Jimmy McCumber Guest Writer

The crew teams were shocked this winter when Coach Mike Alton announced that he was leaving Vassar midway through his sixth season as coach of both the men’s and women’s crew teams.

Alton has already begun his tenure as the men’s head coach at Vassar’s Liberty League rival Hobart College. Alton revealed his decision to the teams in a meeting after a late first semester practice.

“We were all really close to Mike and his family,” said men’s team captain Ryan Mason ’06. “It was out of the blue, during mid-season. But the team has bounced back—we are interviewing coaches and the whole team has been involved in the process.”

“It was really an emotional moment,” said Hunter Keil ’09. “He meant a lot to the team and everyone was very close to him.” Keil added that this issue has “brought the team together.”

Now, the teams have moved on in looking for a new coach. “The team’s been very involved in looking for the new coach, and it was nice that we could have such an active role in it,” said Katie Wing ’09. “We were very close to our old coach, but we have a very strong team and we will still have a good season.”

As of Feb. 20, not having a head coach was causing uncertainty among the rowers, as they were unsure about who would be in the teams’ ‘“A” boats this spring. But the crew teams have done their best to keep this uncertainty from affecting their training.

“There isn’t much a head coach can do in the off-season anyway,” said Mason. “The captains have been running practices over the winter.”

Women’s crew captain Annie Kushner ’06 agreed. “We have a solid group of seniors to keep things under control in the interim season,” she said.
“The captains have been very involved in the process, added Opheim. “They’ve been very good leaders.”

On Friday, Feb. 17, the team held a 12-hour “Ergo-Thon”, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to raise money for a spring break trip to DeLand, Florida. The team set up a table in the College Center and took 30-minute shifts on their ergonomic rowing machines, which are used to train in the absence of water.

“Right now, we have been working mostly on the ergs and lifting,” said Betsy Wieand ’08. “We hope to have someone by spring break. We are starting official practices Monday, and we have been interviewing candidates for the job.”

Vassar has some of their most important competitions in the spring season, with the Liberty League championships on April 29, and New York State, ECAC and NCAA championships in May.

“We are continuing on as a team,” said Wieand. “And we still have our assistant coach.”

Assistant Coach Cherith Greenwood, in her first season as acting crew coach, began leading practices with help from the captains on Monday, Feb. 20.