Michigan Rowing: Our Alumnae

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Our Alumnae

Michigan Rowing was thrilled to celebrate its tenth anniversary as a varsity sport at the University of Michigan with a big reunion in September of 2006. More than 200 people returned to Ann Arbor for a celebration-filled weekend (Michigan's alumni magazine published a brief article on Michigan Rowing's alumnae weekend). As Head Coach Mark Rothstein explained at the celebratory banquet, Michigan Rowing experienced great success quickly after emerging as a varsity sport because the women's club program provided the team such a strong foundation. Michigan Rowing has thirty years of alumnae of whom we are very proud.


	Michigan Rowers have built a strong program, and bonds between boatmates remain long after rowers graduate.

Michigan Rowing alumna Amanda Martin '06 (left) catches up with rower Annie Hildebrand at a 2007 regatta in Charlottesville.

Mark Rothstein greets two Michigan alumnae, high school rowing coach Crystal Culp '05 and member of the U.S. National Team Cristin McCarty '06, when they returned to Ann Arbor to cheer for the Wolverines during a 2007 home regatta on Belleville Lake.

Michigan Rower Emily Shea hangs out with Michigan Rowing alum and member of the U.S. National Team Brett Sicker '05 after the 2006 Head of the Charles.

Four Michigan Rowing Alumnae currently train with the United States National Team: Steshe Carlé '06, Brett Sickler '05, Ellen Tomek '06, and Sarah Trowbridge '05. Four currently train with the Canadian National Team: Janine Hanson '06, Heather Mandoli '04, Cristin McCarty '06, and Katie Reynolds '04.
Ellen Tomek '06	Steshe Carlé '06	Brett Sickler '05

More than a dozen Michigan Rowing Alumnae have rowed competitively for the United States and Canadian National Teams in the past ten years. At right is a photograph of alum Kate Johnson '01, being recognized during a Michigan football game for rowing on the U.S. Olympic Team that won silver in 2004. For more on Michigan Rowers in international competition, check out the story on Michigan Rowing's MGoBlue site.

Kate Johnson '01

"It has only been three years since I've graduated from Michigan, though sometimes it feels like yesterday and forever ago all at once," Heather Mandoli '04 emailed recently. Heather moved to London, Ontario, after she graduated, where she has been rowing for the Canadian National team. "The first summer out of Michigan (2004), I was a member of the Under-23 team. Since then I have been a member of the senior team, where I currently sit seven seat in the eight. Though rowing is my full time job, I was able to attend teacher college in the 2005-2006 school year and will be starting as a substitute middle school teacher a couple of days a week next fall between rowing practices. I also keep quite busy doing volunteer work with the organizations 'Big Sisters' and 'Right to Play.'

"My decision to attend Michigan ended up opening many doors for me. I can truly say that I am who I am today because of my experiences at Michigan. I met my fiancée, a Michigan grad '03, through rowing and ended up with a full time job as an athlete rowing for Canada. I really can't think of anything that could make me happier than I am now -- as a result, Michigan will always hold a special spot in my heart. Always, and forever -- Go Blue!"

Another nine Michigan Rowing Alumnae coach rowing at the collegiate or high school level. Tara Medina '05 and Christina Meyer '02 coach together at Washington State University. After rowing at Michigan, Vita Scaglione '99 began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Washington State and then coached for two years at the University of Michigan. Now Vita coaches with another Michigan alumna, Kate Maxim '03, at Oregon State. Sarah Trowbridge '05 coaches at Georgetown University, and Sera Coppolino '01 coaches at Bucknell University. Crystal Culp '05 coaches at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, as does Leah Ketcheson Farrell '05, who also coaches with the Ann Arbor Rowing Club. And of course Bernadette Marten Teeley '01 now coaches at her alma mater, the University of Michigan.

Our alumnae are active in just about every career you could imagine.

Heather Uhring Morelli graduated in 1999, and rowed starboard for the Michigan Wolverines. Originally from San Marcos, California, Heather now lives in Seattle, Washington, where she works for Expedia.com. As the Senior Director for Quality Management, Heather is the senior-most leader in her discipline of software testing. Heather says, "Yes, I was able to do a computer engineering degree and still wake up at 5:00 am to get to practice. It was rough going, but I am a fierce leader professionally. I attribute a lot of my leadership to rowing. It was difficult to stay disciplined to row and do computer engineering, but I've been a computer engineer for the past eight years and I'm pretty successful. I'm very happy with my job and I believe the dedication I learned as a Michigan rower has seriously paid off in my career. It's helped me to become the leader that I am today."	Heather Uhring Morelli '99 tries a bamboo raft in Thailand in 2007.	Kate MacKenzie grew up in Novi, Michigan, and came to the University of Michigan without any rowing experience. In her first couple of weeks on campus, though, she heard about Michigan Rowing and attended a meeting to recruit rowers for Michigan Rowing's Novice Squad. Little did she know then that she was beginning a journey that would include a trip to the 2004 Olympics as a rower for the U.S. National Team. Kate graduated from Michigan in 1998 and retired from the U.S. National Team in 2004. Currently she lives in New York City and is a corporate recruiter for a hedge fund called Two Sigma Investments. Kate says, "I love it because I get to interact with all sorts of people from many backgrounds. The best part is actually giving someone a job! New York City is an amazing place as well. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. There is so much to do and explore. You are never bored, unless you choose to be. "And I have to say, I contribute a lot of my success in life to what I gained rowing for Michigan," Kate recently reflected. "I learned the importance of working hard for what you want. It also taught me to be resilient and push forward, no matter what might be in my way. Both those things have applied in so many ways to my life after. I approach any challenge with the idea that I can work for what I want and that I can overcome, no matter how big the challenge."
	Kate MacKenzie '98 poses in front of the Olympic Torch in 2004.

