SARA Annual Meeting and Post-Event Festivities

The Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association (SARA) recapped another great year and planned for this upcoming season at the SARA Annual Meeting on Saturday morning at Archbold Gym.

After the marathon meeting, an evening of libations and tasty vittles were had at the home of SARA Board Member Joey Peter. (Also a birthday celebration for Joey. Happy Birthday Joey!)

Here are some scenes of the festivities....


SARA Board Members (left to right): Ken Hutton, Bill Sanford, Paul Dudzick



Sheila Roock, Bob Donabella, Tracy Smith



Lynne Pascale, Tom Darling



Friends of SARA Dave Schnall and event host Jan Peter



Tom Darling, Joe Paduda, Joey Peter


Gerry Henwood and Sheila Roock

Ergs, ergs, ergs

The SU men were getting after it this afternoon. Joe DeLeo told me what the workout was but all I tuned into was the "30 seconds off" part. Whatever it was, it looked pretty hard.

6k Day

The 6k is a tough one but there were still some smiles from the SU women as they warmed up at Flanagan...

Words of Wisdom from Coach Moore

Hey, there is nothing easy about a 6k erg test. Here's a pre-pain pep talk and some strategy from Coach Justin Moore.

Crew Room Renovations

While the SU teams ripped it up in Florida, the SU Physical Plant (at least that's who I think was responsible...) got to work in the SU Crew Room.

Check out the sparkling tanks and the spiffy new "Syracuse Rowing" lettering! Sweet!

SARA Annual Meeting Saturday, January 22.

The 2011 SARA Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, January 22, 2011. The meeting will run from 8:00 - 11:30 a.m. in room 202 at Archbold Gym.

Here is the final agenda (click on the image for the enlargement). All are welcome. If you are not a SARA Board Member and wish to attend, please RSVP to t.r.smith1(at)comcast.net.

Winter Training Photos - SU Women

Many thanks to Alicea Kochis for these photos of the SU Women in action during the Winter Training trip to Florida.

Click here for the full array....

Katherine Isaza Commits to SU

Katherine Isaza (front row, far right)

(story courtesy of The Hour)
(photo credit to Laura Buckman at The Daily Norwalk)
By STEVE GEOGHEGAN
Hour Staff Writer

The best things come in small packages and Syracuse University will soon find that out.

Katherine Isaza, a Norwalk High senior who is the top coxswain with the Connecticut Boat Club out of Norwalk, has made a verbal commitment to compete with the Orange women's rowing team next season.

Isaza, who stands in at 5-feet, will receive an athletic scholarship to attend the school and will sign her national letter of intent in March.

"I feel very excited," said the diminutive yet talented coxswain. "It's somewhere I want to go. I'm really excited to cheer for the Orange next season."

Isaza said Syracuse and Ohio State were her top choices, with Duke, North Carolina and USC also in the mix. It came down to Syracuse being the best fit for her academically and athletically.

"Syracuse had everything I wanted," she said. "It's a great program with a great coach (Justin Moore). It all came together and it's the best choice for me and my family."

Isaza has been one of the best high school-aged coxswains in the country. She led the women's varsity eight to gold medals at the Youth National Championships in Cincinnati, Ohio, last June and the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston last October. As a matter of fact, her boat hasn't lost a race in a year and a half.

Justin Moore Set to Speak in Boston

Justin Moore will be a featured speaker at the ‘What Works’ Summit, a conference on best practices for rowing and sculling, taking place from Friday, February 11 to Sunday, February 13 at Boston's Community Rowing Harry Parker Boat House.

The summit includes multiple instructional formats, from Keynote Addresses (from both individual speakers and expert panels) to Breakout Sessions (seminars, workshops, panels) and the Opening and Closing Roundtables. During the summit, a collection of nationally recognized experts from a variety of specialties—Junior, Collegiate and National Team Coaches, Sports Medicine, Coaching Education, Sports Nutrition, Physiology, Sports Psychology—will discuss the practical applications of their research to the sport of rowing.

Other featured speakers include Charley Butt, Harvard University Head Men’s Lightweight Coach and Declan Connelly, PhD/MS, Director of Human Performance Laboratory at University of Vermont.