Crew - 2012 - 13 Season

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Peri Parsons, a senior at St. Mary’s High School in Medford, Ore., has signed a National Letter of Intent and will join the University of Portland rowing team as a freshman in the fall, announced head coach Bill Zack. The Pilots just concluded their first year as an NCAA Division I rowing program.

“Peri is a strong student and she is really excited about rowing,” Zack said. “She’s a skilled sculler and she’s strong on the ergometer. She has a lot of potential, and we’re happy she chose the University of Portland as the place to pursue her potential.”

Parsons, who has been a member of the Ashland Rowing Club for three seasons, received an invitation to a U.S. Junior National Team Sculling Camp. She posted first-place finishes in the Women’s Junior Double events at both the Head of the Dog Regatta and Row for the Cure in Portland. Parsons also won the Women’s Junior Novice Single race at the Northwest Regionals in Vancouver, Wash., and won her heat at the Ergomania 2K in Seattle.

DoubleDipper wrote: (We may even need to get some rowing specific Emoticons )

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots women’s rowing program has added Todd Vogt as an assistant coach, announced head coach Bill Zack. Vogt spent the past year as an assistant coach at Lewis & Clark, helping lead the men’s varsity 4 to a first-place finish at the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference Championships.

“I am very excited to be coaching at the University of Portland,” Vogt said. “I was very impressed by the level of success experienced in the first year of the program, and I’m hoping to help the team improve even further. I’m looking forward to coaching with and learning from head coach Bill Zack, who has a ton of experience and knowledge.

“Todd helped out with the program last year, and his enthusiasm and knowledge were evident,” said Zack. “He interacts very well with the student-athletes, and his addition makes our coaching staff much stronger. We’re very happy to have him on board.”

Before joining the staff at Lewis & Clark, Vogt was an assistant coach at Willamette University for two years (2009-11). While with the Bearcats, Vogt helped the women reach a No. 12 national ranking.

A native of Rochester, N.Y., Vogt was also the head coach for the Portland Women’s Rowing Club (2011-12), and he spent the last two summers coaching at the Pennsylvania Athletic Club and at the Craftsbury Sculling Center in Vermont. While at the Pennsylvania Athletic Club, the lightweight 8+ he coached won at the USRowing Club Nationals Championships.

Vogt began coaching in 2005 at the Lake Oswego Community Rowing club in Lake Oswego, Ore., working with both juniors and masters rowers. He began rowing his freshman year at the University of Buffalo, in Buffalo, N.Y., where he competed and won medals at various regattas including the New York State Collegiate Championships and the Dad Vail Regatta. After graduating he continued rowing with the West Side Rowing Club in Buffalo, racing in various regattas such as US Nationals and Canadian Henley.

Vogt is a USRowing Certified Level 2 Coach.

CORVALLIS, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots women’s rowing team opened the 2012 Fall Season with a dual meet last weekend against the Oregon State Beavers on the Willamette River. Portland raced a first and second eight against three boats from OSU.

The event consisted of three 3,000 meter races. The first 3,000 was a head race (time trial) for seeding purposes, and the final two races were side-by-side with lanes assigned based on the results of the head race.

In the first time trial, UP rowed its first eight against Oregon State’s A and B boats. Portland was in lane two for the second race and finished second to the OSU A boat. In the third piece, Oregon State A again finished in first place.

Portland’s second eight then had a slim victory in the time trial format over OSU’s third boat. The Beavers won the second race (head-to-head), and Portland won the third piece.

“We want to thank Oregon State for being excellent hosts and giving the team the opportunity to get race experience,” said Portland head coach Bill Zack. “I thought the team did a really good job in unfamiliar territory with borrowed equipment. This will help a lot in the preparation for the Portland Fall Classic.”

The Portland Fall Classic is set for Oct. 28 on the Willamette River in downtown Portland.

Hello fellow Pilots and Pilots fans alike – welcome to the first entry of the first ever women’s rowing blog, get excited. We are all so grateful for this opportunity for the school and the community to get to know us.

There is a lot of excitement buzzing around our team this year so let me take this opportunity to fill you in!

Last year we were pleased with a better-than-expected fifth place finish at the West Coast Conference Championships. But rest assured this year we have set our goals high and are more than capable of working towards and achieving them. With a roster 50 women strong, there is a wide variety of talent and potential among both the retuning women as well as the novices. In addition to the numerous walk-ons, we were lucky to snag five freshmen recruits as well as a new assistant coach, Todd Vogt (who travelled with the team to the WCC’s last year).

This Sunday, October 28th, is the team’s second official competition after a scrimmage with OSU, and the team’s first big regatta of the year – The Portland Fall Classic. Right on the Willamette River, we will leave via our own dock and head on down the river and row a good, hard 5000 meters. As one of the largest headraces, meaning that there are no specified lanes for the boats, the Fall Classic will include many crews ranging in age and location and will provide a great opportunity for the team to get some race experience and showcase our talents. The team is excited as it is many of the team members’ first race.

There is much excitement surrounding not only this regatta, but also every one we have in coming months. Regardless of this, the WCC’s, though not until May, are always in the back of our minds, reminding us to work hard and be aggressive and dedicated in everything we do. Each 6 a.m. practice or afternoon weight room session is directed at improving the team, bettering us every minute of every practice. We look forward to our second year as an official NCAA sport and can’t wait to show everyone what we’re made of – we have some big plans for the future.

Next week look forward to a full recap on the Portland Fall Classic in addition to some fun facts about rowing! Until then, thanks for reading and Go Pilots.

SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
1) Sacramento State - 7:04.4
2) Portland - 7:07.4
3) UC San Diego - 7:13.8
4) Humboldt State - 7:21.5
5) Saint Mary’s - 7:24.3
6) Humboldt State B - 7:47.2

VARSITY EIGHT
1) Sacramento State - 6:50.8
2) Saint Mary’s - 6:54.6
3) Portland - 6:57.0
4) UC San Diego - 7:00.7
5) Humboldt State - 7:06.2
6) Sonoma State - 7:48.8
7) Mills College - 7:51.8

NOVICE EIGHT
1) Sacramento State - 7:17.7
2) Humboldt State - 7:21.9
3) Portland - 7:26.4
4) UC San Diego - 7:30.6
5) Sacramento State B - 803.6
6) Mills College - 8:22.1

VARSITY FOUR
1) Saint Mary’s - 7:41.1
2) Humboldt State -7:55.0
3) UC San Diego - 8:15.7
4) Sacramento State - 8:16.7
5) Portland - 8:20.2

NOVICE FOUR
1) Portland - 7:54.0
2) Saint Mary’s - 8:25.7
3) Sacramento State B- 8:37.3
4) Humboldt State -8:38.3
5) Sacramento State A- 8:47.5
6) Mills College -9:02.0
7) UC San Diego - 9:09.7

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State Director of Athletics Jim Sterk announced the hiring of Bill Zack as the head coach of the Aztec rowing program on Tuesday. Zack comes to The Mesa after a highly successful stint as the head coach at the University of Portland for the past two years.

During Zack's time with the Pilots, he was responsible for the transition of the team's status from club to varsity membership. At the 2013 West Coast Conference (WCC) Championships, the Pilots tied for third in the point standings in only their second year of competition. Zack also coached three rowers who were recognized a part of WCC Rowing all-conference teams, 12 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) national scholar-athletes, four members of the WCC Rowing all-academic team and 15 WCC Rowing all-academic team honorable mention recipients.