Women's Rowing
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Vita Scaglione begins her 11th season at Oregon State in 2016-17, serving as the associate head coach and as the program's recruiting director.
Scaglione and head coach Emily Ford have worked together for more than a decade. In that time, Scaglione has filled many roles, from team captain to working as an assistant coach at Michigan and Oregon State and now as associate head coach.
During the 10 years with Ford in the OSU program, the Beavers have accumulated 159 Pac-12 All-Academic honorees.
“Vita is invaluable to this program,” Ford said at the time of Scaglione’s promotion in June of 2014. “Without a doubt, she is one of the best assistant coaches in our sport. She is an avid student of the sport, she is an incredible recruiter, and she is extremely passionate about helping to move the needle here at Oregon State. On top of all that, she is a winner – someone who knows how to work her tail off to get the job done.
“Vita and I have known each other for a very long time – since I coached her back at Michigan – and we have developed great synergy as coaches. I trust her implicitly, I appreciate the standards that she holds, and I value the insightful feedback she brings to the table. She could not be more deserving of this promotion.”
As the program’s recruiting coordinator at Oregon State, Scaglione can be credited with recruiting several key contributors to Beaver Rowing including this past year’s Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) All-American and 2014 Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year Lauren Still, as well as 2014 All-American Anna Taylor.
Scaglione was recognized by the College Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) as the 2007 West Region’s Assistant Coach of the Year after guiding the second varsity eight to a silver medal finish at the San Diego Crew Classic as well as to victories over Iowa, Stanford and Washington State. The 2V, under her direction, rowed to fifth-place finish at the Pac-10 Championships.
Scaglione’s second varsity crew found further success in 2008 racing to a silver medal finish at the Pac-10 Championships, the Beavers’ first podium finish since 2005.
In the summer of 2008, she was selected by the U.S. Rowing National Team Program to coach at the U.S. Junior Development Camp.
In 2009, her 2V8 once again raced to a fifth-place finish at the Pac-10 Championships and concluded the season with a strong 14th-place finish at the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships.
In 2013, Scaglione spent more energy directing the four’s, whose crews recorded wins at the University of Victoria and at Gonzaga as well as a win over Northeastern at the Pac-12 Invitational. The V4+ also raced well at the Clemson Invitational taking second in the morning races on day one. The V4+ earned a pair of second place finishes at the Oregon State Classic as well.
During the 2012 season, her 2V8 boats saw first place finishes vs. the University of Victoria and Gonzaga. Her boat also finished in second during the afternoon session of the Michigan Invitational.
Scaglione originally joined the rowing world as a walkon during her sophomore year at the University of Michigan. She went on to be named as the team captain as a senior and upon exhausting her eligibility, she stayed on at Michigan as a volunteer coach.
Her first exposure to west coast rowing came as the head novice coach at Washington State from 2001-04. In 2002, Scaglione’s crew won the San Diego Crew Classic and earned a silver medal finish at the Pac-10 Championships and she helped lead the Cougars’ Varsity Eight to secure a bid to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history.
In 2003, Scaglione helped direct WSU to another victory at the San Diego Crew Classic and its first team appearance at the NCAA Championships. Scaglione and WSU returned to NCAA Championships for a third straight year in 2004, finishing ninth in the nation.
Scaglione returned to Michigan to coach the Wolverines’ novices in the fall of 2004, where she led them to victory in the Central/South Regional Championships in the spring of 2005. She led her crew to a silver medal finish at the same regatta the following year.
She is a 1999 graduate from Michigan with a degree in biology and a minor in English. She is currently working on a Master’s of business administration at Oregon State.
