Summer 2024

THE

PULLHARD A COUGAR CREW PUBLICATION

2024 / ISSUE 2 / SUMMER

E N G I N E

R O O M

PULL HARD THE

Editor’s Note In dreams begin responsibility.

—William Butler Yeats

2024 / ISSUE 2 / SUMMER

TABLE OF CONTENTS CCAA: From the Chair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Power 10: The Infographic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Ergometer Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Caught in the Web. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Dave’s Season Roundup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ACRAs: The Final Test. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Peter Brevick’s Lookback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Cristy Cay Remembered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Letter from the Cooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Cougar Crew Days 2024. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Walk-Ons Wanted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Women’s 4+ at ACRAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 2023–2024 Officer Corps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Fond Farewell, Coach Dan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Olympian Dreams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Alumni Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Roll Call: FY 2023–2024 Supporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Going to press is always a challenge, totally impossible without a host of collaborators. We toilers in the editorial engine room appreciate all of your contributions.

Design and Layout: Kathleen Randall Copy Editor: Kari Ranten Stories, photos, proofreading, fact-checking, wise counsel: Larry Arcia Jim Austin Peter Brevick Sherry Cook Tammy Crawford Andi Day Dave Emigh

Doug Engle Dave Herrick John Holtman Ernie Iseminger Anne Jozaitis-Hole Mike Klier Ezra Klinghoffer

Tammy Lindberg Josh Proctor Kathleen Randall Kari Ranten Dylan Reeves Steve Small Joe Sudar

FRONT COVER: WE’RE IN THE ENGINE ROOM NOW. COVID-19 HIT IN SPRING OF 2020. ROWING SUFFERED AS MUCH DAMAGE AS ANY OTHER SPORT. SPRING 2024 MARKS FULL RECOVERY. THANK YOU, COACH BREVICK! L-R: SCOTT NORTH (27), ZACK BRANDT (26), CHIRON SUSEE (27) AND TOBEY RAGAIN (27).

PHOTO: COUGAR CREW

Labor Day has disappeared from the rearview, but you should be reading this Summer 2024 Edition before autumn colors arrive.

Past deadline? Yes, but (we trust), worth the wait. Now hear this: Cougar Crew has honored its past; all eyes turn to the future!

We’re two seasons (or four, depending) past the half-century mark. We’ve double-checked the win/loss columns, listened to a slew of pep talks, had some cake and ice cream. We’ve sorted out the whence; now to focus on the whither and the wherefore.

Shore leave is over. All hands on deck!

Coach Emigh (75) gives us his overview of spring racing results, nicely illustrating the current context: our squad gained speed; other squads gained slightly more. The national collegiate club performance curve is rising and we are right there in the mix.

Team progress is encouraging, including the club women, much on the minds of our leadership of late. Mike Klier (75) considers what they achieved last season battling still prevalent headwinds.

Jim Austin (75) gives us a close look at some post-grad, preelite results that dwell in the region of dreams. Jim’s binoculars are trained on Cedar Cunningham (22), relentlessly climbing into the intoxicating thin-air zone of international competition. Cedar plans to share what he’s gained from the experience thus far when he delivers our March 2025 keynote address.

As we all know, dreams don’t always materialize. Our greatest dreams probably seldom do. Steve Small (85) shares a heartwarming saga of partly achieved athletic aspirations, the lasting reward of making the effort, a life-changing bonus prize awarded along the way, and the strange, deep thrill of witnessing deferred dreams spring back to life in the next generation.

All that, plus: Kari Ranten’s lively synopsis of our annual Palouse reunion, a salute to last year’s officer corps, a call to action, a fond farewell, two books, two weddings and a funeral.

We have tried to put something in these pages with a big enough intellectual and/or emotional jolt to grab and hold your interest.

Never forget you are part of something pretty extraordinary.

Questions, comments, suggestions welcome: pullhard@cougarcrew.com.

And hey—it’s totally ok if you indulged in some serious gloating after that big, healthy serving of Apple Cup Surprise! Go Cougs!

—Rich “Flip” Ray (80)

sign up for e-news: cougarcrew.com donate: cougarcrew.com/support

Comments from CCAA Chair Andi Day Greetings Cougar Crew— I’m pleased to report from the CCAA board, it’s all happening!

And then some. The board and committees have been working hard and making incredible progress. A few of the highlights since last spring: To quote CCAA Development Officer Ernie Iseminger (88), our reunion in March was “epic.” If you’re skeptical, read Kari Ranten’s report, starting on page 10. The Cougar Crew Days planning committee has fresh new members and has been meeting regularly all year. They have a great weekend in store for us, including a keynote from Cedar Cunningham (22). If you’re not sure who Cedar is, better read his profile by Jim Austin (75), starting on the next page. Then put March 14–16, 2025 on your calendar and please RSVP as soon as you get the announcement/invitation email.

Legacy Committee Our Legacy Committee has several projects going. They continue to work on the final phase of the David M Emigh installation in the Student Recreation Center, including installation of a brass plaque and interpretive signage. Longer-range projects include the planning, location, design and installation for a Cougar Crew Hall of Fame, along with ongoing efforts to research and record information about our team legacy and artifacts.

Letter Jackets A special task force is working on re-establishing the tradition of awarding letter jackets and a “letter” to those that meet all requirements. Ken and Marj Struckmeyer are creating a new endowment account to support the Letter Jacket initiative. The task force is developing a plan for start-up/catch-up funding and award criteria, policies and procedures.

Development Development work marches steadily toward our twin goals of reducing the financial burden on student athletes and increasing the financial sustainability of our program.

• The Power-10 Campaign continues to grow and generate reliable operating revenue. In addition to recruiting more participants, we are seeing recurring donor amounts increase from a P-10 to a P-50 or P-100. If you’re still thinking about it, please just enroll asap! Look right.

• The Endowments continue to grow, building financial stability and sustainability into the future.

• Planned Giving & Estate Planning. As our program matures, having officially reached our 50th anniversary in 2022, so does our alumni base. We are seeing more people include Cougar Crew in their planned giving and estate planning.

Budget & Finance The CCAA board has had two special Budget & Finance meetings continued on page 16

Power

Campaign monthly, quarterly, or annually

Small recurring contributions made via electronic transfer, to the crew’s operating account

your credit card

coaching salaries, equipment maintenance, travel expenses

235

MEMBERS

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PROJECTED FY 24-25

double our number last year

almost 25% of crew’s operating costs Juicy Perks: • Post-race “Dave Emigh’s Rowing Observations” email • Smashing lapel pin • Your name in the spotlight: Cougar Crew Days and Summer Pull Hard Everyone must join this campaign. If you’re a P-10 vet, raise the rate. $10/month is a 2-latte start. $84/month echoes our first two Coug Olympic Gold medals. Measure the impact that rowing had on you. Then share a fragment of that impact with the undergraduates now finding their way on the Palouse.

To join or adjust, scan this code or visit www.cougarcrew.com/ support

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Ergometer Man

Cedar Cunningham has four seasons down, four to go

Cedar Cunningham grew up in Issaquah. Enrolled in Running Start, a dual-credit program enabling high school juniors and seniors to attend college courses, he graduated with a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in the spring of 2019.

COVID struck in March of 2020, second semester of his freshman year in Pullman. Almost everyone, Cedar included, went home to wait out the pandemic.

Back home, Cedar’s 6’8” frame caught the eye of recentlyarrived next-door neighbors Bob and Anna Cummins. Bob and Anna were ordinary neighbors with not-so-ordinary athletic histories. In 1997, Bob earned IRA gold at stroke in the Husky 8+ and another gold in the bow of the US 8+ at the World Championships in France. Anna earned silver in the US Olympic 8+ in 2004 and gold in the same boat in 2008. They persuaded Cedar to take a spin on their Concept2. Apparently, he liked it. Tutored by Bob and Anna, Cedar trained on the ergometer through the spring and summer. Back in Pullman in the Fall of 2020 for his sophomore year, he met Coach Brevick and joined Cougar Crew.

ABOVE: FIRST WEEK OF JULY, 2024: HENLEY-ON-THAMES, UK. CASEY FULLER (L) AND CEDAR CUNNINGHAM (R) RACING IN US COLORS AT THE HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA. PHOTO: US ROWING

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Season One: 2020-2021 COVID protocols remained through the fall of 2020 and into the middle of spring semester 2021. The beginning of a stellar rowing career that started on an ergometer continued on ergometers.

His first real taste of what all the training is aimed at came that spring on a makeshift course on the Columbia River against University of Oregon. Cedar’s inaugural season finished at the Pac-12 Championships, where the team won the Enquist Trophy for best club team.

Season Two: 2021-2022 In the 2021-2022 season, his junior year and second season of rowing, Cedar gave notice of what aspiration looks like, setting the new team 2k ergometer record at 6:04, making the Pac-12 Rowing All-Conference team and earning ACRA first team All American honors. Thanks to his associate’s degree, in just three years, Cedar picked up another sheepskin, this time in Finance.

Not ready to give up rowing, he moved east and joined Penn AC in Philadelphia, where he began sculling in the club’s U23 Summer Camp. His coaches liked what they saw and asked him to stay. He agreed, training through the fall and winter.

Season Three: 2022-2023 In April 2023 ergometer testing, Cedar pulled a 5:54 2k, 10 seconds faster than his record-setting results in Pullman one year earlier. In June, he was one of two ACRA athletes invited to the USA U23 Quad Selection Camp in nearby Conshohocken, PA.

The camp lasted a month. Cedar was not selected, nor was he discouraged. With two weeks to prepare, he entered the 1x event at the 2023 USA Senior Team Trials. In the quarterfinals, Cedar was just 0.7 seconds short of qualifying for the A Final. A close second in the B Final, he finished ahead of Isaiah Harrison, the 2022 Under 23 World Championships silver medalist. The trials winner was Eliot Putnam of New York AC, thus qualified to represent the US at the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in September, where he finished 19th in a field of 47.

