SMU signs nine rowers, one coxswain

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Sign Nine Rowers And A Coxswain
SMU rowing picks up 10 on signing day

Nov. 26, 2012

DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU rowing program signed nine rowers and one coxswain to National Letters of Intent to compete at SMU starting in the 2012-13 season, head coach Doug Wright announced Monday.

"I am very excited with the athletes we signed for this early period. Our staff has done a great job of identifying this group and getting them on campus to see what our program is all about. That's a big step in the world of recruiting for rowing," Wright said. "Once here, many of them made a decision right away that SMU is the place for them to excel both in the classroom and on the water. They all have a clear understanding of what our goals are and what we're doing to accomplish them, and are equally as excited to be a part of that."

Marissa Jennings is a member of the swimming and softball teams at Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey. She competes in rowing with the Westfield Crew club, and led the Girls JV Quad to the semifinals at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, billed as the largest high school regatta in the world. She also competed at the C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints, an indoor rowing event at Boston University.

Lindsay Heyman led a quad from Port Rowing to a top-50 finish at the Head of the Charles in Boston, and won a silver medal with her coach in a collegiate pair race at a regatta in Philadelphia. A native of Great Neck, N.Y., Heyman attends Great Neck North High School.

Julia Neppl, a native of Alpharetta, Ga., is a member of the Saint Andrew Rowing Club and attends Blessed Trinity High School. She advanced to the semifinals in the Women's Junior A 2x, finishing fifth, and can complete a 2,000-meter race in less than eight minutes.

Brittany Courteau, a native of West Allendale, Mich., is a four-year letter winner in rowing at Culver Academy. Amanda Esposito is a senior rower at Berkeley Prep in Tampa, Fla. She also helped lead the Berkeley volleyball team to the Florida state championship game. McKenzie Daly signed at SMU after a volleyball career at Plano Senior High School in Plano, Texas.

Savannah Moody is one of two signees from the Long Beach Junior Crew Club, joining Molly O'Connell, the lone coxswain in the signing class. The duo also attended high school together at Los Alamitos High School. Moody is from Long Beach, Calif., while O'Connell is a native of Seal Beach, Calif.

The Mustangs also added a pair of signees from Bainbridge High School in Bainbridge Island, Wash. Katrina Kerrigan led the Bainbridge Varsity Girls 8+ to a first place finish in the finals at the Brentwood Regatta in British Columbia. Sydney Severson also played basketball at Bainbridge.

The SMU rowing team will start the 2013 spring season on March 9 against Creighton in Dallas at White Rock Lake.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Sounds like a great class. It's always nice to land a good coxswain!

I can't wait until March 9!

Go Ponies!

[smusic 00]

10?! How many fit in the boat?

[ponyboy]

Depends. But you race multiple boats in a regatta.

[smusic 00]

Ah, ok.

[Digetydog]

Sounds like a great class. It's always nice to land a good coxswain!

I can't wait until March 9!

Go Ponies!

You can get a scholly for being the coxwain?

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

You can get a scholly for being the coxwain?

I guess so. I just looked up the NCAA scholarship limit for rowing and it is 20! Seriously.

[35straight]

Title 9 is/was a horrible idea.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Title 9 is/was a horrible idea.

I respectfully disagree wholeheartedly, but some of the implementation details are way out of whack.

[35straight]

Just the simple fact that men's teams ie. SMU's track team gets disbanded due to scholarship restrictions is ridiculous. I have nothing against female athletes, I have a daughter myself and will one day enjoy watching her play sports. Schools should not be forced to continually add sports teams just to keep the quota.

[couch 'em]

It wont be fair until it accounts for men desiring to participate in sports at a higher rate. As it is now it discriminates against men

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

It wont be fair until it accounts for men desiring to participate in sports at a higher rate. As it is now it discriminates against men

In some cases, definitely. Just look at our men's track/field and all of the schools who have had to eliminate men's soccer for proof.

I have never understood why the NCAA doesn't just raise the scholarship limits on sports where men's and women's teams can share facilities (soccer, volleyball, track/field, tennis, etc.) to let the schools get their numbers closer to compliance without having to spend more "real" money on facilities - but that seems too logical.

[Junior]

Depends. But you race multiple boats in a regatta.

or you can race one really big boat. like a viking ship or something.