Cardinal Rowers Open Season Saturday at LemonHead Regatta
October 11, 2000 | Rowing
Oct. 11, 2000
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Do it right the first time. That's the philosophy first-year University of Louisville rowing head coach Richard Ruggieri is taking into this season, the program's first at the varsity level, when the Cards travel to Bloomington, Ind., for the third annual LemonHead Regatta on Saturday.
The event, hosted by Indiana University, will be held on Lake Lemon with the first race scheduled for 9 a.m.
At the novice level last season, the program's inaugural year, the Cardinals posted a 75-7 overall record in the spring and captured six gold medals, seven silver and three bronze in eight regattas during the course of the year. Among the schools the Cards defeated were Duke, Notre Dame, Clemson, Indiana, Tennessee, Miami (Fla.), Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Kansas and Wisconsin.
This season, 26 newcomers join 11 returnees to try to make this year just as successful as they compete at both the varsity and novice levels.
"I look forward to building a program that can compete at the highest level," said Ruggieri. "At Louisville, we have a group of student-athletes who work very hard, yet realize that this is only the starting point."
The varsity team will be led by sophomore co-captains Nikki Lee and Melissa Campbell. Also returning to join these two on the varsity squad is senior Lisa Frederick and sophomores Kelly Drescher, Michelle Fendrick, Lacy Johnston, Jennifer Klipple, Michelle McCombs, Kate O'Bryan, Kris Pittman and Blaire Steinert. These veterans were around last year and they know what it takes to be competitive at this level.
New to the varsity team but not necessarily new to big-time rowing is the trio of senior Gena Avery and freshmen Nicole Ginn and Allison Kemphaus. Avery rowed last year for the club team at UT-Chattanooga, while Ginn and Kemphaus rowed together for the Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club, which finished first at club nationals the last two years.
This past summer, Ginn helped lead the United States women's 4 without coxswain team to a gold medal at the 2000 FISA Junior World Rowing Championships, marking the first-ever gold by a U.S. junior women's crew. The Ft. Wright, Ky., native also placed fourth on the U.S. women's 8+ crew at the world championships.
"The varsity looks to build upon a successful novice season," said Ruggieri. "To get us there, we have surrounded our rowers with the best support staff possible. Whether its strength training, nutrition, academics or improved life skills, U of L student-athletes are being prepared to be the best."
Assistant coaches Emily Egge and Laurie Featherstone will handle the novice boats with the intentions of preparing them for the varsity level. This season will be used mainly to stress technique and racing strategy as many of the rowers will be competing at the collegiate level for the first time.
The Cardinals will compete in four regattas during the fall, including the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, the largest two-day rowing event in the world. In the spring, the Cards will race in six events throughout the region before hopefully culminating with a race at the NCAA Championships at the end of the season.
