{"id":16413,"date":"2023-01-06T14:07:34","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T19:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=16413"},"modified":"2023-01-09T11:16:33","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T16:16:33","slug":"catching-up-with-the-new-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/catching-up-with-the-new-crew\/","title":{"rendered":"Catching Up with the New Crew"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Caitlin Newsome walked on to the Monmouth rowing team with what could charitably be described as limited experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had actually never rowed before,\u201d Newsome says with a laugh. \u201cI\u2019d been on camping trips where I had canoed, but I realized pretty quickly that that\u2019s a very different thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A complete lack of relevant experience would be disqualifying for a roster spot in most Division I sports, but not in rowing. And like many of her teammates, Newsome brought other qualities that made her a great fit. An accomplished athlete before arriving at Monmouth, she appreciates the value of practice and discipline, thrives on competition, and relishes the chance to improve in measurable ways. She also had good timing: The Hawks, in the program\u2019s first year of existence, had a roster to fill.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Rise and shine: The team\u2019s pre-dawn practices begin with a stretching session at the Shrewsbury Sailing & Yacht Club (left) after which the athletes grab their boats and head for the water.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In fact, about half of the student-athletes on Monmouth\u2019s inaugural rowing team followed a path similar to Newsome\u2019s: standout high school athletes, many who dealt with injuries, open to a new challenge and not scared off by pre-dawn practice sessions. The other half were seasoned high school rowers drawn by the offer of scholarships and the chance to be trailblazers. Led by an experienced coaching staff and enthusiastically backed by the University, the team hit the water this fall with realistic expectations for the short term\u2014and big ambitions for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe challenge of starting an NCAA Division I program from scratch, with no club team or existing infrastructure\u2014there were definitely times last year where I was sitting at my desk thinking, What did I get myself into?\u201d says Head Coach Scott Belford, who was hired in September 2021. \u201cBut the support from the University has been tremendous, and now we\u2019re getting recognition from around the sport. People see that Monmouth\u2019s here to stay.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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Top: team captains Marissa McKenzie (left) and Kaitlyn Rice were both standout rowers in high school. Bottom: Head Coach Scott Belford watches his team from a chase boat.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Using the success of the Hawks\u2019 athletic programs to enhance Monmouth\u2019s national name recognition was a stated goal in the University\u2019s five-year strategic plan, Excellence. Access. Ambition<\/em>.<\/a>, which was launched in 2021. That goal applied to existing sports, of course, but also to sports the University might someday add. Considering those possibilities meant considering potential barriers to entry, including cost, Title IX compliance, and the opportunity to be competitive; by all those measures, women\u2019s rowing made a lot of sense. It didn\u2019t hurt that President Patrick F. Leahy, a collegiate rower during his undergraduate days at Georgetown, had a firsthand appreciation for the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there\u2019s the water. \u201cWe\u2019re in a really unique area\u2014there are rivers all around us,\u201d says Athletic Director Jeff Stapleton. An agreement with the Shrewsbury Sailing & Yacht Club, about 10 minutes from campus, provided Monmouth with a perfect place to launch its boats\u2014and the program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the University was committed to the sport, there was no more vital decision than hiring the right head coach. In that search, Belford checked every box. He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and grew up in Monmouth County, where he was a good enough high school soccer player to walk on at Rutgers. Not long after a knee injury derailed his hopes of playing in college, he was walking past a row of student activity tables when someone asked him, \u201cDid you play a sport in high school? And are you playing it here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belford said he wasn\u2019t. \u201cShow up at the boathouse Monday morning,\u201d came the reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo I did,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I was absolutely hooked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belford rowed for four years and eventually captained the team, and he has dedicated much of his life since to coaching the sport\u2014from the club team at William & Mary to assistant gigs at Princeton and Penn and stints at rowing clubs and with the U.S. junior national team. In 2003, a college teammate called and asked if he\u2019d be interested in helping to start a rowing team at Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) in Lincroft, New Jersey. Belford said yes. He ended up leading a nationally competitive high school program for the next 18 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always said the only way I\u2019d leave CBA was if a suitable position came open at Rutgers,\u201d Belford says, \u201cor if Monmouth started women\u2019s rowing.\u201d When he saw the position advertised in the summer of 2021, Belford says his wife looked at him and said, \u201cThis is meant to be.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stapleton has no doubt the University nailed the hire. \u201cScott is a passionate guy, and I think we\u2019ve been very lucky to have him help start our program,\u201d the athletics director says. \u201cHe\u2019ll go up to students around campus and say, \u2018Hey have you ever rowed? Why don\u2019t you come down and try it.\u2019 And he\u2019ll get them in a boat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Oars away: The coxswain (front, facing the rowers) is essentially an additional coach in the boat, Belford says, and calls drills and cadences, executes practice (and race) plans, steers, and provides motivation.