“This is the fittest, strongest group of athletes we’ve ever had,” says Northeastern’s Joe Wilhelm, the CAA coach of the year.
Northeastern is returning to the NCAA women’s rowing championship for an 11th straight year. (You’re going to be seeing a lot of that number.)
The Huskies earned the automatic bid by claiming the CAA Rowing Championship last weekend in Pennsauken, New Jersey — their 11th consecutive conference title.
“In terms of all the metrics we use, this is the fittest, strongest group of athletes we’ve ever had,” says Northeastern’s Joe Wilhelm, who was named CAA coach of the year for (yes) the 11th time. “It’s been a culmination of some really good recruiting from our recruiting coordinator, Ariel Handler, and the rest of the coaching staff. And the athletes have been working really hard and coming close to realizing their full potential — closer than they have been in the past years.”
The three-day NCAA championship opens May 30 at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey. The Huskies are among 22 teams to qualify.
Leading Northeastern into the ultimate college competition will be a half-dozen Huskies who made the All-CAA team: Seniors Camille Arnold-Mages, Ellexi Fulton, Windsyr Maughan, Firinne Rolfe, Victoria Thibeault as well as Heather Taylor, the second-year team captain and stroke of the varsity eight.
“I can point to Heather as someone who’s had an influence over the team,” Wilhelm says. “It’s a cliche but it’s apt: She has raised the bar in her own performance in the past year. And I think people have seen that and they’ve said, ‘OK, we’re going to go with you.’”
Wilhelm anticipates a good showing at the NCAAs based on his team’s ever-improving mindset.
“A year ago, when we thought about going to the national championships and the crews that we were going to be racing, I think the athletes were a little bit intimidated — like, ‘Can we race against those schools?’” Wilhelm says. “This year they seem invigorated and excited to say, ‘We have an opportunity to race against those schools.’”
Earning a place on Northeastern’s 23-athlete roster for the NCAA championship is an achievement in itself, Wilhelm adds.
“That’s less than half our roster,” Wilhelm says. “But they all know that it took 50 people to get them here. We have some seniors that are going to the NCAA for the first time — and that’s a cool thing, that they’ve been on the team for four years and this is the first time that they’re actually racing at the NCAA.”
Stanford is the championship favorite, having earned the No. 1 seed in every classification.
“You can get caught up in making goals about your results but so much of that depends on how fast the opposition is,” Wilhelm says. “We’re going to put our boat on the line and get from point A to point B as fast as we can. They’re going to do the same thing and there’s nothing we can do to slow them down.
“So our goals are more performance based. This may sound like a small difference, but if you row a 1:40 split for 500 meters, that’s going to only get you so far. But if you can row a 1:35 split for 500 meters, going five seconds faster is a big jump — now you’re talking about going 6:20 versus 6:40, which puts you in the conversation for being one of the top 15 teams in the country. That’s what we’re trying to do.”