Season Four: 2023-2024 Fall racing is mainly for fun, but fun doesn’t get much more serious than the Head of the Charles Regatta: 11,000 athletes, five bridges and five turns (one 90 degrees, one 180 degrees). Cedar and fellow Penn AC sculler Mike Herman entered the Men’s Championship Doubles and finished the 4.7k course in 16:52, fourth of 19 entries. The winners were Oliver Costly and Rory Harris, representing the legendary London club Leander.

Over the winter, Cedar’s 2k erg time fell to 5:51 as he prepared for the National Team Winter Speed Order trials held February 15 through 17 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida. In four 2,000 meter contests over three days, he posted a faster time with every race. On Saturday, Cedar finished first in the C Final, 13th in a field of 45 with a time of 6:55.65 and a Competitive Standard Time (CST) of 94.3%, ahead of Eliot Putnam, who finished second in the B Final with a CST of 94.6%. (Competitive Standard Time is a measure used to predict how competitive a crew should be in international competition in their event.)

This produced an invitation to the Olympic Men’s Quad Selection Camp held the first week in March. Of the eight athletes chosen to participate, only Cedar was not yet a member of the US National Team. He was not chosen for the US Quad. The fact that he was asked to try out is a telling measure of the athletic ability

and potential that elite-level coaches clearly see in him.

In early April, Cedar was back in Sarasota, this time at the Olympic Trials, where, on Sunday, April 7, the fourth and final day of racing, battling a headwind, he finished third in a field of 18 with a time of 7:29.75, this time 2.45 seconds faster than 4th place Isaiah Harrison and 9.72 seconds ahead of sixth-place Eliot Putnam.

Ahead of him by one tenth of a second was former fellow Penn AC sculler Casey Fuller, now representing Saugatuck Rowing Club.

Nipping at the heels of National Team veterans is not quite enough to satisfy Cedar’s yen for adventure. Approached by representatives of USRowing’s Olympic Development Team, Cedar and Casey Fuller were invited to represent the United States in the Double Sculls Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta in early July. Not only were they racing in US colors, the entire venture was underwritten by USRowing. All Cedar and Casey had to do was show up. Over four days they defeated three other crews in the Henley dual-race format, qualifying for the final on Saturday, July 6. Their opponents in the final were another crew from Leander, J. Gare and C. Dafydd, members of the British National Team already penciled in as the likely UK entry for the 2x in the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Leander dominated the contest and despite mounting a promising challenge in the last third of the race, Team USA fell short by two lengths at the finish. Yet another jaw-dropping performance from a Cougar rower with just four seasons under his belt.

Cedar’s North Star remains the next Summer Olympic Games, to be held (déjà vu!) in Los Angeles. Currently he is well ahead of the timeline and training goals that he and his coaches have agreed on. In fact, his coaches are so satisfied with his progress they have officially approved his request for a leave of absence March 14-16. Cedar will be the keynote speaker for Cougar Crew Days 2025.

—Jim Austin (75) and Rich Ray (80) 2023 HOCR results: https://tinyurl.com/yycmry3t 2024 Winter Speed Order results: https://tinyurl.com/bcbrderr 2024 Olympic Trials results: https://tinyurl.com/5xwc28eh 2024 Henley Royal Regatta results: https://tinyurl.com/534nn6kh

OCTOBER 21, 2023: CHARLES RIVER, BOSTON. (L) MIKE HERMAN AND (R) CEDAR CUNNINGHAM RACING IN THE HEAD OF THE CHARLES REGATTA. PHOTO: ROW2K.COM

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Caught in the Cougar-Husky Web In September 2021, I received a letter from my mother-in-law.

Vanessa’s cursive longhand, like my own mother’s, is always crisp and elegant, and she often encloses a clipping. Neatly folded inside the envelope was an obit from the Everett Herald memorializing Bob Cummins (UW 71).

Working on Jim Austin’s review of the career of Cedar Cunningham (22), I remembered Cedar’s neighbor was Bob Cummins.

The interwebs unraveled the mystery: Cedar’s neighbor was Bob Cummins, Jr., son of the Bob Cummins in the Everett Herald obit.

Bob Jr.’s spouse is two-time Olympic rowing medallist Anna Michelson-Cummins. Quite a pair to be recruited by.

More sparkling filaments in the rowing social net: Bob Jr. stroked the Huskies to IRA gold in 1997 under Dick Erickson’s successor, Bob Ernst. Paul Enquist credits Ernst, 20 years earlier, with converting him to sculling. As UW and US Women’s coach, Ernst also helped two-season Cougar/two-season Husky oar Kristi Norelius (77) earn Olympic gold. Ernst married one-season WSU oar Ellen Pottmeyer, who transferred to UW as a sophomore, earned consecutive national titles in the 2V8+ and made the 1V8+ as a senior. Their son Tom is in Moscow, ID until December, under a commission in the US Navy. He has command over Coug rowers involved in Navy ROTC. Daughter Abby rowed at UW and Ohio State, coached at Iowa, Wisconsin and Oregon State. Dave Worely (06), rowed two years for WSU, transferred to UW and earned a seat in the 2007 Husky 1V8+, Ernst’s last IRA title winner.

In the US gold medal M8+ at the 1997 Worlds, Bob Jr. rowed bow. Newly-hired National Team Coach in 1997 was Mike Teti.

Sidenote detour At the dawn of the Reagan administration, John Holtman (81) and your Editor were lean, hungry, penniless but proud owners of a mahogany Vespoli pair, in which we trained on the Snake, our heads filled with dreams. Coaching paid the bills (John the Frosh Men, me the Women). At season’s end, the Vespoli and our bikes atop John’s careworn 1966 Mustang, we drove to Philadelphia.

Many Philadelphians took notice of our arrival. This we know with confidence because somewhere in Ohio lay the remains of the Mustang’s muffler. Among our Vesper teammates, there was an intense and enigmatic guy named Mike Teti. More than once we raced a 4- with Mike at stroke. (Surname pronounced “taytee.”)

At the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Teti coached the US Men’s eight to its first Olympic gold in 40 years.

More filaments: Bob Jr.’s sister Angie rowed as an Everett high schooler, and was persuaded to come to Pullman by one of the athletes that I coached, Tammy Crawford (85). Tammy and Bob Ernst were well acquainted, thanks to her seasoning as an

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Cedar Cunningham

Assistant Coach for the Huskies. Tammy was an admirer of the Cummins clan thanks to her Marysville roots, where legendary Husky coach Dick Erickson and spouse Irma were neighbors and family friends. Dick and Irma were founders of the Everett Rowing Association, and Bob Cummins Sr. and spouse Barbara helped build it. Later Bob helped start and run the nearby Lake Stevens Rowing Club. (Nota bene: Everett has since added a third club, Mill Town Rowing, and appears poised to become a powerhouse incubator of rowing talent.)

Like her grandpa for the Huskies, Angie Cummins was a one-season oar for the Cougs, and it didn’t slow her down a bit.

She earned gold in the US Light 4x at the 1999 Worlds in St. Catharines, Ontario.

The rowing world writ large, as keynote Peter Mallory showed us, is a tight-knit community spanning the globe; a vibrant network of strong social connections—some perfectly ordinary, some more than a little offbeat. A beautiful thing, in which we should all take great pride. In the PNW corner of the web, the Huskies may be (uh…were, formerly) arch rivals, and our David vs Goliath contest has often been bruising, but let’s never forget our debt to the Conibear legacy, source of our first fleet, organizers, coaches and more.

And now for sending us our third National Team candidate with legit Olympian dreams. Cedar, may your dreams come true!

Coda Teti’s resignation as National Team Coach in 2021 echoes the farewell speech in Patton (1970): “A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.” And this from the Buddha: “The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.”

—Rich “Flip” Ray (80) Everett Herald obit, Bob Cummins: https://tinyurl.com/49syzbnr Seattle Times obit, Bob Cummins: https://tinyurl.com/3w43u93k Seattle Times profile, Bob, Jr.: https://tinyurl.com/4cawu3y2 Video: M8+ Final, 1997 Worlds: https://tinyurl.com/2ehyktfd Seattle Times on Angie Cummins: https://tinyurl.com/ycymk7a8 Video: Angie Cummins gets the gold: https://tinyurl.com/2jev9jsx

The Regattas

Dave Emigh’s Rowing Observations Covered Bridge Regatta Saturday, April 6, 2024; Dexter Lake, Lowell, OR This year, the Covered Bridge Regatta featured two separate races. Both morning and afternoon races were finals. Previously, morning races were typically heats; afternoon races were finals.

The Cougs completely dominated the regatta, with WSU crews taking both first and second place in the morning Men’s Novice Eight and Men’s Varsity Eight races. They then duplicated this feat in completely separate MN8+ and MV8+ races against different opponents, held in the afternoon. WSU also won the Men’s Varsity Double Sculls and finished fourth in the Novice Men’s Fours. Of the 43 WSU men entered, 27 won races. The WSU Club women won both the Women’s Novice Four and the Women’s Varsity Four. All told, the club won seven of nine races entered.

Results: https://www.crewtimer.com/regatta/r13472

Fawley Cup Regatta Saturday, April 20, 2024; Silver Lake, near Spokane, WA The Fawley Cup Regatta is held on Silver Lake, near the town of Medical Lake, just outside of Spokane. The racecourse is roughly marked by large buoys every 500 meters. This year, a five to 10 mile per hour quartering headwind raised a visible ripple but no whitecaps. There was a noticeable impact on speed. In the MV8+, Gonzaga grabbed a lead off the start. WSU countered the Zags’

starting surge, and from there it was neck and neck. Gonzaga held off the Cougs to win by 3.65 seconds. Last year Gonzaga won by 10 seconds. Coach Peter Brevick: “I was surprised that the times were as fast as they were, given the conditions.” Gonzaga won the 2V8+ decisively, although WSU decreased the relative margin (year over year) by 10 seconds. The novices had an incident with one of the big buoys at the start and briefly clashed oars later in the race. Gonzaga won the Novice/M3V8+.

