Western Intercollegiate Athletics Gala press release

2008 Western Rowing Gala Silent Auction Items

If you would like to bid on any of the following items, but you will not be attending the Gala, send your maximum bid (and the item you would like to bid on) to Courtland Morrice at courtland_m(at)hotmail.com. He will bid on the designated item, on your behalf, up to your maximum bid. Following the Gala, you will be notified of the result of your bid.

1)   2008 Hudson Elite Single: Generously donated by Hudson Boat Works, the highest bidder will own a single custom-built to their personal specifications.

Value: $9,000               Starting Bid: $6,500

2)   Concept 2 Model ‘D’ Ergometer

Value: $1,350               Starting Bid: $800

3)   Pair of Courtside Raptors Tickets: Donated by MCAP, courtside vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 27, 2008.

Value: $960                  Starting Bid: $400

4)   Pair of Maple Leafs Tickets: Donated by MCAP, in lower bowl vs. the New Jersey Devils on March 8^th,2008.

Value: $382                  Starting Bid: $150

5) Pair of Sabres Tickets: Donated by the Chisholm family, lower bowl vs. Detroit Red Wings on March 2nd, 2008.

Value: $136                  Starting Bid: $60

6) Pair of Maple Leafs Tickets: Donated by the Anderson family, gold tickets versus the Ottawa Senators on April 3^rd, 2008.

Value: $364                  Starting Bid: $150

7) Vancouver Canucks Tickets: Donated by the Morrice family, lower bowl vs. the Colorado Avalanche, on February 27, 2008.

Value: $188                  Starting Bid: $90

8) UWO Clothing Package: Includes hat, grey long sleeve shirt, purple short sleeve, and a retro zip up.

Value: $115                  Starting Bid: $50

9)   Regatta Sport Clothing Package: Donated by Chris Cookson of Regatta Sport, includes a large crew jacket, large cool max rowing shirt and a signed copy of Rowing Faster by Volker Nolte.

Value: $160                  Starting Bid: $70

10)        Two Week Pass to Moksha Yoga: Donated by Moksha Yoga, this is a two week unlimited pass, and a Nalgene water bottle.

Value: $95                    Starting Bid: $50

11)        Month pass to Moksha Yoga: A one month unlimited pass to Moksha yoga, a yoga matt, and a Sigg water bottle.

Value: $195                  Starting Bid: $80

12)        Round of Golf: Donated by WellNet Solutions Inc. a round of golf for two at the renowned Rocky Crest Golf Club. Rocky Crest is a Club Link Golf Course located on Lake Joseph, Muskoka.

Value: $320                    Starting Bid: $150

13)   Rowing Training Sessions with Olympic Coaches: For any level of rower, and crew size, two 90 minute training sessions coached by Al Morrow and Volker Nolte, with UWO rowing equipment.

Value: priceless              Starting Bid: $200

14) Bolle 2008 Sunglasses ‘Swift Kick’: Gun metal frames with polarized lenses, donated by Centennial Optical.

Value: $180                    Starting Bid: $70

15) Bolle 2008 Sunglasses ‘Serpent’:  Donated by Centennial Optical, these sunglasses have a black frame with polarized lenses.

Value: $105                 Starting Bid: $50

16) Women’s Gift Basket: Donated by the Bay, this basket includes fragrances and body lotion by Sarah Jessica Parker, Vera Wang, Jennifer Lopez, and Calvin Klein.

Value: $350             Starting Bid: $150

18) Lululemon Athletica: Yoga Starters Package including: yoga mat, poster, water bottle,  & bag

Value: $115             Starting Bid: $60

19) Hilton Hotels: Deluxe overnight accommodation for two at the London Hilton Hotel - Valid for one year.

Value: $180             Starting Bid: $100

20) Silver Bracelet: Women’s sterling silver bracelet, donated by Dan’s Jewelers Inc.

Value: $100             Starting Bid: $40

21) Side Street Salon Gift Certificates: Located in downtown London.

      a) One manicure, and pedicure

        Value: $84       Starting Bid: $35

      b) One hand and nail treatment and brow wax

        Value: $36       Starting Bid: $15

      c) One women’s hair cut and brow wax

        Value: $60       Starting Bid: $25

22) Matthew Pinsent signed autobiography: Donated by the Lunt’s, the A Lifetime in a Race book signed by Matthew Pinsent and a metal Henley Royal Regatta Stewards' Badge from 2000 and key ring.

