Rowing Outlook

Sept. 19, 2000

By Anne Miller Assistant Sports Information Dir.Wake Forest Game Program – September 16, 2000

As head coach Susie Lueck begins her third season at the helm of the Clemson rowing program, she is looking forward to another outstanding season on the water and in the classroom.

“The experience from the past two years combined with the leadership from this year’s upperclassmen have created a foundation for success. Our challenge will be to build speed and find even more success both academically and athletically,” said Lueck.

In just its second year, the 2000 Clemson rowing program continued to build on its first season’s successes as they recorded a second-place finish at the inaugural ACC Championships held at the University of Virginia. They followed up that performance with a fourth-place finish at the regional regatta, narrowly missing a berth to the NCAA National Championships. Clemson placed two rowers, Lauren Henne and Katherine Sloan, on the All-ACC team, the first all-conference rowers in school history. Lucy Dolittle was selected as a second-team all-region honoree.

The Tiger rowers also excelled in the classroom last year, posting a 3.27 GPA in the spring semester. That was the highest GPA in the program’s history, and the second highest by any Clemson program in any spring semester.

Despite losing 14 seniors, Lueck, along with assistant coaches Kelly Lynch and Laura Slice, is excited about the possibilities for this year.

The Tigers return 29 rowers from last year’s team, including eight of nine in last year’s top novice boat and six from last year’s varsity boat.

“There is a lot of depth in the returning upperclassmen, and this year’s junior class has a tremendous amount of potential. They went undefeated as novices their freshman year and several of them were in our first varsity boat last year. It will also be exciting to see what this year’s sophomore class will do with the success and experience they gained last year,” said Lueck.

Clemson will begin its non-traditional fall season next Saturday at the Seneca Water Festival where it will compete in an intersquad race and a celebrity row.

“This will give our local fans and other people who are interested in rowing an opportunity to come out early in the year and show their support of Clemson rowing and the sport in general,” said Lueck.

The Tigers will travel to Pittsburgh, PA, for the Head of the Ohio Regatta on Oct. 7 where they will likely face some of the top Division I programs. Virginia, Ohio State, Brown, Cornell, Princeton, Michigan, Kansas, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan State participated in last year’s regatta and several of those teams advanced to the NCAA Championships last season.

The first opportunity for Tiger supporters to see this year’s team in action at home will be at the Head of Lake Hartwell on Oct. 14. ACC-rival Duke as well as Tennessee will face Clemson in this year’s regatta. On Oct. 15, Clemson will participate in its annual Class Day Regatta on Lake Hartwell where the classes will compete against each other.

On Oct. 28, the novice teams will go to the Head of the Tennessee before the novice and varsity teams travel to the Head of the Chattahootchee on Nov. 4.

“The Hootch is a big regional regatta and will give us an opportunity to see who is showing good speed,” Lueck said. “There is always a good level of competition at that regatta.”

Clemson will wrap up their fall season with the Rivanna Romp, held Nov. 14 on the Rivanna Reservoir in Charlottesville, VA.

“This race will feature traditionally strong Division I women’s programs. The Rivanna should be the best indicator of what we need to work on and where we are heading into the spring season,” Lueck said.

The Tigers will likely face both ACC and non-conference opponents such as Ohio State, Virginia, Duke, Miami, North Carolina and Georgetown.

The first preseason poll will be published in February 2001 based in part on the fall results. Clemson will open its traditional spring season with two regattas at home on March 17 and March 24.

The Tigers will have an opportunity to race many of the top teams at the San Diego Crew Classic April 7-8. Last year, seven of the top-10 teams in the nation competed in that regatta.

On April 14, Clemson will race Ohio State, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Southern California, Michigan and Michigan State in Columbus, OH, before coming home to host the Clemson Classic, their last event before the ACC Championships, which will be hosted by Clemson on Lake Hartwell on April 28.

“This will be a great opportunity for local supporters to see some great races. We are really excited about hosting this event and are looking to compete for the conference title,” Lueck said. There will be four events at the ACC Championships as both varsity 8+ and varsity 4+ boats will compete in the regatta.

The Central and Southern Region Championships will be held in Oak Ridge, TN, May 13-14, followed by the NCAA Championships May 25-27, on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, GA.