Results: https://https://tinyurl.com/ya2mz4px

Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships April 27 and 28, 2024; Lake Natoma, Rancho Cordova, CA The WIRA Regatta is raced on a fully-buoyed course with a floating starting platform. This year there were registered entries from 36 university teams. Some schools (like us) have a varsity women’s program and a club program; they are registered and treated as different teams. The club program has continued to grow. That allowed us to enter additional events and improve our results over 2023. All boats met or exceeded our results for their event last year. The Cougars took care of business (borrowing a Husky code phrase) on Saturday, qualifying all eight crews to the Grand Finals on Sunday. Qualifying eight out of eight entries may be a WSU team record.

2024 WIRA Results: Men’s Varsity Eight: 4th of 13 Men’s Second Varsity Eight: 4th of 7 Men’s Novice Eight: 6th of 14 Men’s Second Novice Eight: 2nd of 7 Men’s Pair 4th of 6 Men’s Novice Four 6th of 17 Women’s Varsity Four 6th of 12 Women’s Novice Four 6th of 21 All WIRA results: https://clockcaster.com/e/57

FIRST NOVICE 8+ LEAVING FOR THE STARTING LINE. PHOTO: ANNE JOZAITIS-HOLE

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ACRA Nationals: The Final Test The American Collegiate Rowing Association annual regatta was held May 17-19, 2024 on Melton Lake near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It is raced on a fully-buoyed course with a floating starting platform. Seventy programs participated in the 2024 regatta.

Athletes may enter one event only. More than 2,000 athletes participated. Washington State had a good weekend, entering more events and more athletes (40 men and women) than in 2023. Team speed continued to improve.

Qualifying seven out of seven entries into the A-B Semifinals was a major accomplishment and a new team record. Each crew raced either three or four times during the regatta. Three Cougs were named to the West Coast All-Regional team: Ezra Klinghoffer, Carter Mills, and Evan Thornton.

The entire team improved throughout the season. Especially noteworthy, the MV8+ beat Bucknell to reverse an early season loss, and the M2V8+ did the same thing against Orange Coast.

Orange Coast beat us by one second at WIRAs and we beat them by 2.5 seconds at ACRA. This M2V8+ result may be our first victory over Orange Coast in this event.

—Dave Emigh (75)

“The headspace of the crew and the

boat feel was exactly what you’d want to attack a 2k with. Couldn’t ask for more as my last race with the team.”

—Ben Smolinski, 4 seat, M1V8+

CALM FOLLOWS THE STORM: L-R: FRANK CODDINGTON (26) TREASURER, DYLAN REEVES (26) PUBLISHER AND KYLE HOLE (25) COMMODORE RETURN TO BASE CAMP AFTER A SUCCESSFUL SEMIFINAL.

ACRA results: https://tinyurl.com/2ux8ur75

MAY 18, MELTON LAKE, OAK RIDGE, TN: WSU’S 1V8+ RACING IN THE SATURDAY SEMIFINALS. L-R: KYLE HOLE, DYLAN REEVES, CARTER MILLS, FRANK CODDINGTON, EZRA KLINGHOFFER, BEN SMOLINSKI, STEVEN COLLET, EVAN THORNTON, ANDREW WELSH. PHOTO: ROW2K.COM

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Coach Brevick’s Lookback Last year we had a varsity eight and two novice eights. This year we had two varsity eights, two novice eights, and two fours. Not only did we have a bigger team, but the team raced more aggressively and rowed faster. It has been my vision that the novice eight be entirely freshmen so that an entire eight can progress through four years as an intact class. We nearly made that goal this season with seven Novice 8+ seats rowed by freshmen.

The story of the 2024 ACRA Championships began well before the team left for Oak Ridge, TN. It began in May of 2023, when Jim Austin (75) decided to make a contribution to the program by getting involved in recruiting. He began with a WSU rowing info tent and table at the May 2023, NW Regional Youth Championships.

Joined by a group of fellow WSU alumni, they chatted with many high school rowers. Several joined the team.

Last summer, we hired Bjorn Elliott as our first-ever full-time, paid Novice coach. A strong novice class was recruited and began rowing in the fall. Then we hit a speed bump. An algae bloom on the river cut more than 20 percent of our fall water time. Luckily, a mild winter allowed us to begin spring rowing slightly earlier than usual.

The season was unusual, condensed into the four Saturdays in April, all away regattas. A big thank you to the alumni, friends, and family that supported our first-ever trip to the George Washington Invitational (shorthand: “GW Invite”) in Washington DC. This was our first trip east for a regular season regatta since the Ken Struckmeyer-led trips to Wisconsin for the Midwestern Sprints. It was a good trip that would have been great if twothirds of the races hadn’t been canceled by high winds. Men’s events at the GW Invite are for ACRA programs only, thus great preparation for the National Championships.

The weeks of training after exams are key to final preparations. This year we were able to do race-pace pieces with three competitive crews side-by-side. Energized by their results at the WIRA Regatta, the Second Varsity was the first crew to light up the action with great mojo and intensity. Their energy was contagious, and all of the crews stepped up. The three-boat racing was great prep for the intensity of six-lane racing at ACRAs. Every crew began the ACRA regatta with either a heat race or a time trial, depending upon the number of entries. The higher placed finishers in the heats or time trials advanced directly to the A-B Semifinals. If your performance in the first heat or time trial is poor, ACRAs offers a second chance to make the semi-finals.

In the repechage, teams that failed to qualify for a semifinal are redrawn (mixed up) and race again. Crews that originally drew a fast heat have another opportunity to advance. We took full advantage and won all three repechages we entered. Any time a crew wins any kind of race, especially at the National Championships, it is a great experience. And this was true for the MV8+,

MN8+, and WV4+. The Cougars raced aggressively and confidently and all three crews won their reps. I suspect those were the best races of the year for each of them.

On Friday, we qualified all seven crews to Saturday’s A-B Semifinals. Seven out of seven to the A-B Semifinals is a new team record. In the semis, the first three boats advance to the A Final (aka, Grand Final) for places 1-6. The next three crews advance to the B Final, deciding places 7-12.

Performance Curve Rising All the ACRA finals are getting faster and deeper every year. This was especially evident in the MV8+. The 31 entries in this event made it the largest in the country. The Grand Final was blistering fast, with all six crews under six minutes. Notre Dame, featuring the consensus best-ever ACRA oarsman, posted a winning time of 5:47.061. It was a three-boat race all the way down the course, with no more than a half-length difference at any point and just 1.9 seconds separating gold from bronze at the finish.

ACRA racing has become so competitive that three out of the last four ACRA MV8+ champions failed to qualify for the A Final.

Those crews were Michigan, George Washington, and Delaware.

The B Final was another extremely competitive race with all six crews overlapping for the first 1,750 meters. At the end WSU finished 5th (for 11th place overall) overlapping with recent MV8 winners George Washington and Delaware. There were only five seconds from 1st place Michigan to 5th place WSU in this race.

Satisfyingly, our MV8 beat Bucknell by two seconds in this race after losing to them in last year’s ACRA B Final by a deck and by four seconds at the GW Invite.

I have had numerous conversations about the possibility that our MV8+ could be faster in 2024 and yet place lower at the ACRAs than we did in 2023. To no one’s surprise, that is exactly what happened. It is evident that our program is on the rise.

That rise rests on multiple factors, including a full-time novice coach, increased recruiting, more varsity oarsmen, broader travel, increased financial support, and greater alumni engagement.

Also, every ACRA school is on its own trajectory and growth/ speed curve. We are early in our surge. More to come.

Plotting our results shows a curve rising steadily year over year.

But we have the potential for even greater speed. Our analysis is that a warm weather winter training camp may be the next leap.

Remember the long months of training through ice and snow in Pullman? Then imagine the improved mental and physical growth that a warm-weather winter camp might allow. You will hear more about this in the very near future.

—Peter Brevick (06)

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Cristy Cook Wreath-laying

Marks 45 Years of Gratitude

It started with an act of incredible generosity which was itself a response to loss that became an exemplar of decency in the face of tragedy. Forty-four years later the time seemed right to return that moment to living memory.

The Planning Committee approved the proposal for a Snake river memorial ceremony for Cristy Cay Cook in November 2023.

The ceremony was designed as an allegory. We would row away from the sun to the land of the departed there to remember and renew our kinship, leave an offering of flowers and return, into the sun, in a manner symbolic of death and resurrection. We were three days from the equinox, the onset of the renewal that is Spring. The service would center around three 8s: the Wreath Laying 8+ crewed by Cristy’s friends and classmates, the 1971 Founders 8+ and the 2024 Men’s First Varsity. The latter two span our entire history and would symbolically represent everyone who has ever rowed for Cougar Crew.

Sherri and Darwin Cook and sister Tammy Lindberg embraced the idea of a memorial marking 45 years since their loss and made plans to attend. Life happened, and those plans were cast adrift.

Medical issues appeared and painful memories returned; memories of the loss of a child, the loss of a sister, and the giving-away of the gift. With the blessing of the family, we pressed on.

Because the ceremony had been designed to be held beyond the world of our everyday activities, real-time video and audio from the on-water service were planned for transmission to those participating on land following a service to be given there

by Coach Struckmeyer. The drone coverage worked beautifully.

The attempt to transmit audio from the Cox Box of the Wreath Laying 8+ proved unsuccessful. Deb Knight had the presence of mind to record the remembrance given by Tim Richards as they floated quietly on the Snake in the Wreath Laying 8+, and so that element was saved.

LAYING THE WREATH. PHOTO: DEAN HARE.

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WATCH VIDEO

Six 8+, two 4+ and three 1x—the bulk of the club’s inventory— participated in brilliant sunshine on March 16, 2024. Men and women, the old and the young, those with distinguished rowing careers and those on their way to distinction came together to serve a common purpose. The wind came up and made short work of the planned, tightly packed, geometric pattern that was designed to allow everyone on the water to see and hear the service. The coaching staff escorted the participants to quiet water and, in the end, the open, natural arrangement of shells had a majestic character that would not have otherwise been achieved.

The Women’s Alumni 8+ formed spontaneously, in bits and pieces but made a boat that rowed smartly. Two generations came together in that 8+. Carolyn Welsh (97) sat at stroke with her son, Andrew Welsh (26) from the men’s First Varsity, at cox.

