Introducing The UW Men's Rowing Class Of 2023
March 19, 2020 | Men's Rowing
#Speed Ain't Free '23
One of the longstanding traditions surrounding Washington's annual Class Day Regatta is the introduction of the new class of freshmen who have joined the program.
While this year's Class Day, which was to be the 119th edition, has been canceled, along with the rest of this spring's collegiate athletic competitions, the hard work that has already been put in by this class of "Grunties" deserves recognition and, no matter how things shake out, they'll form a key part of the team for the coming three years.
"Early in the year, we challenged this group to make their presence felt in the Shellhouse from day one," said UW assistant coach Sergio Espinoza. "It has been fulfilling to see this class come together as a unit that embodies resilience, process-oriented goals, and faith. They've been racing all year in practice and I'm looking forward to the day when they get to race with the 'W.' They've earned that opportunity."
The 17 men and one woman who have earned their place on the 2020 roster are, as is usually the case, a diverse group from around the world. There are six from the greater Seattle area, and others from California, Georgia and Ohio. There are two from Canada, three from New Zealand, along with an Aussie and an Englishmen. While we'll have to wait to see them in action, there's no doubt this group has a lot of great racing in its future.
"I was really excited to unleash these rowdy Dawgs this spring," UW men's head coach Michael Callahan added. "I'll just have to put them back in the Conibear kennel, make them even stronger, sharpen them further and get them ready to run next spring!"
The local products include three Seattleites – Max Heid (Seattle Prep), Logan Pulsifer (Ingraham) and Michael Thiers (Roosevelt) – and two from Vashon Island – Rohin Petram and Connor van Egmond, as well as Redmond High grad Max Mason.
Petram and van Egmond both competed for Vashion Island Rowing before van Egmond moved over to Seattle Rowing Club for his final two years of high school. Mason, unsurprisingly, is a product of the Sammamish Rowing Association, while Heid rowed for Seattle Scullers. Thiers, the younger brother of current Husky Jeffrey Thiers, is a Green Lake Crew alum, as is Pulsifer
The other domestic recruits are an experienced group. Pablo Matan (San Jose, Calif.) rowed for the U.S. at the 2019 Junior World Championships. Cole Lukas (Pleasanton, Calif.) has a strong résumé from his years with Oakland Strokes while Patrick Kilcoyne is the latest in a pipeline of of Huskies to come from Seattle from the Cincinnati area. Andrew Mathison (Long Beach, Calif.) has Club Nationals-level experience while Grace Murdock (Roswell, Ga.) – the only coxswain in the class – has competed at Club Nationals and at Head of the Charles.
The two freshmen from Canada hail from opposite ends of the Great White North. Jack Walkey comes to UW from Victoria, B.C. The son of two parents who both rowed for the Canadian National team, Walkey rowed in a single at the 2018 Junior Worlds. Toronto product Adam Krol followed a year later, rowing in the Canadian quad at the 2019 Junior Worlds.
Matt Peters (Reading, England) is the lone European in the class. Growing up near Henley-on-Thames, he has represented Great Britain at several international competitions.
Finally, the Class of 2023 is anchored by three rowers from New Zealand and another from Australia. The Aussie is Cormac Kennedy-Leverett, who has rowed for his country at the Junior and Under-23 World Championship levels, winning gold at the 2017 Junior Worlds, and silver the next year. He finished seventh in the world in the single at the 2019 Under-23 Championships, and opened his UW account last fall, when he won the William Tytus Cup (single sculls) at the Head of the Lake Regatta.
The three Kiwis are Ethan Blight, Sam Jones and Logan Ullrich. Blight, who is incidentally an accomplished clarinet player, rowed at Junior Worlds all the way back in 2016, while Ullrich won a bronze medal at the same regatta in 2018, representing Australia (a New Zealand native, he attended school in Australia; he could row at the senior level for either country). Jones comes to the UW as the owner of two Under-23 World Championship silver medals, in the coxed four in 2018 and the straight four in 2019.
While these Huskies have had their freshman season interrupted, they still have their best years ahead of them and have already begun the building process necessary to keep the UW men's team atop the college rowing world.
