Rowing strides into season with experience
The women’s varisty rowing team practices on the Little Arkansas River on Wednesday morning. Coach Calvin Cupp motivated his team saying, “Remind yourself everyday that what you do matters.”
As Calvin Cupp enters his 17th year as rowing head coach, he comes in as the longest tenured coach in program history.
In those 17 years, many of his teams have reached the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championships and the medal stand.
Also leading the Shocker rowing team to the last nine Sunflower State Team Championships, Cupp hopes to accomplish the same success with the experience and team chemistry built in practice.
“We get a chance to build relationships,” Cupp said. “What we’re doing is what you don’t learn about Wichita — a very different dynamic and I really enjoy that.”
The women’s team is split with seven third and fourth years and nine second years. The two girls that will lead the charge will be fourth years Missy Daily and Carol Viluethpad.
Daily was named to the All-Regional team last season in the Plains Regional along with third year member Valen Polly. Both girls helped the Shockers to a second place finish in the two-leg race in the 2016 National Championships and a third place finish in the eight-legged race with a time of 7:00.97.
Cupp said that all of the success this season depends not only on experience, but also on how much the girls challenge themselves.
“When you’re at college, you have opportunities to challenge yourself and opportunities to become involved as an intercollegiate at the college setting,” Cupp said. “It’s not something everyone gets to do and sometimes it’s about just having the chance to do it.”
The men’s team is led by fourth year Caleb Wiens, and three third years, Colton Hall, Javin Martin and Kyle Sherwood.
After finishing seventh in the men’s one and two leg, the Shocker men finished fifth in the four-legged race with a time of 7:04.205 in the ACRA National Championships last season.
WSU’s men finished first in the two-legged race and finished second in the eight-legged race at the Lake Shawnee Spring Classic. The Shockers also added a victory over the University of Nebraska in the Men’s Novice four-legged race in Topeka last season.
The men and women’s team starts their season Saturday at the Class Race/Family Row in Wichita.
Hannah Roberts was a photographer for The Sunflower. Roberts majored in entrepreneurship and minored in communications. She was born and raised in Wichita,...