The Women’s Crew boated a cox’d four and bore witness as the manifestation of the program Cristy embraced.

Recruiting for the ceremony was sometimes easy, sometimes difficult. The Meat Wagon, 1979 National Champions confirmed in 24 hours; others took longer. Traveling long distances, finding time away from work, coping with physical limitations is difficult and sometimes not possible and so commitment takes time—as it is for most of us. There was a curious rationale expressed on occasion when the offer to participate was declined: “I didn’t know Cristy.” Neither did I, but that is not really the point. We are either shipmates, or we are not. If we are, then we are shipmates to the end.

Cristy Cay Cook died November 7, 1979. The Winter 2024 Pull Hard tells her story from the perspective of her family. Dave Arnold told her story from the perspective of her shipmates.

For myself the memorial was more than a remembrance, it was the passing on of commitment. The current membership of the team is the living manifestation of the program founded 54 years ago. They are heirs to our legacy, our victories and our tragedies.

By their participation in this memorial the responsibility for maintaining the virtues and beliefs that define what it means to be one of us have passed to them. The example of the Cook family is the definition of the greatest of those virtues. It is to them, the current membership, we now entrust the privilege of keeping that story alive.

Thank you is what you say to someone when your food arrives.

Gratitude is the spiritual manifestation of that sentiment. And so to those who made the journey, dropped an oar into a lock and pushed off, sitting well in order, I offer my gratitude for your participation, for your remembrance of a young life lost and for your loyalty to the program that binds us.

—Mike Klier (75)

The Boats Wreath Laying Eight: Gene Dowers (76), Liz Anderson (82), Jennifer (Dore) Soler (83), Karin Scarlett Argo (85), Deb (Julian) Knight (82), Mike Buckley (81), Sandy (Schively) Buckley (82), Tim Richards (80), Kathy Murphy (85) 1971 Founders Eight: Jim Rudd (75), Doug McBride (74), Doug Kee (75), Ray Whittmier (77), Tony Shapiro (75), Bob Appleyard (75), Jim Austin (75), Steve Rowlette, Mike Klier (75), Rich Stager (74) 2024 Men’s First Varsity Eight Owen Laub (27), Archer Plotz (24), Kyle Hole (25), Zack Brandt (26), Carter Mills (24), Frank Coddington (26), Ezra Klinghoffer (25), Benjamin Smolinski (24), Sam Hardesty (24) 1985-86 PAC 10 Lightweight Champions Eight Thad O’Dell (87), Jess O’Dell (86), Dave Arnold (88), Craig Maitlen (87), Bob Nehring (86), David Reeder (88), Jim Gressard (86), Don Ernsdorff (85), Eric Weseman (87) Fawley Cup Champions Eight Noah Schmalenberger (26), Sean Martin (08), Andrew McCaffrey (08), Arthur Ericsson, Alex van Rijn (04), Pat Pursley (07), Peter Brevick (06), Luke Jones (06), Julia (Anderson) Collins (06) Women’s Alumni Eight Brenda (Risch) Smith (88), Mary (Farrell) Reeder (86), Marion (Jones) Benzing (86), Marietta “Ed” Hall (Club and AD 91), Stacey (Gosney) Burge (90), Tracy (Vadset) Landboe (88), Kimberly Rice-Narusch (90), Carolyn Welsh (AD 97), Andrew Welsh (24) Meat Wagon 1979 IRA National Champions Four Rich Ray (80), John Holtman (81), Doug Engle (79), Chris Gulick (79), Sophia Pessolano (26) substituting for Al Fisher (79) 2024 Women’s First Varsity Four Sarah Popowicz (26), Maile Ryan (27), Brook Cameron (26), Janelle Phelps (26), Alexandra Carper (26) 2024 Men’s Single: Cooper Page (25), Dylan Reeves (26), Steven Collet (24)

FLOWER TEAM IN ACTION: L-R: MAILE RYAN (27), LARRY KAATZ, KATHY FIGON KAATZ (76), JANELLE PHELPS (26), ALEXANDRA CARPER (26). PHOTO: DEAN HARE, WSU PHOTO SERVICES.

July 18, 2024 To: Editor Rich Ray We have had a hard time coming up with words to tell you how much our family appreciates the hard work and attention so many loyal members and friends of the WSU rowing community, past and present, put into “Remembering Cristy Cay Cook” in the Winter edition of The PULLHARD. We have heard good comments from numerous friends and family as to how many facts were not known by different people. It was hard for our immediate family to look for everything requested for the article. Despite the difficulty, it was good for us to learn from each other the things we had not talked about as we worked on this project together.

Many of Tammy’s and Cristy’s high school and college friends wrote or called after receiving a copy. They shared many memories of their friendships. One call we took was from former President Sam Smith and his wife Pat. We became friends after meeting at the yearly WSU Salmon BBQ in Port Ludlow. They had just arrived to start the new job at WSU in summer of 1985.They each wanted to speak to both of us and we were able to catch up on old friendships. Sam commented to us how impressed he was with the magazine. We agreed with him.

We heard about the wind that came up for the part on the river. We chuckled because we have so much wind here in the Columbia River Gorge where we live. Your plans and completion of the wreath-laying were all wonderful and we enjoyed seeing the film! It was amazing to have over 300 people at the river for this remembrance of our daughter, Cristy Cay Cook!

Thank you all!

—The Darwin Cook Family

Special thanks to: On-Water Service: Tim Richards; On-Shore Service: Ken Struckmeyer; Flowers and On-Shore Organization: Kathy (Figon) Kaatz and Larry Kaatz; Flower Preparation: Brook Cameron, Maile Ryan, Janelle Phelps, Alexandra Carper, Albany Nelson, Sarah Popowicz; Alumni Recruiting Assistance: Kellie Maria Klein, Lewis Alumni Centre; Reporting and Interviews: Adriana Janovich, Washington State Magazine; Drone Pilot and Video Editor: Jeremiah Lee; Still Photography: Dean Hare, WSU Photo Services; Neutral Buoyancy, Biodegradable Wreath: Neill’s Flowers, Pullman; Coffee Service: Rich Ray, Doug Engle; SPECIAL THANKS to the coaching staff for shore preparations and on-water support: Peter Brevick, Bjorn Elliott, Daniella du Toit, Caleb Stone.

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Cougar Crew Days 2024!

There were years when we wondered who might show up. This year we advised our caterer to prepare for 315. As dinner hour loomed, we scrambled to add 40 place settings. “Walk-ons” are dear to every coach’s heart; a little more challenging for caterers. Our new auctioneer, Tucker Cool, proved his mettle by turbocharging the auction when our Salute to Coaches went overtime and some guests were stirring in their seats. Thanks to all who came to Pullman. (And please RSVP in 2025!) ­—Kari Ranten (80)

Auction Mania: A strong response to rapidly rising bids on a Struckmeyer original, seen behind the bidder in the hands of an auction assistant. Ken Struckmeyer is the team’s longest-serving head coach and continues to actively support the program.

His light-hearted, often whimsical impressions of the river (Moving Objects in the Landscape, anyone?) typically attract some of the most competitive bidding of the night. The auction netted $132,700, very close to one third of the team’s 2024 budget.

Remember your WSU ID number? Undergrad flashback: Nathan Budke (21), left, and Brian Campbell (98) bust out their WSU ID cards at the Ice Breaker. Campbell and Tammy Crawford planned and executed the best-organized Fun Row yet. More than 300 guests attended the informal Friday night event at the UREC facility including alumni, family, coaches and current rowers.

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Building the future: Kim and Jim Austin (75) chat with current Cougar Crew members Kyle Hole, Commodore (25) (L) and Dylan Reeves, Publisher (26) (R) at the Ice Breaker. The Austins have officially announced their gift of a scholarship fund beginning at $30,000/year. Monies will be awarded to both men and women based on athletic merit. The objective is three-fold: First, reduce athlete expenses.

Second, assist recruiting. Third: boost team talent and motivation. The Austins have created an endowment to generate the scholarship funds in perpetuity. The Cougar Crew Alumni Association formally adopted the proposal at the CCAA Board meeting held earlier in the day at the Lewis Alumni Centre.

Actions louder than words: The team’s first-ever permanent public display, the freshly-hung David M Emigh was the focal point of the Ice Breaker. Mike Klier (75), exceptionally proactive and spotlight-shy, participated in the discovery, purchase, transport, restoration and display of the classic Pocock hull.

Addressing the crowd, Mike shared his motivations and what he learned. He also planned, organized and supervised the Cristy Cay Cook remembrance at the river on Saturday and brought one of his post-Pullman rowing coaches, Peter Mallory, to the event. Mallory’s keynote was a sparkling overview of 200 years of rowing history.

Record numbers: Saturday morning’s rowing events produced what is believed to be a record number of alumni boats on the water, where rowers enjoyed breezy, sunny conditions and light chop. Seen here: the start of the 500-meter Alumni Fun Row. In the bow seat of the foreground shell Cathedral, Cougar Crew founder Rich Stager (74).

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All together now: Go Cougs! Alumni and coaches below the shell, current rowers on the jogging track above.

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Group photo and all photos pages 10–15: Dean Hare, WSU Photo Services

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more Cougar Crew Days 2024!

Noblesse Oblige! Following a standing ovation for his keynote address “Is Rowing Unique?” celebrated rowing historian and coach Peter Mallory talks with coach Peter Brevick. Mallory’s enthusiasm never flagged as he engaged with attendees and supported the team with an eye-popping bid on a handmade quilt, one of his specific collecting interests. Generous to a fault? Mallory also joined the Power-10 team. (C’mon now, y’all resting on your laurels down in Camp Wait & See!)

Celebrating Coaches was the 2024 banquet theme. A year of searching the records yielded 72 names of Cougar rowers who taught others to row, either in Pullman or elsewhere. 40 coaches attended the event. Five coaches spoke. At the podium: Arthur Ericsson, whose 2010 squad earned WIRA gold medals for the Men’s Heavy and Light eights as well as the Team Trophy. L-R: Ken Struckmeyer, Michelle Kistler (AD 96), Ernie Iseminger (88), Jess O’Dell (86) and Andi Day (Club and AD 91).