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Drawn by the University\u2019s commitment to building a competitive program, Belford spent his first year on the job doing everything but competing. With no staff and no roster, he focused on purchasing equipment\u2014six Hudson racing boats and a couple of chase boats for the coaches\u2014figuring out logistics, and getting the word out that Monmouth would have boats in the water the following year. \u201cInitially, people just didn\u2019t know we were here,\u201d he says. \u201cI did a lot of reaching out, sat in on a lot of high school practices. It was just getting the word out, letting people know we\u2019re here and we mean business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first class includes 20 athletes, split between walk-ons like Newsome (most are first-year students and none had rowed competitively before they arrived on campus) and experienced high school rowers like Kaitlyn Rice of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, to whom the Hawks could offer scholarships. Rice\u2019s high school resume includes a gold medal in women\u2019s single sculls at the Atlantic County Championship and a seat in the novice eight boat that was named Atlantic City Press<\/em> Boat of the Year\u2014not to mention National Honor Society membership. In other words, she\u2019s exactly the type of student-athlete Belford was thrilled to recruit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team\u2019s first meeting last September emphasized the newness of the entire endeavor. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have any upperclassmen to show us the ropes, so we were all kind of hesitant at first to really jump into it,\u201d Rice says. \u201cBut once we started to get to know each other, we helped each other get through the hard workouts or helped each other with homework, and we all kind of bonded over that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Top: The team\u2019s practices on the Shrewsbury River are intense, although the occasional visit from a dolphin (bottom photo) can provide a brief interlude during which the athletes can take in their surroundings.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

About those workouts: \u201cYou\u2019ll be in the best shape of your life,\u201d Belford says with a laugh. It\u2019s part of his recruiting pitch, but also a warning to the novice rowers that they\u2019re in for some serious work. The newbies started on rowing machines before they got into the boats\u2014they race in teams of four and eight\u2014where they discovered the challenge went beyond mere physical exertion. Newsome, a three-sport standout in high school who ran cross-country at a small college in Vermont as a first-year student before injuries forced her to hang up her spikes, says she quickly learned that \u201cit\u2019s not just about speed or how hard you paddle. It\u2019s a mix of form, keeping the boat centered and balanced, timing, and working together as a team.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the ultimate team sport,\u201d Belford says. \u201cYou can\u2019t get anywhere without all the people in the boat working together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hawks\u2014whose early-morning practice runs on the Shrewsbury have occasionally been joined by dolphins racing alongside their boats\u2014have come together more quickly than even their coach dared hope. Monmouth raced for the first time in October, running three boats against a small field of other freshman teams at the Navy Day Regatta in Philadelphia. That they posted middle-of-the-pack finishes did nothing to diminish what Belford called a \u201chistoric day for the program. I can\u2019t wait to see where they go from here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He got an answer two weeks later, when the Hawks returned to Philly for the prestigious Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. Competing against a much deeper field, Monmouth made history again, finishing third out of 22 boats in the freshman fours race and third out of 16 boats in the freshman eights to clinch the program\u2019s first medals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back on the performance a week later, Belford said, \u201cI thought we would be competitive, but I would be lying if I said I expected us to have the performances we\u2019ve had. I knew we had a good group that I felt was going to come in, work hard, and establish the right culture, and I knew we had a bunch of individuals poised to grow athletically. But the finishes we\u2019ve had so far \u2026 I just didn\u2019t think we\u2019d have these kinds of performances right away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belford acknowledges that the Hawks have a long way to go to turn strong finishes against regional competition into true national relevance. Well-funded programs at universities like Stanford, Texas, Ohio State, Washington, and Cal have dominated the sport over the past decade, and Monmouth\u2014which won\u2019t have a full four-year roster until 2026\u2014won\u2019t catch them overnight. But the coach has a plan to make up the gap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It starts with expanding the Hawks\u2019 recruiting base. Only four members of the inaugural roster hail from outside New Jersey, but early signees for Belford\u2019s second class include athletes from California, Pittsburgh, and British Columbia. The goal is to build a program that can regularly attract national and even international recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, it\u2019s a question of climbing the ladder: The Hawks compete in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), in which Northeastern and Drexel are the current powers. \u201cOur hope is that once we\u2019re big enough to field a full NCAA squad, by year four we can start knocking off CAA opponents and be relevant in the conference championships,\u201d Belford says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an ambitious goal, one that will require hard work, patience, and resilience\u2014 some of the same qualities required of the athletes themselves. This first class of Monmouth rowers will be gone by the time the program can enjoy the full fruits of their efforts, but there\u2019s a shared sense of pride in their status as trailblazers that makes the hard work and pre-dawn practices worthwhile. They know they\u2019re part of history\u2014even the ones who\u2019d never held an oar before they joined the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo
The final pull: The team will look to parlay its early momentum, which was highlighted by the program\u2019s first medal wins at the prestigious Head of the Schuylkill Regatta last fall, into a successful spring campaign that culminates in May at the CAA Championship at Saratoga Springs, New York.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just a year after its inception, the women\u2019s rowing program took to the water last fall in historic fashion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":16423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":52,\"y\":48}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"Features","issue":"Fall\/Winter 2022","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16413"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16579,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16413\/revisions\/16579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}