Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Marist Crew Team Article

I'm going to post this article I wrote for my Sports Reporting class. Nonfiction (creative) and Journalism share many things. That's perhaps why both appeal to me and why I would want to pursue nonfiction above anything else. So here is the article. Took me a while to get it right and I've noticed some things that can be fixed, but I have a new respect for these girls. Hope I did them justice!




“Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
Addie D.
            They are plastered all over the Marist website, serenely gliding down the Hudson River. They’re seen at 4 a.m. carrying pillows and stuffed duffel bags down to the waiting JTR buses at the McCann Center. They’re seen running Midrise Hill Repeats when the walkways are filled during class changes. They’re the Marist Women’s Crew Team. They’re often seen, but what they manage to accomplish every day is pretty unknown.
            It was a cold October morning on the Hudson. “Today has ideal conditions, when the water is flat like this,” head coach Tom Sanford said. “It’s also special because we’ve got both the eights out. And the boats are dead even. It’s something great to see.”
            The water was certainly like glass, barely rippling as the two long boats made their way through, gliding effortlessly as a result of the effort of the 16 girls perched in them. The girls shared their coach’s enthusiasm at having such excellent conditions for one of their last days on the water. But days like these are rare, according to Sanford.  
            “A typical day starts off with practice at 6 a.m. until about 9 a.m. ,” senior captain Maggie Kolb said. “If it is flat water and not too windy, we get to row on the Hudson. If not, we erg (ergometers are the stationary rowing machines) to improve on our conditioning. The workouts are challenging and exhausting, but beneficial.”
            After their rowing session, the team usually heads up to the McCann Center to lift weights with Jon Clancy, Marist’s head of strength and conditioning. Once the docks come out for the winter, the team is pretty much contained to the ergometers in the boathouse. Kolb noted that their spring trip to Clemson keeps all the girls extremely excited as it breaks up the dreary winter training that does not include sessions on the water.
            Kolb’s day doesn’t end after morning practice though, and neither do her teammates’ days. Kolb has classes, work in the admission office as a marketing intern, homework, and sometimes a second practice for the day. “We always joke,” Kolb said. “I hate morning practice until it’s over. Then I love it.”
            Senior Tory Mather, known fondly amongst the team for her love of food, is another hard worker. Sanford pointed her out in the morning workout, commenting upon the simple fact that she loves to work out. A triathlete when she’s not rowing, Mather has an appetite for athletics, despite the trials it can add to her daily life.
            “It’s hard not to be on a normal college schedule,” Mather said. “It’s hard to have friends outside the team and I always have to tell people, ‘I can’t, I have crew.’ Also, it’s hard to be tired all the time, which I think is something all endurance sports have to deal with. But being on the water and accomplishing great things with my team is amazing.”
            Mather brought up an important aspect of this Marist team – they all work together to accomplish their goals. Annie Devorak, a freshman walk-on to the program, had prior experience in high school. While she had some idea of what to expect in terms of practice, she would be with a completely new team.
            “I love the teamwork that is required for a boat to move,” Devorak said. “I would say that our team works well together. I’m especially impressed and happy with how the novice and walk-ons came together. We found a way to balance friendship and healthy competition, which really keeps us moving forward.”
            Sanford felt that Marist had an excellent turn-out for the year, both with walk-on and returning members. “We have excellent senior leadership to guide our group of recruited freshmen and large number of athletic walk-ons,” Sanford said. “The group is enthusiastic and willing to work and learn more about training every day.”
            Sanford, who has coached at Marist since the 2001-2002 season, came from coaching the freshmen men at Georgetown for the three years preceding his passing the NYS Bar Exam. Living in his native Hyde Park, Sanford and his wife have three girls under the age of nine. Needless to say, much like the girls he coaches every morning at Marist, he has a busy schedule.
            “My schedule varies every day,” Sanford said. “It is never boring, to say the least. I love every minute of it and, except for the time I have around my family, being around the college students at practice and watching them compete together at regattas on the weekends is what I find most rewarding.”
            Flavia Siclovan, a sophomore walk-on, gets through tough practices sometimes because Sanford manages to get the girls to laugh or smile with his funny comments.
            “You’ve gotta love Tom [Sanford],” Siclovan said. “No matter how hard a practice we’re having or how bad we’re feeling, he always manages to get us to crack a smile. My favorite times are when we stop practicing for a minute to ‘observe nature.’ We’ve made some friends, such as Hank the Heron, and our little bald eagle friend, who isn’t so little anymore. Tom will get so excited when he sees anything like that.”
            Many of the girls have funny anecdotes similar to Siclovan’s. She remembered at one practice when Sanford yelled for everyone to stop. They did, thinking something was wrong, and Sanford, with a big grin, simply pointed out a giant fish that had jumped in the river.
            Kolb’s funny memory also involves Sanford. “We rowed into the dock towing our coach in his launch when the engine broke,” Kolb said.