Value: priceless             Starting Bid: $50

23) OARS Coaching: Donated by Dan Bechard and Chris McCully, two passes to June 21^st camp for Masters in London, ON.

Value: $350                  Starting Bid: $200

24) Cordless Drill: Donated by the Sferrazza family, a Kawasaki cordless three piece tool set with drill reciprocating saw and circular saw.

Value: $150                  Starting Bid: $70

25) UWO Season Tickets: to the sport of your choice. Also includes UWO hat, notepad, and seat cushion.

         Value: $150+               Starting Bid: $50

26) Goodlife Fitness Membership: includes a year long membership to any Goodlife Fitness Club in Canada. Donated by Western Rowing alumni David Patchell-Evans.

Value: $1000                  Starting Bid: $350

27) Oilers Jersey: Sam Gagner jersey signed by the Edmonton Oilers. Jersey donated by Andreas Schotter. Signatures facilitated by Kevin Banks.

         Value: $800+               Starting Bid: $500

Western Rowers take home two Golds, a Silver, and 4 Bronze medals at Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships

Feb 3rd (TORONTO)- The Western rowing team brought the heat to the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships last weekend. The event, hosted by the Argonaut Rowing Club, took place at York University, and over 600 competitors participated.

While rowing events usually take place on the water, the 2000m indoor ergometer race is a chance for individuals to perform. Twenty three athletes from Western were in attendance, and certainly represented the team well.

First year Western student Jacklyn Halko won the Senior B lightweight women’s race with an impressive time of 7:41.5. Caroline Kenning, also the on-water Canadian University silver medalist, finished took home another silver in the senior lightweight women’s category.

Jacob Bruer and Courtland Morrice took home 4th and 6th place respectively in the competitive Sr B lightweight men’s category.

Rookie Sarah Black had an amazing performance in the open Sr B women’s category, finishing with a bronze medal and a time of 7:17.8. Lindsay Sferraza was close behind her with a time of 7:20.7, and Mimmi Thompson placed fifth with a time of 7:22.9

Danny Matthews with a time of 6:20.5 took home the bronze for the open Sr B men, followed by Andrew Jago with a time of 6:23.9. James Campbell, a novice who learned to row this fall, showed the strength of Western’s development program by pulling an impressive 6:31.7, finishing 9th among some of the top athletes in the country.

Senior women Emily Beers and Cathy Crawley posted impressive times of 7:12.0 and 7:24.3, competing against many of the womens national rowing team members.

Finally, Pete McClelland and Aubrey Oldham dominated the senior men’s category, taking home the gold in a time of 6:07.1, and the bronze with 6:16.2 respectively.

First year mens coxswain Dane Lawson pulled the 1km coxswains race, bringing home another bronze for the team in a time of 3:50.7

Full results on the event can be found at http://www.cdnindoorrowing.org/medals2008.html

Mark Your Calendars – Gala 2008

Buffy and Barney Williams

In the past few years, Western’s performance on the water has been dominant, and the results have been more impressive with passing every season. Motivated to constantly raise the standard, the rowing team’s off-the-water events have been improving at an equally impressive rate. Last year’s Gala, headlined by Barney and Buffy Wiliams, was a huge success. This year we plan to build on that success, and make gala bigger and better than ever before.

On February 16th, Western Rowing will host the Fourth Annual Gala and Silent Auction. For those of you that don’t know very much about Gala, it is a major event on the UWO rowing calendar. It is a formal evening, which includes dinner service, speeches and presentations, and a large silent auction. All money that is raised goes straight back into the rowing program. Everyone is invited to Gala. It is a great time for alumni to get together and catch up, for parents to come see what the program is about, and for current rowers to meet and learn about the people that built the program they currently enjoy. It really is a night for the entire UWO rowing community, past and present, to come together.