Christin Plunkett, a native Michigander, graduated from the University of Michigan in 2005 with a degree in Education. Christin emailed to say that she now teaches English in a high school on the southside of Chicago -- and she also coaches girls' basketball and helps run an ACT program at her school. "I LOVE it!" Christin writes. "While many new teachers struggle to gain confidence in their teaching, that has not been a struggle for me, and I believe that a portion of my confidence in teaching can be attributed to rowing at Michigan. Michigan Rowing helped build a confidence in me that made me believe I could do anything."

Christin goes on to explain, "Rowing for Michigan taught me many lessons. Michigan rowers are dedicated, they work hard, and they are willing to take chances. Rowing was the hardest thing I ever did; there is still nothing that compares. Through the perseverance that rowing took I learned how to persevere in life and through life's struggles. I learned that to overcome obstacles takes hard work, but the struggle and work, pain and sweat are worth it all in the end. I developed mental and physical strength at Michigan, and I learned to take pride in both. It is these lessons that I pass on to my high school students, and it is these lessons that I carry with me as I continue to stretch and challenge myself in my teaching."

Alison Hickey '01 went from Michigan Rowing to the Peace Corps in West Africa to Boston College Law School.

"As a high school senior in 1997, I chose to attend the University of Michigan because I believed it would provide me with the best of both worlds -- a great academic university and the chance to be a part of a rowing team with tremendous potential given the support and camaraderie of the Michigan Athletic Department as a whole," explains Alison Hickey, a 2001 Michigan grad who hails from Massachusetts. "In practice, my experience at Michigan was more than I could have dreamed. As a member of the Michigan Rowing Team, I learned lessons that I continue to hold at my core -- trust, confidence, leadership, and teamwork. I was challenged by my coaches, my teammates and myself to push my own limits, and after successfully completing four years as a Wolverine Rower, was ready to take on a whole new challenge." After graduation, Alison did just that: she joined the United States Peace Corps and served as an HIV/AIDS Education Volunteer in Mali (West Africa). Alison says, "the obstacles were entirely different, but the lessons I learned at Michigan carried me through. After Peace Corps, I attended Boston College Law School and am currently practicing law at Bingham McCutchen, LLP in Boston. My four years as a Michigan rower were instrumental in providing me the confidence and determination to succeed thus far in the endeavors I've chosen, be they personal, academic or professional, and I will forever be a Wolverine."

"I recently graduated from the Goldman School of Public Policy (GSPP) at UC Berkeley," Chelsea MacMullen, a starboard rower who graduated in 2005, tells us. Immediately after Chelsea graduated from Michigan, she began the Masters Program in Public Policy at Berkeley -- as one of the youngest members of her class, a class which included three students with law degrees and one Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering. Chelsea reports, "Not only did my experience with Michigan women's rowing teach me how to juggle school and life, but being part of such a prestigious program very likely helped me get into grad school! My rowing experience at Michigan is something I will carry with me always, and I continue to think of my years in Ann Arbor as some of the best in my life." Chelsea will begin working as a consultant for Deloitte in her hometown of Sacramento, California, this September, and "is looking forward to continuing rowing when I get there!"	Chelsea MacMullen '05 graduates with a Masters degree in Public Policy from Berkeley.	Jeanine Seeger Feldman came to Michigan from Massachusetts and graduated in 2000. "The University of Michigan Rowing Team felt like a school in itself," Jeanine says. "I learned a great deal from rowing at Michigan and continue to utilize those lessons in my life and work." After graduating from Michigan, Jeanine earned a master's degree and worked in the Strength and Conditioning Department of University of Michigan Athletics. In 2003, she moved to Florida, got married, and became a personal trainer. "Now," Jeanine tells us, "I own my own personal training business catering to a broad spectrum of the population. I work from home as well as travel to clients' homes. I am also a stay-at-home mom to a wonderful, happy two-year-old girl, Alisa, and we are expecting our second child, a son, in August."
	Jeanine Seeger Feldman '00, husband Todd, and daughter Alisa at a Michigan football game.

Michigan Rowing Alumnae? Yes! This photograph is from 1878 or 1879, and it features six Michigan undergraduate rowers and their coxswain rowing down the Huron River. In this photo, Cora Agnes Bennison '78 coxes Carrie Julia Banker '78, Eva Chandler '78, Maria Lavina Blood '79, June Rose Colby '79, a Miss Barry '79, and a Miss Nunnie '78. Forget unisuits: each of these women is wearing a long dress. We're working on getting a higher resolution version of the photo, so you can see for yourself.

From what we've been able to discover, Maria Lavinia Blood was born in 1856 and became a professor of modern languages after graduating from Michigan. Eva Chandler was born in 1855 and became a professor of mathematics at Wellesley College. June Rose Colby earned her undergraduate, master's, and also Ph.D. from Michigan. After completing her Ph.D., Colby became a professor of English at a university in Illinois. She wrote at least two books: Some Ethical Aspects of Later Elizabethan Tragedy and Literature and Life in School. It's one of the things about Michigan Rowing: Michigan Rowers are unwilling to hide their smarts or their strength under a long dress. Put them in a boat and let them row!