            Mather recounted a time walking down to catch a 4 a.m. bus. While walking down to McCann, several girls returning from a night out at a Poughkeepsie club, asked the crew girls if they had their pillows because they were going to a sleepover.
            The girls have fun, but they also work hard. They have very real goals concerning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Championships (MAAC) and further competitions.
            “Our expectations of the team involve continuous improvement,” Sanford said. “The greater the number of hard working and dependable student athletes we have, the better the team will be.”
            Sanford explained that there is no “MVP Rower” for the simple reason that it is a team sport. Girls can compete for seats within their boat and to be in a certain line-up, but there is more stress on working hard to be the best together.
            “Crew is a very interesting sport in that it is so competitive individually (intra-squad to earn your seat), but every movement in the boat needs to be succinct and together,” Kolb said. “We row for thousands of hours each season to row well as a boat, something that the Olympic team even has to work on, while at the same time working really hard on our own technique and fitness levels.”
            Sanford commented on the early morning session where the boats were dead even. He couldn’t believe how close they were and was encouraging the girls to continue their hard work, the obvious reason for this occurrence.
             “The ideal team would be one that is cohesive, determined, self-motivating, and passionate for the sport,” assistant women’s crew coach Michelle Stathers said. “I believe this year, we have exactly those characteristics. When everyone is getting along and motivating one another to be better every day, you have a successful team.”
            Sanford explained that, beginning in the spring of 2013, the winner of each conference championship in Division I women’s rowing will gain an automatic qualification to compete in the finals at NCAA championships.
            “Our team’s expectation is to be the MAAC representative every year,” Sanford said. “This will be the ultimate reward and thank you for each and every member of the current team, as well as every member of the teams in the past that worked to elevate our competitiveness.”
            Marist track and crew alumna, Lisa D’Aniello, is just one example of where the hard work that Sanford preaches can lead people. She remembered saying she would never return to crew after enduring cruel early morning wake-ups, but she found herself heading down to the boathouse around 6 a.m. for four years. D’Aniello originally tried reaching the head track coach, but when she received no response, got involved with crew. It proved a tremendously rewarding journey for her as she went on to represent the United States in Germany at the end of her senior year at Marist.
            “I rowed with the Pocock Rowing Center in Seattle and my second summer with them, made the Under 23 Lightweight Double with Kristen Hedstrom of the University of Wisconsin,” D’Aniello said. “We raced in Germany, placing twelfth in the worst rowing conditions I ever raced in. It was a little disappointing, but I never felt so much pride as being able to wear USA on my chest.”
            D’Aniello realizes she achieved this through the hard workouts, including the early morning wake-ups.
            “I would sleep in my crew clothes to save time in the morning,” D’Aniello said. “The blisters were also pretty rough. There were some nights I had to fall asleep clutching ice cubes because my hands hurt so badly. And the ergs were the worst because you couldn’t even enjoy the beauty of the water.”
            But D’Aniello remembers those great moments she had as a result of rough practices and a very different college lifestyle, she stated she valued sleep over going out partying. The fall of her senior year, the team placed fourth at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, which is the biggest two-day regatta in the world. D’Aniello’s experience was very similar to what the current team members experience.
            “All that pain and hard work – worth it,” D’Aniello said. “I loved our team. Rowers are a unique breed of people – not only to be willing to push so hard, but also to get up early every morning to do this. You endure this every day with the same people, and since you’re in the boat with them, there’s really no escape!”
            When one team member found out she had a brain tumor, every girl on the team rallied together to support her. While competing in Germany at Worlds, D’Aniello wore a Marist oar necklace that was a gift from her teammates. “It was like all my Marist teammates were with me,” D’Aniello said.
            Hard work and team work. No other two descriptions fit the crew team as well as these. Every member proves that they want to be there, by waking up early and getting out on the water, or just on the erg, and working to their capacity for the day.
            “Rowing teaches time management, teamwork, perseverance, and sportsmanship,” Sanford said. “I hope the team leaves practice every day physically fatigued and mentally alert. I hope they feel as though they really accomplished something beneficial to themselves and to the team, whether it be working well together in a new line-up, executing a practice piece particularly well, or seeing their scores improve on the much detested rowing machine.”
            Siclovan joked about adjusting her schedule to fit in much needed naps that help get her through the day. Mather centers a good portion of her afternoon around her second workout and eating, while also fitting in a nap. They know how to work hard and they make sure they can physically achieve their goals every day.
            “I hope they see the hard work they endured and accomplished in frequently challenging conditions made them stronger and more prepared for their respective careers,” Sanford said. “Working through challenges is character building.”

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