Men's Crew To Row In Opening Day Regatta
May 3, 2000
SCHEDULE: The Oregon State men's crew heads to Seattle, Wash., to compete in the Opening Day Regatta. The Beavers will not take a varsity eight, but will field a junior varsity eight, novice eight, and varsity four in the races May 5-6.
OSU RANKED: The OSU varsity eight boat is ranked 18th in the May 3 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Poll.
OSU MEN'S ASSISTANT COACH MATT IMES ON THE RACE: "It's Opening Day, and it's the Windemere Cup, which is a huge event, so for us to go up and race in it, it's a fun event for the guys. The fact that there are 30,000-40,000 people that are going to watch the race means it will be a different experience than what you normally see at a collegiate race.
"It's set up as a big show, so in terms of racing, it's not run as an official race, but the competition will be good since we're racing Washington. Washinton's JV beat Cal again, and I think their freshman and JV have established themselves as the fastest crews on the West Coast. It's a chance for these guys to get a good race experience against a quality crew, and it gives them an opportunity to race in a different environment. It's not your typical race environment, so it takes a little more mentally.
"Pac-10s are a week away, so it's a chance for us to race the fastest crews on the West Coast and to see where we're at, but at the same time, it's not like we're trying to peak for this race. We want to see where we're at, and then try to fine-tune things for the week after that. We just want to go up and have solid races."
IMES ON THE COURSE: "The course (on Montlake Cut) is pretty good, it's a straight 2,000 meters. It's not bouyed, but the water is usually good up there, and it's a course that we're on every year, so there's some familiarity with it."
LAST ACTION: OSU lost tough races to third-ranked Washington on the Beavers' home course at Lake Vancouver, Wash. The varsity eight clocked a time of 6:09.83, but lost by 7.4 seconds as UW finished in 6:02.43. UW edged out OSU in a close JV race that saw the Huskies finish in 6:01.7 and the Beavers in 6:07.5. The freshman eight took second in a four-boat race with a time of 6:41.78. OSU's varsity four was third in its race with a 7:13.84.
SPRING FORWARD: A look at OSU's best times of the spring so far: VARSITY EIGHT - 5:55.0 (vs. Stanford, Lake Vancouver course, 4/15), JV EIGHT - 6:07 (vs. Stanford, Lake Vancouver, 4/15), VARSITY FOUR - 7:03 (vs. Stanford, Lake Vancouver, 4/15), NOVICE EIGHT - 6:00.18 (vs. Stanford, Lake Vancouver, 4/15). Note: Lowest times are not necessarily representative of best performances, as course conditions are a considerable factor in how the times turn out.
COACHING STAFF: Dave Reischman is in his sixth year at Oregon State after coming from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., where he was the Director of Rowing and Head Men's Crew Coach. During his tenure at Gonzaga, Reischman brought the program to varsity sport status and guided two varsity crews to the Grand Finals at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. In 1991, his varsity took fourth and qualified for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in Syracuse, New York.
In the summers of 1993 and `94, Reischman was a coach for the United States National Sculling Team. In `93 he was in charge of the Men's Single Sculler that competed at the World Championships in the Czech Republic. He was an assistant for the men's and women's squads that competed at the 1994 World Championships in Indianapolis.
A native of Silvana, Wash., Reischman attended Arlington High School and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Gonzaga in 1987 with a degree in Computer Science. He then served a one year coaching internship at Harvard University. Just prior to his position at Gonzaga, Reischman was the Freshman Coach at the Florida Institute of Technology. His crews finished second and third at the Dad Vail National Championship Regatta.
In his five years at Oregon State, the Beaver men have finished third in the Pac-10 Championships and have been invited to the Intercollegiated Rowing Association Championships in Camden, New Jersey. The program has continually improved its talent and depth under Reischman, and finished as high as eighth at last year's IRAs.
Matt Imes is in his third year at Oregon State University after joining the program in July of 1997. Imes came to Corvallis from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., where he served as the Freshman men's coach for three years. he guided his team to a pair of fifth-place finishes at the Pac-10 Championships, and a fourth-place finish at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in the Freshman Four.
Imes' coaching experience also includes assisting at the 1998 Men's Nation's Cup Pre-Elite Camp in Elkhart, Ind. He also was an assistant coach at the 1999 Pan American Games.
Imes, who served as a two-year graduate assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin, is a U.S. Rowing Level II certified coach.
The Wisconsin native lead the Oregon State Freshman Eight to a third-place finish at the 1999 Pac-10 Championships.
Imes competed on the collegiate level at the University of Wisconsin from 1988-91, earning a varsity letter in 1990. He was a member of the IRA's Men's Varsity Four title team in 1990. Imes earned a degree in history in 1994 from the University of Wisconsin.
