NCAA Thursday

Morning row on the course is complete and we're waiting to go to the coach's meeting at noon and then a coxswain's meeting at 1:00 PM. I think the crews are in a good place as they have made some improvements in practice since getting to California. The crews look sharp out there and I find it entirely fascinating that some crews are entirely body-oriented while others are very blade-oriented. I'm always impressed by the physicality of the top crews in the country and it certainly leaves something for us to strive for in the future.

The 2V will race in the first heat with Williams I, UPS, William Smith, and Ithaca II. While the 1V should be in a barnburner of heat number 3 with Bates, Mary Washington, and Williams II.

Took some good video today including wild turkeys, some funny luggage-moving, and some good boat-moving. I'll try to post those soon!

NESCAC All-Conference Teams Announced - Trinity puts FIVE on the team!

Based on ECAC performances 5 five members of the Trinity Women's Rowing team were awarded All-Conference Honors - Deede Dixon '10, Sarah Keller '11, and Robin Neschke '13 were awarded first-team honors while Courteney Coyne '10 and Ellie Wierzbowski '10 were awarded second team honors. Neschke was the only freshman woman to make the All-Conference squad.

NCAA Wednesday #1 - Mozart Woods

Woke up a couple of hours ago still clearly on east coast time...Am very glad that we were able to make our way out on Tuesday and have a chance to sleep in today. The hotel is excellent and so far the staff at both Southwest, Holiday Inn, and Enterprise have made everything very smooth and easy. I love it when customer service runs smoothly and the system works! Also read a good book on the plane entitled Talent is Overrated that has a pretty controversial thesis that there is little evidence to point out that humans possess innate talents for certain tasks - they might be genetically predisposed to being more successful at certain activities (height for a basketball player and height for a gymnast) but that the key factor in success may very well be how early we start and what do we do. Great comparisons of Mozart and Tiger Woods along with German violinists and chess masters. There is even an example of the Army men's rowing team...The argument is that even though Mozart and Tiger Woods have been considered child prodigies capable of producing world class work incredibly early they did so AFTER 10 years of intense, focused, and directed work that helped develop them into something world class. I also thought the picture of them side-by-side is particularly funny.

We'll likely head to a local shopping mall to hang out in the mid-morning before heading to the course to rig and register. The weather looks pretty un-California-like if you ask me...

Off to Sacramento

Deja vu all over again...After our trip to the San Diego Crew Classic in March, a dress rehearsal of sorts, we're now on the way to Sacramento for the NCAA Rowing Championships. We have a very exciting opportunity to keep improving and I believe we've uncovered some good areas to focus upon...

I'll try and keep the updates coming from California for all of you who are following at home.

Fast boats...

Dixon named to ECAC All Conference Team

2010 ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships All-Conference Teams were announced yesterday and senior Deede Dixon was named to the All-Conference squad. Details of the award can be found here.

Trinity Earns its Eight Straight Bid to the NCAAs

Yesterday at 3:00 PM the NCAA selection committee made it official that Trinity is one of seven Division III teams that will compete for the National Championship in Sacramento on May 28th and 29th. It was a pretty huge thrill to know that the team's progress from a very slow start could be rewarded with the opportunity to compete at the national level.

For parents and friends of the program, the team will be staying at the Holiday Inn Rancho Cordova and will be training through exams and graduation to try and earn the highest position possible.

We're expecting the absolute hardest racing of the year and will look to continue making improvements to what we do during practice in this next two week block.

Great stuff! If you would like to watch the selection show on NCAA.com please click here. You may need to search for women's rowing and then click on the Division III selection show.