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Auction afficionados eyeballing the booty.

L-R: Griffin Berger (16), Don Ernsdorff (85), Melinda Ernsdorff (89), Jim Gressard (88) and Michelle Kistler (AD 96).

Alumni fun row! L-R: Cox: Andrew Welsh (24), son of stroke Carolyn Welsh (AD 97), Kimberly Rice-Narusch (90), Jennifer Soler, Marrietta “Ed” Hall (Club and AD 91), Alyx Powell, Ashley (Vu) Butuso (16), Allison (Thomas) Keith (15), Katie (Fowler) Marelli (17).

Meatwagon last launch: L-R: Chris Gulick (79), Doug Engle (79), John Holtman (81) Rich Ray (80), Sophia Pessolano (27). A teammate jokingly called them The Meatwagon. Not only did the nickname stick, it landed on the bow of a WSU 4+ and has since made rowers smile nationwide. Here launching for the wreath-laying in the eponymously named vessel. Coxswain Al Fisher (79) was unable to attend and was substituted by Sophia Pessolano (27). Winners of the 1979 IRA Championship Varsity 4+ and the 2009 Row2k Reader’s Poll for Most Creative/Humorous Boat Name.

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Walk-Ons Wanted: CCDays 2025 Cougar Crew alumni are a talented group with a wide array of interests, professions and skills. CCAA would not exist without that wealth of expertise. Cougar Crew Days (CCD) is big and complicated. Volunteers needed for CCD 2025 March 14–15.

Training and support provided. Please consider: AUCTION APPRENTICE—Allison (Thomas) Keith (15) will retire after CCD25. Assist her, then take the reins for CCD26. The Auction Chair (or Co-Chairs) join monthly Zoom calls, but work is most intense around the event itself.

POWERPOINT PRODUCER—The Committee needs one or more Intermediate to Advanced PowerPoint users. From an existing PPT template, producer(s) will assemble finished PPT decks.

Pre-banquet, the Producer(s) will bring the finished decks to Beasley and assist Coliseum IT staff to ensure an issue-free presentation.

FLOOR MANAGER—The Floor Manager for the banquet will develop the banquet seating plan. With 350+ guests, self-seating is no longer viable. The Floor Manager will take responsibility for both strategy and tactics of the plan. At the event, the Manager will correct errors and address guest needs in real time.

THE ENGINE ROOM—Zoom meetings may not be your cup of tea. “Day Of” volunteers are also needed and welcome. Consider giving an hour or two of hands-on, direct assistance for a particular event, such as:

Comments from CCAA Chair Andi Day continued from page 1 to develop a clearly detailed budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year that will dovetail with our strategic plan and serve as the template for a consistent and transparent reporting format.

Physical Plant Our Shellhouse & Facilities group has undertaken exploratory research and conversations regarding the anticipated need for additional room for our growing roster and equipment pool.

As always, there are formidable challenges: Algae on the river deprived us of three weeks of water time last fall. Thanks to Doug Engle’s clear presentation of all the evidence, WSU Risk Management has modified its position. Practices will not be canceled this year due to algae. University budget cuts resulted in a 230% increase in our motor pool van rental. Last minute changes with our Graduate Assistant roles deprived us of a coach.

It speaks to our love of teamwork and the depth and breadth of the CCAA talent pool that we are continually overcoming obstacles. I am confident all our challenges will be met, either in the short or long run.

On a personal note, I am very grateful to my fellow board members for stepping up and covering for me during an unforeseen six-month hiatus. I’m honored to be a part of this incredible team and I can’t wait to return to full service in a couple months!

—Andi Day (Club and AD 91)

FRIDAY ICE BREAKER—The Ice Breaker hosted 300 in March.

Volunteers manage the buffet tables, restocking food and beverage and handling recycling and disposal.

SATURDAY MORNING—Coffee, tea and pastries were a big hit at the river this year. We need a driver and co-pilot to transport heavy (3-gallon) hot drink dispensers to the river. Also needed: pickup and transport of pastries.

BANQUET LOGISTICS For the banquet, we need: • Greeters to welcome and orient guests • Helpers to unpack and organize swag table merchandise • Go-fers to complete last-minute guest table arrangements • Sales team to manage swag table operations • Helpers to assist Banquet Organizers • Helpers to organize and repack unsold merchandise BREAKWATER PHOTO SHOOT. COUGAR CREW DAYS 2024.

If you would like to help, email: cougarcrewdays@cougarcrew.com

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Women’s Four at ACRAs A Crew With Three Novices Rows Varsity One year ago the 28th commodore of the women’s crew was celebrating her silver medal performance at the ACRAs in the W2x. In 2024 she finished 11th as a member of a coxed 4—no medal, no podium, no fanfare. The arithmetic of the finish-line hides a story of commitment and determination, a story of dedication and pure will. Some might be tempted to describe this crew as self-motivated, but that misses the reality of what it took to race a four from a squad of five. Motivation is for amateurs.

The rest of us just show up and get to work.

On a good day last season the women’s Cougar Crew boated some combination of five rowers and four cox’ns into a 4+.

Finishing 6th in the D2/D3/Club Grand Final in the WIRAs, they decided that they would race at the ACRAs, which is gutsy. Three of the four were novice rowers, which, given the decision to race, is courageous. They determined to race as the First Varsity, which is nuts!

When the basketball coach of my Junior High School summarized the season of our best player to the assembled student body, he noted that our classmate routinely participated in pick-up games with the High School Varsity. “You don’t,” he said, “get better playing men you can beat.” In the context of willful

exposure to assured defeat, the decision to row varsity at ACRAs must be admired. It is exactly the way to get mentally tough.

Double to four with cox In her role as commodore, Alex Carper (Animal Sciences 26) was determined to grow the program. That goal was better served by advancing the 4+ and so, against the guidance of her mentor in the double, she migrated to the coxed four, bringing three novice rowers and a coxswain with her: Janelle Phelps (Animal Sciences 26), Brook Cameron (Zoology 26), Maile Ryan (Nursing 26) and Sophia Pesollano (Animal Sciences 26), whom we first met last November, coxing for the men.

Finishing third in their heat in 8:03.7, they moved to the repechage, which they won in spite of a poor start, in 8:10.2, drawing down at the end in anticipation of the two hard races ahead. In the semi they finished in 8:03.0, rowing their best race of the regatta as measured both by their time over 2,000 meters, and by their collective assessment of their performance. The top three finishers would advance to the A Final, their ultimate goal.

In the semi, rowing in Lane 1 with their competition for third continued on page 23

MAY 18, MELTON LAKE, OAK RIDGE, TN: WSU’S WV4+ JUST OFF THE START IN THE SATURDAY SEMIS. L-R: MAILE RYAN, JANELLE PHELPS, ALEX CARPER, BROOK CAMERON, SOPHIA PESSOLANO (HIDDEN BECAUSE THIS IS A BOW-LOADER). PHOTO: ROW2K.COM

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We Salute!

The 2023–2024 Officer Corps

Organizations require leadership and ours is no exception. For our officers, the opportunity to serve their community must be its own reward, because the offered compensation is modest indeed.

To all those whose four a.m. thoughts and unsung efforts help us keep our eyes on the prize, thank you!

Benjamin Smolinski (24), Treasurer 2023-2024 Benjamin Smolinski graduated in Mechanical Engineering, minoring in Materials Science. Treasurer is the only Cougar Crew office he held. After a high school athletic career in cross-country, swimming, and track, Ben took a breather his freshman year in Pullman. He joined Cougar Crew his sophomore year and rowed three seasons. He aims to become a search and rescue pilot.

Carter Mills (24), Recruiting Coordinator 2023-2024

Alex Carper (24), Women’s Commodore 2023-24 Alexandra Carper graduated in Animal Science, minoring in Zoology and Psychology. The 2023-2024 racing season was her third and her second as an officer.

Alex earned gold in the WN4+ at WIRAs in 2022, and silver in the W2x at ACRAs in 2023. She was the first women’s club athlete to complete second level strength certification. Her officer service was focused on Rent-A-Rower fundraisers and recruiting.

Steven Collet (24), Men’s Commodore 2023-2024 Steven Collet graduated in Mechanical Engineering, with honors. His senior year as Commodore was his third as an officer.

In high school, Steven rowed for Olympia Area Rowing Association and raced a 4x in the 2019 Youth Nationals. After high school, OARA teammate Sean Swett convinced him to join Cougar Crew. He rowed four years and is now pursuing his Masters in ME. Sophia Pessolano (26), Women’s Vice Commodore 2023-2024 A sophomore in Animal Science on the Pre-Veterinary track, the 2023-2024 season was Sophia Pessolano’s second year as a coxswain. She trains with the men and serves as an officer for the women. As Vice Commodore she worked closely with the men’s Vice Commodore on Rent-A-Rower and assisted athletes with personal fundraising.

Kyle Hole (25), Men’s Vice Commodore 2023-2024 Kyle Hole is from Seattle and is studying Accounting and Management Information Systems. He joined as a sophomore in the 2022-2023 season and contributed to the post-Covid rebuild as Recruiting Coordinator. In 2024-2025, his senior year, he will serve as Commodore. Currently interning with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Kyle plans on a career in banking.

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Carter graduated with a BS in Biology. He hails from Ephrata, where he participated in high school football, wrestling, and track and field. Carter earned a seat in the M1V8, was involved in undergraduate research, held a Teaching Assistantship, and volunteered at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow. He has applied for admission to medical school.

Frank Coddington (27), Webmaster/Historian 2023-2024 A junior in Crim J/Criminology, Frank is minoring in Poly Sci and plans to work in law enforcement. He began rowing his freshman year and rediscovered a zest for competition. Freshman Class Co-Captain with Dylan Reeves, Frank began serving as Webmaster/Historian in the 2023-2024 season, filling an unexpected vacancy.

Ezra Klinghoffer (25), Publisher 2023-2024 Ezra is a senior in Mechanical Engineering and joined as a freshman for the social engagement and serious physical fitness. He considers it one of the best choices he has made. Ezra became the team’s publisher in mid-season 2023-2024 and focused his efforts on alumni engagement and recruiting via social media.

