Women's Rowing
- Title:
- Head Coach
Emily Ford completed her 10th season as Oregon State’s head women’s rowing coach in the spring of 2016 and continues to push the program toward national prominence.
Ford’s first 10 years on the banks of the Willamette River have seen an uptick in the program’s success including six rowers named as All-Americans by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association during her tenure. The Beavers have received 159 Pac-12 All-Academic during Ford’s tenure.
In 2009, her third season in Corvallis, the Beavers ranked as high as No. 11 in the nation and finished 15th in the women’s varsity eight at the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships, the squad’s first appearance at nationals since the 2000 season.
Her efforts during the 2009 season earned her Pac-10 Conference Coach of the Year honors as the Beavers finished third at the Pac-10 Championships, their highest finish since the 2000 season. Ame Hicks (first team) and Jenny Kossowsky (second team) each earned All-America honors.
Ford's first two seasons at Oregon State brought growth and success to the program as her varsity 8 crews finished the season ranked 16th and 17th in the nation, respectively.
In the final race of the 2007 season, Ford's varsity eight beat Pacific Northwest rival Washington at the Pac-10 Championships. The 2008 Beavers’ varsity eight, unranked at the time, followed that performance by beating the Huskies in a dual race in Seattle for OSU's first dual win over UW in more than 20 years. The effort earned the Beavers a nomination for Crew of the Week by row2k.com.
Additionally, the 2008 second varsity eight raced to a silver medal at the Pac-10 Championships marking the first conference medal for the Beavers since the novice eight earned a bronze in 2005. At the conclusion of the 2008 campaign, OSU's Kaylie Towne was named as an All-American for the second year in a row becoming only the second rower in Oregon State history to earn multiple All-America honors.
Ford’s second varsity crew once again rowed to a second place finish at Pac-10 Championships in 2011. Then in 2012 the varsity boat raced to second place finishes at the Michigan Invite as well as in the grand final of the San Diego Crew Classic. Anna Taylor, was named the Pac-12’s Newcomer of the Year and earned her first of three straight CRCA All-West Region honors. Ford also saw one of her incoming freshman rowers compete at the international level during the summer when Israeli native Chen Oshri participated in the U23 World Championships as well as the European Championships.
In 2013, Ford’s varsity crew recorded wins at University of Victoria, Gonzaga and against Northeastern at the Pac-12 Invite. Her protégés earned a slew of awards including Taylor, who earned CRCA All-Region honors for the second straight year and Agne Pack was named to the All-Pac-12 team. On the academic side, 24 rowers were named to the Pac-12 All-Academic team, nine were named CRCA National Scholar-Athletes and two – Alexa Ortiz and Hilary Polis – receiving Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarships. In addition, Oshri returned to the U23 World Championships finishing 15th in the Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls.
The 2013-14 season began with a 16th place finish at the Princeton Chase for the varsity eight, the top finish for a west coast crew. The Beavers’ top crew raced to dual wins over Gonzaga, San Diego and Duke and a pair of first place finishes at the Clemson Invitational. Lauren Still became the second OSU rower in three years named as the Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year.
In 2015, the Beavers’ season was highlighted by a pair of wins over 17th-ranked Louisville at the Oregon State Classic in April. The Beavers’ Varsity 8 also earned a dual win over Oklahoma at the Pac-12 Challenge. At the conclusion of the season, Still was named a CRCA second team All-American and Katie Low received CoSIDA Academic All-District.
The 2015-16 season featured wins in the Collegiate 8 at the Head of the Oklahoma in the head race as well as in the 500-meter night sprint. In the spring, the Beavers recorded victories over Oklahoma and Central Florida at the annual Oregon State Classic as well as wins over Oklahoma, UCF, Columbia and Tennessee at the Clemson Invitational. Senior Jessica Stewart received CRCA All-Region and all-conference honors.
Prior to her appointment at OSU, Ford spent 11 years at the University of Michigan helping to build the program from the club level to a national power. After six years as an assistant coach, Ford was promoted to associate head coach in the fall of 2002.
Ford's primary responsibility at U-M was coaching the second varsity eight. In 2004, her boat earned a Big Ten Championship, second place at the NCAA Central Regional and fourth at the NCAA Championships.
For her exceptional efforts throughout the 2004 campaign, Ford was selected as the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association's Central Region and National Assistant Coach of the Year.
In 2001, the second varsity eight won all 11 of its races by open water margins and captured Michigan Rowing's first national title with a first-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The streak continued in 2002 and reached 14 victories.
Prior to working with the varsity team, Ford coached the U-M novice squad in 1996 and 1997. During her first season of working exclusively with the varsity team (1998), the U-M second varsity boat placed fifth at the NCAA Championships. In 1999, the boat finished third, then the highest NCAA finish in Michigan rowing history. In 2000 and 2001, the second varsity eight captured Big Ten Conference titles before finishing as the conference runner-up in 2002.
As a result of her work with Michigan, Ford earned a position as an assistant coach for the USRowing Junior National team that competed at the FISA Junior World Rowing Championships in Trakai, Lithuania, in August 2002.
Ford has also served as a board member for the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association. As the first chair in the history of the CRCA awards committee, Ford initiated the program for awarding All-America rowing honors through the coaching association.
Prior to her time at Michigan, Ford spent two years coaching at the University of California-San Diego. Ford's UCSD crews placed at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships and captured silver and bronze medals at the California State Championships.
Ford was a three-year letterwinner, a two-time team captain and the only rower in school history to earn the prestigious Outstanding Senior Female Athlete Award at UCSD. She was a member of the 1993 gold medal women's lightweight 4+ at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. Ford earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from UCSD in 1993.
After her successful collegiate rowing career, Ford competed with a lightweight development camp hosted by Vesper Boat Club and a U.S. national team pre-elite camp. Her crews captured three gold medals in the 1992 Canadian Henley Regatta and four gold medals at the American Rowing Championships.