Some of Westerns Proud Alumni

In previous years, the Gala has showcased one select group of alumni for their special achievements during their rowing careers at Western. This year will be no different, as we hope to honour graduates of the years 1990 to 1994. We sincerely hope that we can get many of these graduates to attend. The Gala is a great time to catch up with old friends and reflect on times spent on the rowing team.

With expectations of the largest event yet, we have changed venues to London’s larger and fancier Hilton Hotel. Not only will this allow us to hold a larger group, but it will also make the night far more special, as the Hilton is much better equipped for presentations and speeches.

This year, our event will be headlined by presentation by Dr. Roger Jackson. Dr. Jackson is a former UWO rower and gold medalist in the 1964 Olympic Men’s Pair.  He is also a former president of the Canadian Olympic Committee and an Order of Canada recipient. He currently is the CEO of “Own the Podium 2010” and is very involved in Canada’s upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics.

Our silent auction is sure to be the biggest yet. As always, the feature item is a custom made Hudson single. This year we will also have numerous Leafs, Raptors, and Canucks tickets, along with many other great items.

This year’s Gala promises to be a great night for everyone involved with Western Rowing. We hope that everyone can attend, as there will be many good times for everyone to enjoy. Clear your schedules for the night of February16th and get excited for the biggest and best Gala ever.

For tickets or more information, please contact Connor Teskey at cteskey.hba2009@ivey.ca

Hotel rooms are being offered by the Hilton for $109.99 for booking up until February 1st. Let them know you will be at our Gala to get in on the offer. Call (519) 439-1661 for details.

Western Men take the CURC Banner for the Second year in a row

At the Canadian University Rowing Championships, hosted by Brock at the Welland Canal this year, the Western men had another great showing of program depth by taking home the national banner for the second year in a row.

After an incredibly successful season the previous year, where it seemed like the Western men were untouchable, there was a lot of pressure to repeat those performances. Having such a substantial recruiting year as well, all eyes in the rowing community fell on the Western men.  
Throughout the CU regatta, Western laid down a solid base in the points, with Cam Sylvester winning the lightweight men’s single, Tim Colson coming second in the heavyweight men’s single, and the two of them taking gold in the lightweight men’s double.
The light men’s four, rowed by Topher Morris, Jacob Breuer, Courtland Morrice, Connor Teskey, and coxswain Genna Wood took a close second place to the Queens lightweight four, battling with UVic for the silver, and the points, all the way down the course. It was unanimous among that crew that it was the best 4+ race of the season, and that nothing had been left in the tank when crossing the line.

Caroline Kenning, finishing second in the final for the lightweight women’s single well represented the Western Women’s side.

The heavy men’s pair, rowed by Andrew Jago and Danny Matthews, also took silver, finishing one second behind Queens in one of the tightest races of the day.

Although Western was doing well in the points, the deciding race for the banner was the heavyweight men’s 8+, the last race of the regatta. For many of the crew, like Dave Lamb, Topher Morris, and Andreas Schotter, this would be the last CU race of their career. The pressure that had been mounting throughout the season had culminated in the minutes before the final. No one could sit still. Only a few people were talking, most were contemplating the race to come.

From the starting horn to the finish, it was a fight every single stroke for water. Leading off the start, Western fell back for a few strokes when Queens made a push, then quickly pulled back ahead, with the coxswain sitting on their four seat for the majority of the race. UVic was also a strong contender, trying to inch ahead at every opportunity. When the call came for the last 30 strokes, the Western men’s eight knew they had it, and surged ahead a full boat length, leaving UVic in second and Queens a close third.

It was the most satisfying victory of the season, setting Western up as the team to beat for the upcoming 2008 season.

Western Men’s Rowing wins third consecutive OUA Banner

(ST CATHARINES, On) This Saturday the western rowing team battled the elements as well as other schools at the OUA championship regatta.

By 9am winds were already reaching speeds of 30km/hour, and the waves on the course were beginning to whitecap. As rowing is a flat water sport, these conditions posed a serious challenge to all competitors.

However in the first event of the day, the lightweight men’s single, Western’s Tim Colson was still able to pull off a first place finish.

Western medaled in all other lightweight men’s events, finishing second in the double rowed by Jacob Breuer and Devin Gordon.