Cooper Page (25) UREC Liaison 2023-2024 Cooper Page is a senior in Computer Science and served as UREC Liaison in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, representing the team on the Sport Club Federation Council (SCFC). SCFC is responsible for equitable distribution of WSU’s support to club sports. In 2023-2024, Cooper helped readjust distribution to mirror team fundraising. He also helped reduce red tape and turnaround time when ordering team gear.

The 2024-2025 Officer Corps Men’s Commodore: Kyle Hole (25) Men’s Vice-Commodore: Ezra Klinghoffer (25)

Save the Dates October 19 — Head of the Spokane November 2 — Frostbite Regatta November 3 — Head of the Lake

Women’s Commodore: Alex Carper (25) Women’s Vice-Commodore: Janelle Phelps (27) Treasurer: Frank Coddington (26) Recruiting: Isaac Aeslin (25) Publisher: Dylan Reeves (26)

Cougar Crew Days 2025 March 14–15

UREC Liaison: Cooper Page (25) Historian/Webmaster: Owen Laub (27)

A Fond Farewell to Coach Dan Zimbabwe is a long way from Pullman. But there is rowing, which means we have family there, and that family is closer than you might think.

High School is a six year undertaking in Zimbabwe. WSU Graduate Assistant Coach Daniella du Toit, Zimbabwe born and raised, began rowing in High School, age 12. She undertook that activity believing it would involve leisurely canoe-floats down the local rivers. She was surprised to learn that rowing, in fact, involved going backwards and at a level of intensity not conducive to sight-seeing. She enjoyed the challenge and discovered her capacity for hard work. Earning a spot on the Zimbabwe National Team in 2012 in the JW1x and JW2x, she was selected for the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2013 (finishing 18th of 27 in the JW1x), the Youth Olympic Games in 2014 (finishing 9th of 24 in the JW1x) and again made the Zimbabwe National team in 2018, but opted out of racing to focus on her personal life.

She rowed sweeps at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and earned a seat with the Varsity each of her four years as an undergraduate, racing at the NCAAs in 2017. While working in the Midwest, she heard the call to Grad School.

An offer to study and coach at WSU was enthusiastically accepted, bringing about yet another move and with it an experience of the grandeur of the Snake River Canyon. At the 2023 ACRAs, her athletes earned silver medals in the W2x and the W1V4+ (with 3 novice rowers). Having successfully defended her Master’s Thesis on June 25, her life will again change heading and bring to a close her daily, active participation with the Cougar Crew.

Coach Brevick praised “the depth and breadth of her rowing knowledge and expertise,” and the “quality of her organizational skills.” She possesses a sophisticated and descriptive rowing vocabulary and has cultivated a marvelous vocal presence from

MANY AND DEMANDING ARE THE DUTIES OF A COACH. DANIELLA WEARS HER HARBORMASTER HAT, CCD 2024. PHOTO: DEAN HARE

the coaching launch: authoritative, unambiguous, decisive, yet kind and understanding; qualities that should be the goal of every cox’n worthy of the name.

Coach Dan is loved by the club women she has nurtured and served, and set a standard of excellence and mastery which will be difficult to match. Our program will be diminished by her absence. Wishing you fair winds and following seas.

—Mike Klier (75)

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Boyer Park to the Paris Games

SUMMER GAMES, PARIS, FRANCE: THE US K2 RACING IN THE SEMIFINAL. PHOTO: FRENCH TELEVISED OLYMPIC COVERAGE.

So…we just went to Paris to watch our oldest kid Aaron compete in the Olympics. It so happened that my time on Cougar Crew contributed to his journey in two big ways: first, by instilling a lifelong love of rowing that, improbably, led to Aaron’s existence; and second, a crew connection that led to Aaron’s discovery of the sport that took him to the 2024 Summer Games.

My intro to rowing was an information booth on campus. In 1982, I transferred to WSU as a junior after playing tennis in high school and junior college. I worked really hard at it but had a growing conviction that tennis, and agility sports in general, maybe weren’t my thing.

After the very first crew practice, I knew I’d finally found my sport. Once I had enough experience to see the possibilities, I liked the correlation between results and how hard one trained.

Success seemed less about agility and more about the ability to tolerate more suffering than the other guy. I was pretty sure I could do that.

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Steve Small wanted to make it to the Olympics.

Eventually, he did.

Kidney punching Paul Hensel I ended up rowing most of my junior year in the five seat of the varsity boat, behind Cougar Crew legend Paul Hensel. For the first few weeks my timing and blade control were so bad I was impaling Paul in the kidneys with my oar handle on a fairly regular basis. He was more understanding than I ever would have been, and the kidney shots slowly got less frequent. The boat tolerated my novice technique for most of the year, despite the occasional boat-stopping crab, maybe because of my decent erg score. I once pulled the best result of the season, which Mr. Hensel found unacceptable and beat about 10 minutes later. An internship consumed the first quarter of my senior year, and once I returned to Pullman, it felt too late to rejoin the crew. I was a one-season Cougar, but the rowing bug had fully taken hold.

When I landed in Seattle after graduation, rowing was still on my mind. After a year of finding my way, I read David Halberstam’s The Amateurs—a story about four rowers and their path to the 1984 Olympics. That book made a big impression, not least because much of the story happened in Seattle, and because one of our alums who went from obscurity to an Olympic gold medal was a central character. I decided I wanted to be the next Paul Enquist.

In the next four years, I logged over 10,000 miles in a 1x and more miles in team boats. I also spent lots of time in the weight room. At Lake Washington Rowing Club, I was coached by the legendary Frank Cunningham, whose advice about technique always seemed to carry a message about something much deeper. Also from Charlie McIntyre, a crusty but likable old fellow who never seemed to find a rowing technique that didn’t disgust him. Also from Bill Tytus, another Pacific Northwest rowing legend who had recently taken over Pocock Racing Shells. The work began to pay off: gold in 1x at the NW Regional Championships, and a near APRIL 23, 2024, SARASOTA, FL: miss making the US Double AARON IN THE PAN AM SPRINTS. for the 1990 Goodwill Games.

By my late twenties, the US Team thing, and a chance at an Olympic spot, was still not happening. Would a couple more years have made the difference? Would less weights and more water time have been key? More speed work? More volume? A

winning a world Masters Championship in the quad with John at stroke. When our kids were growing up, Holtman introduced me to surfski and sprint kayak racing, which he’d transitioned to from rowing. It wasn’t rowing, but in the most fundamental way— putting a blade in the water, pulling on it, and trying to make a boat go fast—it was pretty close. Emulating his dad, our oldest son Aaron learned sprint kayaking in a class at Greenlake and decided to make it his sport. He was ten years old.

After 12 years of steady improvement, Aaron and paddling partner Jonas Ecker were invited to represent the US in the Men’s K2 event at the Pan American Championships in Sarasota, Florida— their last hurdle to earning a spot at the Olympics. Nothing more than a gold medal was required. They did what they needed to do.

APRIL 23, 2024, SARASOTA, FL. FATHER AND SON CELEBRATE THE K2 500M GOLD MEDAL THAT QUALIFIED AARON FOR PARIS.

different diet? Who knows? I do know that if I had the chance to do it all again, I would. For reasons I can’t logically explain, those days that began with boating an hour before sunrise (even the cold, rainy winter mornings), days I spent birddogging an elusive dream, were some of the best of my life.

The stranger you recognize My preoccupation with rowing led to another chance event. At five a.m. one summer morning on the LWRC dock, I was introduced to Cynthia, who was filling in as coxswain in a friend’s boat. My friend gave me a phone number, I made the call, stuff happened. And somehow my commitment to non-commitment went out the window and we married.

Chromosomes ultimately intermingled in strange and mysterious ways, and our two amazing boys Aaron and Noah were the result.

I kept rowing at the Masters level, became friends with former LWRC arch-rival John Holtman (like Hensel, something of a Coug legend, CYNTHIA AND STEVE LIVE WATERand my Cougar Crew connecSIDE ON CAMANO ISLAND AND tion number two), eventually LOVE TO PADDLE.

Postscript Aaron’s original goal was the 2028 Olympics in LA. The trip to Paris was a detour and bonus prize. Making the A final and finishing with the top eight in the world, Aaron and Jonas demonstrated that they belonged there. For our family, the Paris Games were a fantastic experience. Everything that can be said about the Olympics sounds like a cliche, but in a world with a lot of things going badly, the Olympics give us hope that we may still live on a civilized planet. My own Olympic dream did not come true, but Aaron’s achievement is an unintended consequence of that honest and satisfying, if ultimately incomplete, attempt.

—Steve Small (85) Afterword Perhaps the most noteworthy race was the semifinal. The US edged out Hungary by 0.15 seconds (photo finish, did you say?), thus qualifying for the Final. The two Hungarians, Balint Kopasz and Adam Varga, have recently dominated the K1 1000m event (paddling’s equivalent of the 1x), at both the Worlds and the Olympics. Kopasz and Varga both made the final in the K1 1000m at Paris and earned silver and bronze. At the Tokyo 1998 WORLD MASTERS GAMES, Games, they won gold and PORTLAND, OR. GOLD MEDAL silver. In paddling, as in rowing, QUAD. L-R: STEVE SMALL, JOHN HOLTMAN, BYRL THOMPSON, MIKE athletic talent is steadily MCCANN. TIME: 2:54. deepening. Beating Kopasz and Varga was no small feat. Also this: padding is raced on the same course as rowing, only with two added lanes. Check the times and you will see how close to rowing speeds these padders are going.

—John Holtman (81)

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Alumni Notes Bothell, they are avid Mariners and Kraken fans. During the winter months, they enjoy skiing at Stevens Pass. In her senior year, Katie served as commodore of the women’s team.

In Memoriam:

Coug books!

