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This is a collection
of news clippings and photos relating to the early years of the Monongahela
Rowing Club and the WVU Rowing Club, as submitted by former Mountaineer Rowers,
or supporters. We will add more as it gets to us. If you have
material that you want to contribute we would like to hear from you
This
series is organized chronologically (as much as possible)
Click
on the image or link for a full size pdf
Editor Note:
Records with the WV Secretary of State describe the incorporation of the
Mountaineer Rowing Club in 1966. In March 1976 amended by-laws were filled
changing the name to Monongahela Rowing Club. The current
by-laws of the Monongahela Rowing Association date from amendments filed in 1982.
JMD
Here is the latest
news reel received from the first WVU Crew captain (of the modern
era) Edward Sinkule.
October 24 1976 Dominion Post Full page
story WVU crew begins first season
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Oct
30 1976 DA reports on Crew First race
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At
last…Vim's work sees first milestone, the inaugural race for the second
generation of WVU Rowing. This occurred 10 months after the first meeting
-- at this meeting, Clarke Wray and Vim created a list of priorities: a
coach, oarspersons (current local status and recruitment), shell and oars,
and a boathouse. At end of this meeting, Dave Tuel was coach, Jane Fries
and I were co-captains, Vim was in process of purchasing the Robert E Park
from Ohio Valley RC (a boat I rowed in during high school in Parkersburg)
with 10 oars. My sister, Vicky, was coxswain -- she never rowed before but
was interested. It helped that she was the smallest girl in the club at the
time. Vim always had his 'can-do' attitude and his calendar ran in hours
instead of days. Eddie
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Nov 1-2 1976 DA reports Results from first regatta
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Nov 1976 NewsClip for Row A Thon.pdf
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More photos from
first Governor's Cup Regatta.
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April 18 1977 Full frontal Campus Scene -- oars make WVU.pdf
Undated -- top 2 entries probably
occurred in March and April/May, 1977, respectively. If memory serves
correctly, I took the middle photo at the Governor's Cup from the bank of
Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) -- notice the "German"
rigging (seats 8 - 5 traditional and seats 4 - 1 reversed, theoretically
improved the boat's balance -- see Karl Adam, the German rowing coach from
Wikipedia.com). The bottom pic probably around the same time. Get the time
frames for the row-a-thons confused. Tried to buy the negative to the
bottom photo but the Dom Post photographer informed me that he won an award
for it and preferred not to sell. Eddie
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May 10 1977 Results of first Mid-American regatta at Marietta
 Results
of first Mid-American regatta at Marietta. Good improvement within 18
months -- but still limited coaching (shifted from Dave Tuel to Gus
Gruninger), borrowing equipment at races, no AD support, and self-payment
for supplies and uniforms. Was receiving largest piece of the pie from
Sports Club Federation budget. BTW, Dave currently is an orthopedic
surgeon in the Oakland, Md - Morgantown areas. Gus is a senior
scientist with a private chemical contractor in Massachusetts. Eddie
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Jan 11 1978 Courting Clarke Wray as WVU rowing coach.pdf
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Edward Sinkule memorandum to WVU Athletic
Council Members May 1st 1978 (MRA files) 
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Oct 9 1978 Cover Campus Scene -- Sports Club Federation.pdf
 Sports
Club Federation pic at the WVU Rowing docks on cover of Campus Scene, Oct 9,
1978. Somewhat out of focus -- suppose it would be difficult for taking
pictures from a launch. Sorry for the bad crop job -- my scanner is not big
enough for this picture. Notice the "boathouse" in back gone -- this was
lost from a fire while competing at the Head of the Tennessee regatta; oars
were lost but the new Kaschper four+ shell was with us at Knoxville. Never
determined cause of fire -- no electricity or gas to structure and no
lightening either. Vim, once again, procured new equipment -- the oars.
Eddie
- We were ready for the 80's!
 
This is from the 16th annual Mid-American Collegiate Rowing Association
Regatta scorecard of May 3, 1980 (attached):
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Men Frosh 8 Final: WVU,
third place
Women Varsity 4+: WVU, first place
Men JV 8: WVU, second place
Women Varsity 8: WVU, second place
Men Varsity 4+: WVU, fist place
Men Varsity 8 Final: WVU fourth place
First recorded first place finishes
for both WVU men and women at the same regatta. Not too bad considering the
competition: Univ. Charleston; Grand Valley State; Marietta College;
Mercyhurst College; Michigan State University; Notre Dame; Ohio State
University; and University of Tennessee. Just a friendly reminder from a
Judge-Referee perspective: Caution should be used to compare results
between, rather than among, races. Men Frosh 8 results are a good example
-- highly unlikely the Frosh men actually rowed the same course faster than
any other crew in the regatta.
Sorry for the gap -- Oct 1978 to May
1980. It's called graduate school. If I come across any additional
pictures or articles, they will be forwarded. Eddie
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 A
pic of the men’s V4+ that won the 1980 MACRA
Mary Endrizzi (Wright), Derek Anderson, Christian W. Wolf , John Lang ,
Brian Barcelo
Rowing
was and is one of those meaningful parts of life. Coach Wray was one of
those very special people.
This
was a Kaschper shell (really meant for a lighter crew but rigged high) -
this crew had a very good 2 year run. It was right after this picture (and
feeling good about seeing WVU winning both Men’s and Women’s races) that
some hooligan’s painted the flying WV under the bridge for the 1st
time. Chris Wolf
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