A Letter from the Head Coach

Dear Alumni and Friends,

What an action-packed fall this has been! As I am writing these words, we still have the Bald Eagle Invite in Indianapolis to go as well as Wahoo Henley and Alumni Reunion the week after (November 9, 2024). Our Head of the Charles trip this year was epic.

Head of the Charles

One of my personal highlights at the Charles was the amazing number of alumni boats, starting with the winners of the 1972 Charles Four with Trenholm Walker (Col ’74), David Critchfield (Col ’4), Lindsay Stewart III (Col ’74), Henry Harris (Col ’74) and cox Thor Strong (Col ’74). It was a battle for them, but they fought hard. Their presence, kindness and support made a profound impact on the team guys who raced the club fours on Saturday. In addition, we had a young alumni four with recent grads Nate Lindley (Col ’24), Zac Abushmaies (Col ’24), Robby Taylor (Engr ’23), Sam Montante (Engr ’23) and cox Avery Carlson (Col ’26), plus an awesome 40’s four with alumni legends Leo Hergenroeder (Col ’06) Ryan Butterfoss (Engr ’00), Stephen Bauer (Col ’07), Nick Jablonski (Col ’02), and cox Kara McPhillips (Col ’99).

The alumni eight managed to qualify for next year with a 22nd place finish, raced by Michael Leon (Col ’24), James Reid (Col ’24), Frank Vasquez (Engr ’18), Garret Overholser (Col ’18), Webster Thompson (Col ’20), Spencer Hurst (Col ’20), Zac Heese (Engr ’18), Adam Kippenhan (Col ’23), and cox Aymon Daud (Engr ’24).

Seeing all these guys return to Boston, in addition to those who just came for the social part, is one of my favorite moments each year. Thank you for all your help and support at the regatta!

The team guys rowed two club fours on Saturday – of which one entry was a gift from the alumni since they did not need the entry. I was hesitant at first to nominate a crew but I am glad I did, because both fours qualified for next year with tremendous performances. The Charlottesville Postal Workers (3rd VRA four) finished 21st out of 42 and was raced by Stephen Hotchkin (Engr ’26), Silas Marx (Col ’27), Alex van Weezendonk (Engr ’27), Noah Watkins (Engr ’26) and cox Lisa de Groot (Col ’27). The VRA entry (2nd VRA four) finished 12th out of 42, raced by Max Schaeffer (Col ’26), Alex Zuffoletti (Col ’25), Quinn Kelly (Engr ’27), Bauer Adkins (Engr ’27) and cox Jackson Ciocca (Col ’26).

Our top boats raced the Collegiate competition on Sunday with the Collegiate four (1st VRA four) finishing eighth out of 42. The Collegiate four was rowed by Hugh Strecker (Col ’26), Sean McDevitt (Col ’26), Kabir Suri (Engr ’27), Jonas Reutzel (Col ’26) and cox Natalie Lorens (Col ’25). The two ACRA teams who managed to beat them were their teams’ only entry since they stacked the fours. A great result for this group.

The UVA Varsity eight finished ninth out of 42 entries, as well as first amongst all ACRA teams (beating Notre Dame by seven seconds and Michigan by 18 seconds). The guys were very sad because they ran upon entangled boats at Elliott Bridge which forced them to slow down significantly. The on-board data showed that they lost at least eight seconds during that episode, which cost them third overall and a medal. Unfortunately, these episodes are what make the Charles a spectacle to watch – and sometimes we are on the losing end. Kudos to Tyler Remigino (Col ’25), Alexander Ballinger (Col ’25), Noah Amato (Col ’25), Andrew Ehlers (Col ’27), Gavin Covalle (Col ’28) (a novice!), Ted Nyberg (Engr ’26), Chris Gardner (Col ’25), Ian Forrer (Engr ’25) and cox Celia Cheng (Col ’26) for a solid performance in Boston.

So Many Changes!

As I am sure you have heard, Virginia Rowing’s “Maker and Builder” Kevin Sauer retired at the end of spring season 2024. The list of accolades for Kevin easily exceeds our letter, but the short version is that if we did not have Kevin’s commitment over the last 36 years, we would not

have what we have today.

Strategically, Kevin’s eventual retirement and the arrival of a new women’s head coach, has always been of the utmost importance to VRA. Thankfully, the transition with the new women’s staff under the leadership of Head Coach Wes Ng has been great. We are very optimistic for our teams as a whole and how we will continue the cooperation between the teams going forward. In addition, we had some changes in key staff positions at VRA as well. Walker Hauptman moved back to his native Seattle, where he took over Bainbridge Island Rowing. We are fortunate to have found Ronnie Cantrell as his replacement in the key position of head novice coach. Ronnie is off to a good start with a promising group of novices.

Ellie Coles moved to Atlanta after four years of dedicated service and great success. Ellie’s keen eye and sharp mind often gave us an extra edge, in addition to her dedicated coxswain education. Lucky for us, we were able to get Cailly O’Toole to replace her. Cailly comes from The Ohio State University where she rowed, completed her masters degree, and was the head novice coach for the D1 women’s team. Just like Ronnie, she hit the water with a running start and the team embraced both of them right away.

On the Board of Directors, we had Andy Fletcher step down as president to hand the reigns to Matt Miller (Engr ’11, Darden ’18) as the new VRA president. We are grateful for Matt’s commitment to the team and leading us forward. He knows he has big shoes to fill but we know our most recent Olympian has the wisdom and energy to get the job done!

Even though I think we got very lucky with the personnel through all these changes, it required extra effort and attention from everyone else during this transition, including the team. It speaks for our culture and dedication that everything went as smoothly as it did, and even old dogs like myself had to step up to make it happen.

On a personal note, I would like to express my gratitude to Andy Fletcher and his service to VRA over the past eight years as president (plus the previous eight years on the board). Andy not only took a risk in hiring me, but moreover by supporting my crazy (and expensive) ideas. Andy kept me straight, asked the tough questions, debated hard but then supported me relentlessly. Thank you, Andy, for all your support to the cause!

Go Hoos!

Frank G. Biller
Director of Rowing & Head Coach

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