Allison’s Alaska Wedding Allison Marie Thomas (15), now Allison Marie Keith, married Matthew Duncan Keith on June 29, 2024 at Government Peak Chalet in Palmer, Alaska. The event was blessed with gorgeous weather and splendid mountain views. Roughly 70 of their closest friends and family were in attendance. The couple met in middle school and never lost contact. They are making their home in Anchorage with their dog Luna and living the outdoor life: running and hiking in summer, cross-country skiing in winter.

Two WSU oars have recently published kid-centered books. Denver Morford (98) has published an amusing account of his family’s attachment to a pair of golden retrievers from the same litter, one of them a rescue. Two Goofy Dogs was published in 2020 and has been drawing positive notice in the children’s lit world. More about it here: https://twogoofydogs.com Ole Jorgenson (88) has co-written with Sheri Glucoft Wong a parenting guide, Raising Kids: Your Essential Guide to Everyday Parenting, published in 2022.

Parenting was never easy, but Ole and Sheri have assembled some well-grounded, commonsense dos and don’ts.

More info here: https://tinyurl.com/3me4673b

Theodore (Ted) James Noble (July 27, 1960–August 10, 2024) Ted battled early-onset Alzheimer’s for 10 years. A native of Kenmore, he raised his daughter in Newcastle. He studied civil engineering at WSU and earned an MBA from the UW. He worked on projects including the Alaska pipeline, the plaza at Lumen Field and the West Seattle Bridge.

Inevitably pleasant and mild-mannered, Ted was well-liked, rowed in the JV8+ his sophomore and junior years, and earned the 7-seat in the V8+ his senior year.

Obituary: https://tinyurl.com/mwssn5re

Notices!

Come up and see us some time Calling all Cougar Crew football fans. If you’re visiting Pullman for the gridiron action, you must stop by the Field House—open three hours before kickoff, where you’ll find a Cougar Crew refreshments table near the stairs to the ergometer loft. The Erg Room opens two hours before kickoff. Get some face time with our athletes and coaches, and get an up close look at where the program currently stands.

Katie’s Woodinville Wedding Katie Jean Fowler (17) married Michael James Marelli (17) in Woodinville on November 4, 2023. They were joined by their families and many Cougar Crew teammates for the celebration. Currently residing in

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Photos Sought in Aid of Restoration In June 2024 Coach Brevick transferred the 13-foot bow section of the Cougar One, the first new-purchase Pocock 8+ acquired by the program, to Fred Darvill, now undertaking its restoration. To aid in this and future restorations, we seek photos of the livery (name and victory chevrons) and cutwater (prow) of the following hulls: Cougar One, Spirit of ’73 and Tyee (a Husky loaner). Please forward submissions to the Editor regardless of quality.

Email: pullhard@cougarcrew.com

Women’s Four at ACRAs A Crew With Three Novices Rows Varsity continued from page 17 in Lane 5, the women were unsure of their finish position as they crossed the line. It had been a close race and they knew it. Some of them broke down in the boatyard when they learned they had failed to advance, failed by 0.548 seconds. They moved on to the B Final where they succumbed, in part, to fatigue and the muggy heat of Tennessee placing 5th (8:08.1) giving them an overall standing of 11th out of 24 entries.

Stroke Maile Ryan remembered the crucial semi-final this way: “We gave that race our all. We sat in the grass [of the boatyard] dead. Some of us were crying. It was the most disappointing race of the Semester. It was that frustration of trying so hard and we didn’t get it.”

The women are unanimous in attributing their performance in the B Final to their state of mind, not ‘lack of experience’. They are self-aware, mature, direct and analytical in their appraisal of themselves as rowers—as they had to be, to come as far in a single season with no competition beyond that which came from inside their own boat. If they say it was the mind-game that caught them, then that is how it was.

The overmodest stroke Her shipmates see Maile Ryan as something of a natural stroke oar. Maile feels unsure of that appraisal. “At first I didn’t really want it. It was another layer of pressure and expectation I didn’t want. When Coach Dan starboard-rigged the Curtis the first day, I was like, please don’t let it be me; I’m not qualified for this, I’ve never stroked, ever. This is a bad idea. She put Alex in at stroke and I thought OK, I dodged that bullet. Alex is a great stroke.” But chance brought her to the stern and she has not looked back. “It ended up sticking and I’ve fallen in love with it.”

Brook Cameron came to rowing by chance. It caught her eye in a search for an outdoor activity, resonated with her natural

affinity to water, and brought her to the bow-seat of the starboard stroked W1V4+. “The unpredictability of the Snake is also what makes rowing so fascinating, to me. You never really know what to expect. I think the rough days are the ones I remember most, the power of the Snake River.” Contrasting the slower time of the B Final with the semi-final she said “When we do go fast in the four it’s about feeling the rhythm of the boat and winning that mental battle in the race.” “I feel when your mind is behind it your body can do so much more than what you think it can. Your honor to row with my boat. They are all pretty “It is an phenomenal people. ” —Brooke Cameron consciousness takes over the whole boat. You are not in your body; you are the boat.”

Sacrifice, in the sense of the giving-up of something, was captured in the training shirt worn by the Silver Medal 1984 US Olympic W4x+: “I can’t…I have to row.” Janelle Phelps sees sacrifice in the sense of the giving-of. Finding the time to row “is a challenge of mentality” but “…is not a sacrifice for me. Once you find the love for it, you don’t feel like you are sacrificing.” In a race “I don’t feel that I am sacrificing anything physical because I’m really just building strength. Each time I know that I can go hard and let everything go.” When “have to” becomes “want to” the character of the mental environment in which you are immersed is upended. You open out and that which was conceived as sacrifice is now experienced as bliss.

They row in the shadow of the Athletic Department women and are listed in the starting line-up as “Washington State - Men.” These small things concern them not at all. They dwell instead on humility and honor, and speak of the privilege of being a part of a tight-knit, supportive group, of the joy of working with their beloved coach Daniella du Toit, of the beauty and raw power of the Snake river canyon.

The road ahead Next Semester when this crew returns as veterans with the insight and the wisdom of ‘defeat’ that they earned by virtue of their courage, their coach will have completed Graduate School.

“Dan” said Brook, “is going to leave behind some pretty big shoes to fill. She has been an amazing asset to our four and an amazing coach.”

They are unanimous and unwavering regarding their goals for the coming season; when they tire of speaking about going fast and growing the program, they speak about growing the program and going fast. And their vehicle for manifesting those desires?

Recruiting and racing an eight.

—Mike Klier (75)

WV4+ LEAVES FOR THE WREATH LAYING AT CLASS DAY 2024.

PHOTO DEAN HARE/WSU PHOTO SERVICES

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Thank You! Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Supporters

The list below reflects the individuals and organizations that contributed in the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2024. * Power-10 member active in FY24 1970s Eric and Janet Anderson* Colleen and Patrick Andreotti* Robert and Christine Appleyard* Dave Atherton & Moira Campbell* James and Kim Austin* Frederick and Lauren Darvill John and Shirley DeLong* David and Gillian Emigh* Douglas and Renee Engle* Paul and Lisa Enquist James Flynn and Marcia Muto* Chris and Linda Gulick* Steve Huhta* Kathryn and Larry Kaatz* Douglas and Patricia Kee* Robert and Mo Kelley Michael and Jean Kimbrell* Ryan Janis Krastins* Mary Alice Krenowicz* Patrick W. Kvietkus, DVM* Timothy John Malkow* John and Kristie McBride* Leonard and Lisa Mills* Scott and Mary Minnich* Scott and Brenda Morgan* Kristi Lee Norelius* Robert and Kris Orr* Steven and Peggy Porter* Steve and Kari Ranten* Jim and Vickie Rudd* Gary E. Schell Joanne R. Shadel Bradley and Martha Sleeper Richard and Elois Stager* Thomas and Donna Stowe* Penney and Ronald Tee James and Claudia Verellen* Steve Wells and Anita Von Oppenfeld* Raymond and Jean Wittmier* David and Pam Yorozu 1980s Thomas C. Anderson* Michael and Karin Argo David and Arienne Arnold* Robert and Lynn Barton* Blaine and Susan Beardsley* Randall and Sherry Bell* Marion Claire Benzing Glen and Sherri Bodman Michael and Sandra Buckley* Brad Stephen Carlberg* Thomas Caudill* Darrin and Lisa Clark* Jeffrey D. Corwin* Robert Paul Cote* Roger and Tammy Crawford* David Curran and Debra Keating* Gene Dowers and Carlene Anders*

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Craig and Lisa Curtis* Matthew Kennett Edwards Donald and Melinda Ernsdorff* Murray and Dian Etherington Joseph Barry Friedman Susan Leslie Ganz Katherine L. Garneau* Jim Michael Gressard, DVM* John Holtman and Eve Boe* Ernest and Alice Iseminger* Ole and Tanya Jorgenson* Kristine Miiko Kimura John and Bonnie Lafer* Tracy and Knut Landboe Chip and Karen Lang* Peter W. Lang* Douglas and Carol Lindahl* Tammy and David Lindberg* Bill Lindsey* Craig and Donna Maitlen* Guy Albert Marden* Rick Paul Maurice Kerin Diane McKellar* Robert Brian Nehring* Angelina Cherie Neo Michael and Valerie Noble* Scott and Sally Nowak* Robert and Jeana Obom* Michael and Aidaluz Pabisz* Mark Richard Petrie* Tracy and Lori Pierson* Richard Ray & Kathleen Randall* David and Mary Reeder* Herbert M. Richards, III, DVM* Michael Riley & Diane Kelly-Riley Kim and Blain Roberts* John William Sanders* Tish Griffin Satre Mark R. Shaber* Brenda and Daniel Smith Philip and Pamela Sprute* Mitch R. Van Wormer* Kurt Anton Wahle* Eric and Jeanne Weseman* Doug and Lori Wordell* 1990s James Michale Albers* Shawn Andrew Bagnall* Larry and Jennie Bailey* Todd Allen Benson* Sheldon Buys Birch* Vanessa Adele Blake* Stacey Ann Burge Brian Matthew Campbell* Justin N. Carlo* Joshua and Lisa Clearman* Ronald and Teresa Cole Lori and Roeland Collet* Graham and Danielle Condit* Andria Lyn Day* David Allen Ek*

