2001-02 Rowing Season Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
Improvement is the only goal for the Ohio State rowing team as it heads into the 2001-02 season. It sounds simple enough, common, routine even. What team doesn’t want to improve? Coming off a fourth-place finish at the 2001 NCAA Championships and a second-place finish at the South/Central Regional and Big Ten Championships, there are not many more steps up the ladder.
Improvement would entail winning a Big Ten championship and possibly a national championship. The Buckeyes return seven rowers from the first varsity eight, which earned a No. 7 ranking in the national poll and won the Petite Final at the NCAA championships to finish in seventh place. That success is reason enough for head coach Andy Teitelbaum to expect his program to take the next step.
“We’re looking at a team we think is even deeper and stronger than last year,” Teitelbaum said. “Most, if not all of the athletes from our first boat will be returning. We came in second in the conference and fourth in the country, so our goal is to improve on both of those places: win the Big Ten, which has quickly become, if not the top rowing conference in the country, then one of the top two. We want to improve upon our standing at the NCAA championships, which obviously could include winning the national championship.”
Based on the performance of his squad the past two seasons, the goals Teitelbaum has mapped out for his program are not unreasonably lofty.
OSU made the first of two-consecutive NCAA championship appearances in 2000, placing ninth. The Buckeyes claimed eight bronze medals at the Central Region and Big Ten regattas. The first varsity placed 11th at the NCAAs.
The Buckeyes returned to the championships last season and placed fourth. Besides the first varsity eight victory in the Petite Final, the second varsity eight and the varsity four both advanced to the Grand Finals, placing fifth and fourth, respectively. OSU took silver in the first and second varsity and the bronze in the varsity four events at both the Big Ten championships and South/Central regional. “Our goals of winning the conference and a national championship aren’t pie-in-the-sky statements,” Teitelbaum said. “With the growth and success we had the past couple seasons, I think its important that everyone associated with the program realizes these are realistic goals to move forward from where we finished last year to where we hope to be next year.”
RETURNERS
Among the returners in the first varsity eight boat are All-American selections Maxi Meissner and Conny Kirsch. Meissner, a junior, was a First Team All-America selection and Kirsch, a senior, was a Second Team All-America selection. Each earned First Team All-Big Ten and All-Central Region acclaim as well.
Meissner moved from the seven-seat to the stroke position prior to the Big Ten championships to help lead OSU through the postseason.
“When we moved Maxi to the stroke position, the performance of the first varsity improved dramatically,” Teitelbaum said. “She was vital to our success last season and will be this season.”
Kirsch, who rowed five-seat in the first varsity eight boat, was honored as a Second Team All-America for the second consecutive year and as an all-region selection for the third-consecutive year.
“It is quite an accomplishment to be named an All-American twice and all-region three straight years,” Teitelbaum said. “Conny is the strongest rower we have in the program. She was the first world-class rower we had come here and she has remained a top performer as the quality of our program has escalated.”
Sophomores Susi Wesenburg and Sasha Kildelund each garnered Second Team All-Big Ten and All-Central Region honors. Wesenburg and Kildelund made an immediate impact in the first boat as freshmen. Wesenburg held the seven-position and Kildelund rowed at the six-spot.
Karla Fiserova, Natalie Legge, Katie Buttine also return from the first varsity.
Heather Feldmann, Alex Leslie, Angela Wendel and Ashley Orr return from the second varsity. Meghan McCartney, Margo Shumway and Heather Arndts return from the varsity four.
“We’re looking for leadership from our senior class,” Teitelbaum said. “Conny Kirsch, Alex Leslie, Angie Wendel and Jill Davis will be counted on to help the younger rowers.
“I’ll be looking forward to watching the athletes who were sophomores last year and came from our novice program and raced at the NCAA championships (Arndts, McCartney, Feldmann),” Teitelbaum said. “I want to see how far they can move themselves and the program, whether they can get themselves into the second boat or challenge for the first boat. It will be interesting to see how it works out.”
NEWCOMERS
To go along with the depth and experience of the returners, the Buckeyes have added another stellar recruiting class. Some of the incoming freshmen could push immediately for a slot in the first boat, including coxswains Vicki Agate, Loreen Ellison and Sarah Fiebig.
“We had two senior coxswains we graduated (Heather Newcomb, Marla Strange),” Teitelbaum said. “We wanted to add skill. We feel we have done that. Coxwain should be a deep and competitive area for us.”
Teitelbaum said freshmen competing for the first boat will only improve his squad, causing a ripple effect that will strengthen each boat.
“With another year of world-class athletes coming into the program from the United States as well as Europe, it’s going to improve the quality of the athletes in the second and third boats,” he said.
Teitelbaum doesn’t anticipate a repeat of last season, when five newcomers made the first varsity eight. He hopes to have the freshmen learn from the upperclassmen, not on the fly.
“One of the things we struggled with last year was that five of the athletes in the first boat were in their first year of collegiate rowing and there was a lot to learn about racing at the NCAA level despite their impressive resumes,” Teitelbaum said.
“They started to figure it out. You could see the learning process through the racing season and even through the four trips down the course at the NCAA championships. Those are all lessons they will remember this season and be able to share with the newcomers. It’s our hope that the newcomers won’t be in such a high-pressure situation.”
Included in the recruiting class are several athletes who hale from Ohio (Jamie Berning, Sydney Williams and Samantha Pfitzer) and two more from just across the Ohio River outside Cincinnati. (Ellison and Maggie Kathman.
“It’s nice to see Ohio developing top-notch talent,” Teitelbaum said. “And it’s great they want to come be a part of our program.”
SCHEDULE
Since starting the program in 1996, Teitelbaum has put his squad up against Top 10 competition. This season is no different. Teitelbuam subscribes to the theory its not how much you win, but when you win.
“It’s going to be another year where we’ll see more than our share of the Top-10 crews in the country,” Teitelbaum said. “That has been an important part of our success. We could set up a schedule where we are pretty sure we’ll go undefeated, but then we would not be prepared for the conference and national championships.”
OSU has to look no further than the Big Ten to find Top 10 competition. Including the Buckeyes, four schools (Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa) represented the Big Ten at the NCAA championships.
“The reality is, racing in this conference and in the central region, is going to more than prepare us for the NCAA championships,” Teitelbaum said. “We’re going to face Michigan three times. When you have Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Iowa on the schedule every year, you’re going to see a lot of the top teams in the country.”
OSU will face another top program, Virginia, and the Buckeye Invitational will attract some of the Top 10 programs in the country.
“We want to make sure if there are any lessons to be learned, we have them figured out before the championship regattas,” Teitelbaum said.
