Women's Rowing 7/24/2020 9:00:00 AM Chris Brannick

Friday Features: Short And Sweet

Central Oklahoma's Brief Rowing History Is Full Of Accomplishments

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma rowing program has just 13 years to its history, but the young program, the youngest of all of Central's 14 varsity sports, wasted no time in becoming the premier program in the country and is the subject of this week's Friday Feature.

UCO announced the addition of the rowing program on June 26, 2007. A quote from then UCO President Roger Webb said, "we plan to have a first-class program and a first-class facility on the Oklahoma River."

Fast forward to 2020.

Central Oklahoma has won the NCAA Division II national team championship in back-to-back years, 2018 & 2019, has been the No. 1 ranked team in the country for three years, has won the Varsity 8+ national title for three straight years, 2017, 2018 & 2019, and won the Varsity 4+ national title in 2019.

All of this while calling the CHK | Central Boathouse, a $5.7 million, 18,000 square foot facility on the Oklahoma River and one of the finest boathouses in the country, its home.

After hiring its first coach, Pat Brown, Central rowed its first race on Oct. 5, 2008, competing in the annual Head of the Oklahoma. UCO came in 19th in 8s that day and had two boats finish seventh and ninth in the 4s.

UCO competed moderately for its first few years. But in September 2011, when the Bronchos promoted an assistant coach to head coach, things began to change. Andy Derrick was named head coach on Sept. 9, 2011 and by the end of his first season, the Bronchos had their first two All-Americans in Jessica Lawson (First Team) and Rachel Kliewer (Second Team).

Derrick not only produced a pair of All-Americans that year, he sent the V8+ boat to the national championships. UCO finished fifth there, but it was clear that marked the arrival of the Bronchos to the national stage.

Derrick would send the eights back to nationals in 2013 and 2014 before qualifying the team for trips in 2015 and 2016. UCO's eights finished fifth again in 2013 and sixth in 2014.

As the team arrived in 2015, the Bronchos finished fourth after a fourth-place finish by the V8+ boat and a third-place showing from the V4+.

The 2015-16 season is when Central made its biggest jump. This came on the heels of the grand opening of the new boathouse. UCO went to nationals and finished second in both the V4+ and V8+ for a second-place team showing. The NCAA Division II national runner-up finish was the best mark in school history.

Derrick, who would coach nine All-Americans including two who earned it twice, resigned following that season but another assistant coach promotion kept the Bronchos at its steadily rising pace.

Montia Rice was named head coach Nov. 2, 2016 and the Bronchos didn't miss a beat. That season, UCO returned as a team to nationals and this time, the eights put it all together and began the run of three-straight titles.

The Broncho 8s, made up of Aimee Witten (coxswain), Kiele Erickson, Trista Cripe, Megan Dwarshuis, Eileen Anderson, Ali Nakvinda, Andrea Messenger, Erica Mitchell, and Mackenzie Johnson, finished in first-place with a time of 6:58.51, to win the school's first-ever rowing national championship. The V4+ boat finished third that year which gave the Bronchos another national runner-up finish in the team standings.

Then came 2018. UCO was ranked No. 2 in the country in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association preseason poll and moved up to No. 1 in the first poll of the regular season. The Bronchos have not released that spot since.

Central also would once again get a V8+ national championship as some of the same women rowed in the boat for a first-place finish. Baylee Roberts coxed the boat this time and led Erickson, Cripe, Dwarshuis, Anderson, Messenger, and Mitchell to a second consecutive national title. Freshmen Cameron Blunk and Siobhan Quirke joined the group to help UCO cruise to a first-place finish with a time of 6:45.89. The fours finished second in 2018 but it garnered enough points that, when combined with the eights, gave the Bronchos their first-ever team national championship.

In 2019, Central did it all over again. Wire-to-wire No. 1 ranking in the country. An undefeated season in the V8+ boat. And none of the races were really even that close, including the national championship.

The eights raced to a third-straight title. Madisyn Kitchell took her turn in the coxswain seat and led some familiar faces to the crown. Blunk, Dwarshuis, Anderson, Mitchell, Erickson, and Quirke were all in the boat again. Laura Francis and Bailee Thomas joined in to help UCO to its third consecutive V8+ national title with a championship race time of 7:27.02.

What made 2019 even better? The fours finally won a national title as well.

Led by coxswain Blair Johnson, Shelby Wackerly, Nakvinda, Savanna Hammonds, and Lauren Wall put on a dominant performance in their final race of the season to claim the school's first national title in V4+ with a time of 6:33.01.

UCO's sweeping of the V8+ and the V4+ national championships gave the Bronchos a maximum 30 team points and their second consecutive team national title in a landslide.

Rice wrapped up his tenure at UCO following that season. He coached eight more All-Americans and had three two-time All-Americans.

Central would make another coaching change following the 2019 season but would not promote from within this time. UCO hired Brian Ebke, who was a graduate assistant for the Bronchos previously before spending some time in the Ivy League. Ebke got the chance to coach the Bronchos through the fall season, and UCO was once again ranked No. 1 in the country in the spring's preseason poll, but of course the global health crisis cancelled the 2020 season.

As the youngest sport on campus, UCO rowing has posted 17 All-Americans a combined 22 times. It's made eight consecutive national championship appearances. It's won three consecutive Varsity 8+ national championships. It's won two consecutive NCAA team national championships. It's won another national title in the Varsity 4+ boat. It's been the No. 1 ranked team in the country for three years straight. All that in only 13 years.

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Players Mentioned

Rachel Kliewer: Varsity; 5' 8"; Sophomore

Jessica Lawson: Varsity; 6' 1"; Senior

Mackenzie Johnson: 5' 7"; Senior; Varsity

Andrea Messenger: 6' 0"; Sophomore; Varsity

Aimee Witten: 5' 3"; Junior; Varsity

Lauren Wall: 5' 8"; Sophomore; Novice

Baylee Roberts: 5' 5"; Sophomore; Novice

Erica Mitchell: 6' 0"; Freshman; Varsity

Trista Cripe: 6' 1"; Sophomore; Varsity

Eileen Anderson: 5' 10"; Senior; Varsity

Players Mentioned

Rachel Kliewer
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: Varsity

Jessica Lawson
: 6' 1"; Senior
: Varsity

Mackenzie Johnson
: 5' 7"; Senior; Varsity

Andrea Messenger
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; Varsity

Aimee Witten
: 5' 3"; Junior; Varsity

Lauren Wall
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; Novice

Baylee Roberts
: 5' 5"; Sophomore; Novice

Erica Mitchell
: 6' 0"; Freshman; Varsity

Trista Cripe
: 6' 1"; Sophomore; Varsity

Eileen Anderson
: 5' 10"; Senior; Varsity