The lightweight men’s eight finished second to Brock, who posted the fastest time of the entire regatta, finishing the 2km race in 5:33.28. “It was a disappointing loss,” said CONTACT _Con-3D5504091 \c \s \l Courtland Morrice, who rowed two seat in the race, “but we did what we had to do to stay ahead of Queens in the points race.”

The heavyweight men’s eight won their event in a time of 5:35.91. From the first stroke it was a battle with Queens to stay in the lead. After the first 500m Western made a move to stay ahead, and pulled away an entire boat length. From Peter Mclelland, stroke of the eight, “We’ve had some bad luck in the heavyweight eight over the past few years. This win was a big relief, and was 4 years in the making.” Also in the boat were first year rowers Nick Chisholm, Sean Addison, Aubrey Oldham, Dave Lamb, and veterans Andreas Schotter, Andrew Jago, and Danny Matthews.

The heavy men’s coxed four came second to Queens. The heavy mens double, rowed by team captain Danny Matthews and Andrew Nelson, placed second as well.

Westerns women narrowly missed taking the OUA banner again. With consistent top three finishes, it wasn’t quite enough to deter Queens from taking the lead in the points.

Caroline Kenning, rowing the women’s lightweight single, placed second in a tough field with a time of 7:38.34.

The women’s heavy double, rowed by Cathy Crawley and first year Gillian Tuyp placed third.

In the eights, the races worth the most points, the women finished second in the lightweight division and first in the heavyweight.

With two first place finishes in the men’s and women’s heavy eights, it was a proud day for the Western program. All other crews won silver or bronze medals.
Although, there is still work to be done; “Today had some high points and some very low points” said Mclelland, “In the final analysis, we were able to just squeek out the victory for the OUA overall championship. We need to really step it up a notch to repeat as national champions next weekend”

The men’s and women’s teams will be competing in Welland, On next weekend at the Canadian University National Rowing Championships. It will be an opportunity for Ontario crews to prove themselves against the powerful UBC and University of Victoria.

Full results for the OUA Championship regatta can be found at http://www.brocku.ca/athletics/viewdocument.php?id=102

Head of the Charles

(BOSTON, Ma) This weekend the UWO rowing team headed to Boston to compete in the 43rd annual Head of the Charles Regatta. The competition is a prestigious one, with over eight thousand competitors who line the banks of the Charles river with over three hundred thousand spectators.

The course is lined with bridges set at difficult angles, making it difficult for coxswains and bowmen to navigate.

Westerns lightweight double of Tim Colson and Cam Sylvester had the most impressive finish, coming second in the championship division only to the US national team heavyweight double, which has already qualified for the 2008 Olympics. "I was a little concerned going into the race starting 20th," said Sylvester "because I figured it would be a struggle to pass slower crews, but thanks to Tim's course, this wasn't a problem.
Both week's bridge and elliot bridge went quite smoothly".

The UWO heavyweight women’s 4+ credits second year coxswain Shannon Skinner for playing a major role in their impressive bronze win against 32 other crews. From fourth year Jasmine Graham, "... Shannon really stepped up like no other this weekend... I couldn't think of anything she could have done better during the race, she had an amazing line, she kept us relaxed and motivated." After starting in the 24th position, the crew passed several boats and moved up in the pack, finishing with a time of 19:39.2

Westerns Lightweight women’s 4+ placed eighth in their category in a time of 19:44.6.

Lightweight captain and stroke seat of the men’s 4+, Topher Morris said of the event "it was a really tough weekend of racing with excellent competition. The ability of our crews to bring it all together and perform at the level we did gives us great confidence going into this weeks OUA championships." After posting the fastest time for first mile of the race, the lightweight men’s 4+ finished third behind Yale University and the American National team.

After winning the collegiate event and setting a course record in 2006, the heavyweight men’s 8+ moved into the championship eights division this year. After pounding through the first mile of the race and passing the eight in front of them, the crew got caught in the wake of the slower crews which had started ahead, making it difficult to maintain pace. The heavy men’s 8+ finished 15th with a time of 14:59.3 in the field of 44 competitors.

The entire team will now be gearing up for the OUA regatta taking place this weekend in St. Catharine’s, On.

All results from the Head of the Charles can be viewed at http://www.hocr.org/results/results.asp