Sunday, May 04, 2008 By Kelly Hill The Grand Rapids Press   Nine members of the Rockford crew team used both Saturday afternoon to win the women's senior 8 in the inaugural West Michigan Scholastic Rowing Championships at Riverside Park. Rockford's women's senior 8, under the direction of senior coxswain Katie Ruhf, includes seniors Chelsey Lauzon and Caitlin McConnohie, juniors Michelle Kuhn, Alicia Dickinson, Leesha Schantz and Shannon Schmutz and sophomores Christine Kasper and Olivia Kacsita. "They are a very, very strong boat," Rockford coach Kathleen Siegfried said. "There is a lot of power in that boat, but they also have good technique. I am happy that they won, but even happier that they did exactly what they were supposed to do." "They executed their race plan perfectly. We need to race the strategy that fits this team. Run the race that you know is going to get you to the finish line. Besides being incredible athletes, every kid in that boat is an honor student, and to me, that means a lot." Forest Hills Central won the men's senior 8, under the direction of junior Matt "Wheels" Killman. The Rangers rowers in that boat include seniors Ben Montage, who plans to row at Yale next year, and Andrew Cooper, junior Freddie Morgan and sophomores Alex Myers, T.J. Nimitz, Harrison Boll, Brandon Streb and Anthony Hage. "Most of the guys in that boat are lightweights," FHC coach John Gaskin said. "We have only two open heavyweights in that boat." Rockford also won the senior women's 4 and senior women's lightweight 4, while East Grand Rapids won the senior women's lightweight 8. Rockford's men's won the senior lightweight 4 while East Grand Rapids won the senior men's 4. In the junior division, FHC won the women's 8, the Grand Rapids Rowing Club won the men's 8 and Rockford won the women's 4 and men's 4. In novice action, Rockford won the men's and women's 8s while Forest Hills Central won the men's and women's 4s. The West Michigan Scholastic Rowing Championships is intended someday to be used as a qualifier for the state championships. "This river, this setting is the best place to row in the Midwest, as far as I'm concerned," Siegfried said. ******** Special training for East Crew The East Crew Team was very fortunate this year to be able to raise the funds for special training with the All-American Rowing Camp. AARC Staffers Mark, Gregg, and Alex conducted a 3-day clinic for our team in February, consisting of training on the ergs, in the rowing tanks, and on land -- all critical components of any high school program searching for excellence. Time was spent coaching athletes, but also on working with coaches, to further enhance their skills in teaching proper rowing technique. The first session with our team having been a huge success, AARC returned in April. This next phase was 3 days on the water with our rowers and coaches. It culminated in a coxswain clinic for West Michigan Coxswains on Sunday. This clinic was conducted at no charge to the rowers. The cost for the entire program was $5,000 ($2,500 for each session) -- $4,000 of which was paid by the Crew Board. The additional $1,000.00 dollars came from the rowers as a group. They had done a number of fund-raising activities and, in a team vote, voted unanimously to fund the clinic. *********************** ... and from the April 19, 2008 Grand Rapids Press ... Crew teams establish state association By Kelly Hill Almira Kovachevich has looked forward to getting on the water because she is excited about rowing. Very excited. Kovachevich, a freshman at Forest Hills Central, is a new member of the Rangers' crew team. Crew draws more student-athletes per team than any other sport, including 62 on the FHC team this season. The Rockford team has more than 100. The seven scholastic teams in the area, from FHC, Forest Hills Eastern, Forest Hills Northern, East Grand Rapids, Lowell, Rockford and Northview, offer opportunities for more than 400 student-athletes. The Grand Rapids City League schools also have combined to form the Grand Rapids Rowing Club, but in rowing parlance, it is known as a youth team, rather than a scholastic team, because not all the student-athletes attend the same school. "I have no experience, but it's absolutely great," Kovachevich said. "It is so intense. They go so hard, and then at the end, it is so worth it." Though not yet recognized by the Michigan High School Athletic Association, because not enough member schools field teams, crew will crown an official state champion this season for the first time. In previous years, the Hebda Cup, contested in the Detroit area, was viewed as an unofficial state championship. The Scholastic Rowing Association of Michigan was established late last year to provide more opportunities for the more than 1,000 student-athletes who compete on Michigan's 20 scholastic crew teams. Forest Hills Central coach John Gaskin is chairman of the Scholastic Rowing Association of Michigan. "Two things prompted it," Gaskin said. "The format of this year's Hebda Cup has changed. The west-side teams are not invited any more, and the official reason is that the regatta was getting too large to complete in one day. The coaches also decided that there wasn't enough opportunity for the schools in Michigan to compete against each other. "We've got more schools trying to get varsity status for crew, so this should help. We also knew we needed a progression into the state championships, so the east-side teams will still have the Hebda Cup and now we will have the West Michigan Championships." The inaugural West Michigan Championships are scheduled May 3 on the Grand River at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids. The first SRAM state championship is scheduled for May 17 on Kent Lake, which is part of Kensington Metro Park in Milford. "We structured it all to mirror the tournaments sponsored by the (Michigan High School Athletic Association)," Gaskin said. The notion of a recognized state championship has been welcomed by local rowers and coaches. "It is going to be amazing," Kovachevich said. "We are in the big leagues now." "The state championship will bring more drive and competition to the sport," East Grand Rapids junior Chad Condon said. "The sport should be more competitive this year." SRAM officials hope the state championship will help raise awareness of the popularity of crew. "I think the Scholastic Rowing Association of Michigan is going to be a great addition to Michigan rowing," EGR coach Kate Pocock said. "This (state championship) regatta will allow schools around Michigan to compete against each other. I believe that this will become a great tradition for crews around the area." Forest Hills Northern coach Greg Soleau said he thinks SRAM and the state championship will help the sport grow. "This is definitely a good thing," Soleau said. "We needed something like this to help legitimize the sport and to bring it into mainstream thinking." The crew season heats up this week with Saturday's regatta at Riverside Park.