Vail event—both the men and women placing fifth. The College Eight races proved to be tighter. Facing crews such as Georgetown and Navy the men held onto a 16th finish in the toughest men’s event of the day. The women put forward a solid race, finishing above schools such as Lafayette, Temple, and Rutgers. However, we also uncovered weaknesses that we have built from for the upcoming races.

Speaking of upcoming races….the largest and most important race on Lehigh’s fall racing schedule, the HEAD OF THE CHARLES, goes down this weekend. Lehigh is sending four eights—the men’s and women’s Varsity 8s, the lightweight women’s 8, and the men’s JV eight. Also, a men’s four with two present Lehigh coaches will be flying down the course sometime this weekend. The energy of the spectators — the overcrowded bridges — alone is enough to prepare us for what I think is the most exciting race in college rowing.

In addition to the racing this weekend, Lehigh will be christening three of our newly dedicated boats on the Charles’ riverside. There will be a Lehigh tailgate set up along the river for rowers, alumni, and families. We will also be attending the Lehigh vs. Harvard football game Saturday which will conveniently be held miles from the river. With all the exciting social events planned, the Lehigh rowers are still going to Boston with priorities: quick catches, loud finishes, and unbeatable boat speed.

We hope to see/HEAR you this weekend!

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Potomac, Recruiting, and the Brown and White (update upon request of a dedicated reader) – September 28
Lehigh launched the 2008 fall season at the Head of the Potomac in Washington D.C. After a few wrong turns (thanks to Coach Moorehead) the team arrived at the Thompson Boathouse ready to take on some top schools in the area. The men had a sweet performance, finishing fifth above two Georgetown boats and the University of Maryland. The women’s boat finished the first race solidly with a third place finish over Georgetown crews and Thompson Boat Club. We pulled up to the dock, rearranged into an unpracticed line-up and launched again. We paddled back to the start to race the 4500 meter course again — this time a much more exciting race. Starting the head race at the back of the pack, Lehigh quickly passed two club teams. About 2000m down, we moved through University of Maryland and American University, overall placing third out of nine. We were definitely pleased with our performance, especially considering we were the only boat that had already raced that day. Exhausted and sunburned, Coach Meltzer’s family hosted a luncheon for the rowers and families. Thank you Meltzers!

Finishing up with our third weekend of official visits, it looks like Lehigh rowing has even more to look forward to. The past three weekends, freshmen and sophomore rowers have been hosting high school rowers from Bethlehem to California. Hoping to give them a good sense of life as Lehigh rowers we take them everywhere with us: to classes, practices, dining halls, and Lehigh sporting events. Friday night, our entire team and recruits cheered Lehigh’s volleyball team to victory. Not only did we fill the majority of the stands, but we definitely made our presence known. Then everyone called it an early night for the Brown and White dual held on the Lehigh River Saturday morning.

As tradition holds, the Brown and White is an in-team competition with both the men and women’s teams. Line-ups are random and walk-ons and varsity rowers mixed within boats. Each boat is assigned to the WHITE or brown team. The racing begins. This year the women raced three eights and two fours. The Kirk Colton, a fine shell with four experienced rowers, finished ahead of all women’s boats (including eights). The WHITE team line-up: stroke Alix Howie, 3-Jen Lance, 2-Katie Bazergui, bow-Jen Keefe, coxswain-Alyssa. The top men’s performance came from the Farr, on the opposing brown team. Line up: Coxswain: Brenna, 8-Matt Cowperthwait, 7-Dan Rogers, 6-Mike Kelly, 5-Eric Harper, 4-Bryce, 3-Mike White, 2-Josh, Bow-Kyle Miller. However, even with their victory, it was not enough to bring them to victory over the WHITE team. The dual was a fun way to show the recruits what Lehigh rowing is about and to also bond with the walk-ons.

The seat racing matrix continues this week…

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A Year of Rowing: Take Two – September 4
Hello, Everyone!!! Hope summer has been an exciting yet relaxing time for all. It’s scary to think that freshman year is over and my class is no longer the newest to Lehigh. This season has hit full gear for the men and women of Lehigh rowing. Beginning with a year-opener meeting of both the men and women returning and recruited members which entailed our plan and goals for the 2008-2009 season. I would like to begin with welcoming our talented recruited Class of 2012. These rowers show great potential for our team and I believe they will greatly impact our successes this year.  Also, we have had a huge walk-on group for both the men’s and women’s sides. This great turn out may be due to the on-campus recruiting of the returning rowers. Throughout orientation, the team pursued freshmen from the dorms to the library and back to the dorms, if we hadn’t already got them to say “yes”. We are very excited about the inexperienced athletes, especially considering a majority of the current upperclass rowers walked-on and have had a huge influence in making this team what it is. I’m sure this year’s walk-ons will be no different!

We have begun training on and off the water, including endurance workouts, technical practices, and running and erging evaluations. We have also taken great strides to make the recruited class a part of the team. From “families” consisting of a freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior expected to do extra workouts together to captains practices, I can proudly say I know each freshman recruit’s name: Molly, Brenna, Megan, Katie, Ainsley, Vanessa, Steph, Lindsay, Taylor, Laura, Katie, Emma, and Rachel.

In other news, a few of us have been recommended to the Fall Emerging Leaders Program. I believe this will be a good program to continue building the leadership of the team. With double practices beginning next week and as competition rises for the top boats, Lehigh’s men and women’s Varsity 8s will begin competition with the Head of the Potomac on September 21st. Also, the coaching staff has been working hard, already thinking to the Class of 2013. Official visits begin next weekend and the team is eager to meet our prospective teammates.

Talk soon, keep training.

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