Hanover resident joins rowing program at Washington (Md.) College

Jill Gobrecht found her new sport when visiting her new school.

The South Western High graduate and current Washington (Md.) College freshman saw her new school had a rowing team when she visited last year. She decided then to join the team.

Never mind she had never rowed and didn't know much about the sport or that rowing would consume plenty of time that could be devoted to studying.

Gobrecht was at the gym when Allison Murphy, the novice coach for the women's NCAA team, asked if Gobrecht was interested in rowing. The recruiting made sense.

"I'm really small," said Gobrecht, who had previously just danced and learned karate. "I have a good build to be a coxswain."

A scheduling conflict forced her to attend the men's team's informational meeting, and she became the coxswain for the novice eight-man team. The men's team is a varsity sport funded by the school, but is not an NCAA sport.

She joined a 12-person team in which eight of her teammates had never rowed. Gobrecht also learned how to row to familiarize herself with the movements to help her teammates when their strokes fell off pace, and she learned all of the commands.

"It's a challenge," men's novice coach Brendan Cunningham said. "There's a lot of hard work that goes into having success. I think she's doing pretty well. I think the guys want to row for her. It's always good to have a tight team."

The team, in what can be called its offseason, rows from 4 to 6 p.m. every weekday, lifts

weights from 6:45 to 8 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and rows from 8 to 10 a.m. on Saturdays.

Gobrecht said her favorite experience this fall was crossing the finish line at the team's first meet, which was held Oct. 8 in Philadelphia. Her boat finished second by just two seconds in the five-team Memorial Regatta on Nov. 13 in Washington College's final meet of the season.

The Shoremen won five first-place medals and two second-place medals in the competition.

Gobrecht looks forward to competing next season, but knows time will be limited because of a course load of 21 credits.

"Fortunately, it's a good experience for working on a team," she said. "It's good for time management. I know I have less time to waste."

Source: http://www.eveningsun.com/localsports/ci_19373267?source=rss

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