One of the longstanding traditions surrounding Washington's annual Class Day Regatta is the introduction of the new class of freshmen who have joined the program.
While this year's Class Day, which was to be the 119th edition, has been canceled, along with the rest of this spring's collegiate athletic competitions, the hard work that has already been put in by this class of "Grunties" deserves recognition and, no matter how things shake out, they'll form a key part of the team for the coming three years.
"Early in the year, we challenged this group to make their presence felt in the Shellhouse from day one," said UW assistant coach Sergio Espinoza. "It has been fulfilling to see this class come together as a unit that embodies resilience, process-oriented goals, and faith. They've been racing all year in practice and I'm looking forward to the day when they get to race with the 'W.' They've earned that opportunity."
The 17 men and one woman who have earned their place on the 2020 roster are, as is usually the case, a diverse group from around the world. There are six from the greater Seattle area, and others from California, Georgia and Ohio. There are two from Canada, three from New Zealand, along with an Aussie and an Englishmen. While we'll have to wait to see them in action, there's no doubt this group has a lot of great racing in its future.
"I was really excited to unleash these rowdy Dawgs this spring," UW men's head coach Michael Callahan added. "I'll just have to put them back in the Conibear kennel, make them even stronger, sharpen them further and get them ready to run next spring!"
The local products include three Seattleites – Max Heid (Seattle Prep), Logan Pulsifer (Ingraham) and Michael Thiers (Roosevelt) – and two from Vashon Island – Rohin Petram and Connor van Egmond, as well as Redmond High grad Max Mason.
Petram and van Egmond both competed for Vashion Island Rowing before van Egmond moved over to Seattle Rowing Club for his final two years of high school. Mason, unsurprisingly, is a product of the Sammamish Rowing Association, while Heid rowed for Seattle Scullers. Thiers, the younger brother of current Husky Jeffrey Thiers, is a Green Lake Crew alum, as is Pulsifer
The other domestic recruits are an experienced group. Pablo Matan (San Jose, Calif.) rowed for the U.S. at the 2019 Junior World Championships. Cole Lukas (Pleasanton, Calif.) has a strong résumé from his years with Oakland Strokes while Patrick Kilcoyne is the latest in a pipeline of of Huskies to come from Seattle from the Cincinnati area. Andrew Mathison (Long Beach, Calif.) has Club Nationals-level experience while Grace Murdock (Roswell, Ga.) – the only coxswain in the class – has competed at Club Nationals and at Head of the Charles.
The two freshmen from Canada hail from opposite ends of the Great White North. Jack Walkey comes to UW from Victoria, B.C. The son of two parents who both rowed for the Canadian National team, Walkey rowed in a single at the 2018 Junior Worlds. Toronto product Adam Krol followed a year later, rowing in the Canadian quad at the 2019 Junior Worlds.
Matt Peters (Reading, England) is the lone European in the class. Growing up near Henley-on-Thames, he has represented Great Britain at several international competitions.
Finally, the Class of 2023 is anchored by three rowers from New Zealand and another from Australia. The Aussie is Cormac Kennedy-Leverett, who has rowed for his country at the Junior and Under-23 World Championship levels, winning gold at the 2017 Junior Worlds, and silver the next year. He finished seventh in the world in the single at the 2019 Under-23 Championships, and opened his UW account last fall, when he won the William Tytus Cup (single sculls) at the Head of the Lake Regatta.
The three Kiwis are Ethan Blight, Sam Jones and Logan Ullrich. Blight, who is incidentally an accomplished clarinet player, rowed at Junior Worlds all the way back in 2016, while Ullrich won a bronze medal at the same regatta in 2018, representing Australia (a New Zealand native, he attended school in Australia; he could row at the senior level for either country). Jones comes to the UW as the owner of two Under-23 World Championship silver medals, in the coxed four in 2018 and the straight four in 2019.
While these Huskies have had their freshman season interrupted, they still have their best years ahead of them and have already begun the building process necessary to keep the UW men's team atop the college rowing world.
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