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Thomas Michael Eldridge Sr.* Denise Leigh Fast John Patrick Fiske, Jr.* Tyler Robert Fotheringill* Stacy Rae Fox Joshua Ronald Gray* Marietta Hall* Sean Halsted and Sarah Washington-Halsted* Anthony and Melinda Hensel* Roger Lane Holcombe, II* Paul Hutteball-Wilcox and Tiffany Wilcox* Jennifer and Bob Imholt Erik Ray Koetje Michael Lane* Douglas E. Loft* Robert and Cynthia MacDougall* Craig and Donna Maitlen Lauris Clarke Mattson Kent and Rocio McCleary* Michael M. McQuaid Jr.* Rodney Brian Mott* Michael Scott Muehlbauer Paul Nelson Needham* John Jacob Nelson* Jess and Victoria O’Dell* Andrew Webb Osborne* David Anthony Plotz Sean William Powers* Stanley Glenn Putyrae* Aaron Alan Reiter* Andy and Tracy Sawyer* Todd Schmidt and Rebecca Jamison-Schmidt Everett M. Schneider* Michael and Rebecca Slotemaker* Bradley and Heidi Smith Kevin Snekvik and Kathleen McMenamin-Snekvik* Norman and Rosemary Vigre* Brandon Michael Vukelich* Mark Harris Wascher* Carolyn and Steven Welsh Kristine Floyd Wilcox Jesse Wolfe* Vincent Xaudaro and Coleen Thompson* John Robert Zeman* 2000s Jonathan Walker Ames* Daniel Kristofer Brevick* Peter Douglas Brevick* Jeffrey R. Earle* Anthony Matthew Enzler* Colby David Farvour* James Andrew Ferguson Benjamin and Victoria Fields* Ryan James Herrington* Karl Daniel Gage Huhta* Ryan and Sarah Hui*

Luke Lawrence Hunter* Anthony J. Jackson Lucas Boyd Jones* Tamee Renae Kautt Garrett Hahn Lyman* Sean and Theresa Martin* Andrew Michael McCaffrey Brad S. McFadden* Peter and Starla Meighan* Jay Andrew Mills Brett and Alison Mitchell* Takumu Niino* Lucas Jerome Olona* Jeff and Samantha Olson* David Perkins and Amber Egbert* Joshua Lyle Proctor* Patrick and Mary Pursley* Charles Owen Remington* Toby Joseph Ripplinger Thad and Kathleen Smith* Weston Rivers Spivia* Joey and Frankie Tennison* Michael Toyooka* Alexander Damien Van Rijn* Jeremy and Dita Wexler* Mitchell and Kim Williams* David Worley and Tiana Rodriquez* 2010s Jeffrey Ryan Arnevick* Joshua Gunnar Benson* Griffin Edward Berger* August Theodore Boyle* Robin Lynn Brown* Blake Thomas Bryson* Samuel Creston Callan* Sean Peter Cornia Eric Rogers DeMaris, DO* Ian Burnell Emrick* Nicholas Lee Estvold* John Thomas Gehring* Garrett Alan Heiman David Todd Herrick* Mark Wesley Hoffman* Khadijah Ahzjunai Ladd Teresa R. Lashchuk Jeffrey Laub Jessica Rae LeBaron Jacob Brian Logar* Paul Andreas Soules Lund* Katie J Marelli* Michael J. Marelli* Devon Michael McCornack* William Boles Miedema* Ezekiel Palmer Nelson* Gunnar Joseph Newell* Alan Cameron Scott* Michael Vasilivich Sheremet* Joe Michael Sudar* Allison Marie Thomas* Curtis Raymond Treiber*

Camille Vaughn Ashley Anh Vu, PhD* Kramer Jon Wahlberg* Robert Andrew Walston* Alexander Jonathon Weatbrook* Hayden James Wise* 2020s Jacob Edward Anderson* Jacob John-Ivor Brisson* Nathan Allan Budke* Harrison Taylor Collet Cedar Miles Cunningham* Bjorn Blide Elliott* Brendan M. Glouner* Thomas M. Glouner* Don Patrick Kelly* Ciara Grace McCall* Henry McRae* Daniel Alain Moguel* John Najarian* Benjamin Charles Smolinski Sean Geoffrey Swett* Mark Walker-Rittgers* Alex Johnathon Welch* Trevor Steven Zook* Jose Francisco Zuniga* FRIENDS OF COUGAR CREW A&R Solar Brianne Able Jurgen W Achterbosch Daniel P. Alarid American Online Giving Foundation* Zoe P. Anderson Anonymous James Michael Aquino Jeff Aselin* Lola Rose Aselin David J. Atkins Mary Atkins Beth Ann Bakulich Joan K. Bakulich Trace Vincent Bakulich Leslie Barber Sonya Bates Bryan and Jodi Beardsley David Becvar John Bell Megan Bencangey Wyeth James Bernardin Marie Beverly Miles Bird* Mary Ann Blake Amari Blanton Anthony Blanton Sandra Blanton Kim Blewett Greg S Brandt Michelle M Brandt Kari Branthwaite Karen Breslo Martha P. Brooks Alicia K. Brown Doug and Amy Brown Jean and Thomas Burkhart Carmeleta Calo Geraldine Calvez

Oonagh Cameron Karen M Campbell Jennifer Carper Ralph Carper Jamie Christensen Willard J. Cochran Margaret Ann Coddington Yvette Colon Darwin and Sherry Cook* Julia Corneliuson Rose G. Corso Timothy Edward Cowin Colin Criss Dana L Crutchfield Anne M. Deibert Joe DeJager Susan Dennis-Belden Stephanie K. Ditzler Jim Dolstad Patricia Dombrowski Scott Dominguez Jemma Alison Dooley Sergei Yuri Dreizin Danny L Dunigan Jackie Easterling Candace Easterling Nika Erastov Gerald and Geraldeane Eyrich Sue Fast Andy Ferguson* Julie Ferguson Davionna Fields-Banks Patrick Clinton Freeny Lisa Fuchs Janice Gillette Jess Goodwin* David and Maria Gore Tom and Gail Graening Luke H. Green Ashley Gruber Robert and Pamela Gunderson Janet L. Gupton Julie Hanson Samantha Helmick-Schwarzmiller Ann Heskett Rorie* Roger and Barbara Heskett* Mary Hess Julie A. Hirsch Charles Hole and Anne Jozaitis-Hole Finn David Holmquist Gary and Linda Holt Daniel E. Husley Karen Hutchison Invoca Accounting* Elna Iseminger* Ron and Tracy Iseminger Beverly J. Jackson Jacqueline Jacobsen Adriana M Janovich Bradley Jarocki Rik Johnson Stephanie R. Jones Patricia J. Jordahl Scott Jordahl Anthony and Mrie Jozaitis Ginta Karklina Thomas and Carol Kawula Sharon P. Kelly

Suzanne Kennedy Jean Kent Randy Kessler Edith Keville Barbara Kolk Steve and Christina Kolk Christopher George Kuranko Shelly Lacroix Jane A. Lariviere Derek T. Laub Tracy A. Lemberger Susan Lewers Nancy Marie Lopez Al Mackenzie Amadio Maestas Peter Mallory* Teresa L Manciu Thomas Gould and Virginia McCabe* Maura McCann Ciara McCarty David McCarty Faye McCarty Michael and Emma Mealer* Maureen L. Medford Diane Medved Robert Anthony Meier* William Mendelson Madeline A. Miller John F Mills Kortnie K Mills David Morts Dana Muirhead John Muirhead Julie Muirhead Rebecca Muirhead John Murphy Lynn C Murphy Tina Neis Melanie G. Ness Erica S. Nitchman Matthew Steven Nitchman Paul Nitchman Sandra Nitchman Sherry Nitchman Hugh North Matthew O’Connor* Alfred and Carol O’Dell Floyd S. Page Jason and Lisa Page Paul P. Pecukonis, Jr. James H. Phelps Janelle Lauren Phelps Kathryn Phelps Michelle M. Phelps Heather L. Pigman Josette Plaster Kristi Plaster Virgil L. Plaster Michael Scott Pontin Carrie Poole Grete K. Popowicz Kristi Popowicz Rob L. Portman Sophia Chapin Prock Quinault Corporate Enterprises Hilda Quinones Tami Rudnick Rabin Kristen Ragain

Gina Rasmussen Daniel and Kathy Reed Megan Reed Karl Reeves Richard and Brook Remington Ronald Rice & Kim Rice-Narusch Kathleen Ripplinger Kristina Ripplinger Patrick Roche* Amanda Dee Romey Joyce Romey Christian Rorie Amy M. Roswall Patricia Ryan Jonathan Thomas Satre Megan Schiefelbein Sophia Magdalena Schier-Hanson Carol Schlegel Alisa Schmalenberger Kathleen E. Scurlock Linda Shaughnessy Matthew Sheehan Shell Oil Company Foundation* Kara A. Siemens John B. Skalski Lisa Smith Madeline Smolinski Sophia Smolinski Stephanie Joan Smolinski Julie A. Snider Hector Soto Nazario Laurie L. Sponholz Jan L. Spratt Bernice Sprigings Natalie J. Stevens Ken and Marj Struckmeyer* Michael Sugerman and Elizabeth Chilton Molly E. Susee Al Swegle Michael J. and Diane L. Thomas Lisa M. Thornton US Charitable Gift Trust* Anna-Maria Vag Debbra Vaughn Emily A. Vincent Marianne Vincent Colby and Kori Voorhees Kenneth Walter* Karen L Watt Steven Watt David Weidman Jeffrey D Weiner* Carolyn and Steven Welsh Christina L. Wick Dawn M Wiehe Heather Wiehe Craig and Sherrill Williamson* Kathy Wright Barbara Young Kevin Morley Young Andrew Zapata Frank Zapata John Zapata Shannon Zebrowski Stacey L. Zeno Samuel Zielke

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TOP SECRET/BURN AFTER READING. Beta testing underway on the highly-classified new nasal guidance system, designed to give us an edge on the competition in race-day harbor traffic.