Indiana University Athletics
Rowing Adds Two New Assistants (08-25-04)
8/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Carmen Mirochna and Fran O'Rourke have been named assistant rowing coaches, announced head coach Steve Peterson. Both coaches come to Indiana from Cornell, where they served as assistant coaches for the past two years.
"Both women are good coaches who are enthusiastic about rowing," said Peterson. "They had great collegiate careers and have done an impressive job as assistant coaches. We have already seen our recruiting interest among student-athletes on the rise."
Mirochna will serve as the second assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at Indiana, the same position she held at Cornell.
In her first year at Cornell in 2002-2003, she led her crews to over 20 victories, including leading her Novice Eight to an undefeated season, capturing gold at the Eastern Sprints. Her Novice Eight also finished first in the Petite Final at the Eastern Sprints, while her second Novice Eight went undefeated all year and captured silver at the Sprints.
This past year Mirochna's crews had their most impressive finish to date. Throughout the 2003-2004 season, her Novice Eight lost only twice, defeating tough Eastern Sprints competition, including Yale and Harvard. In addition, Mirochna's Novice Eight won the silver at the Grand Final of Eastern Sprints.
Prior to her three years with Cornell, Mirochna was the Novice Coach for Lehigh University's club program. It was at Lehigh she led her Novice Eight to an undefeated racing season. This Novice Eight would go on to win the Patriot League Championship, besting the field by over 20 seconds. Before Lehigh, Carmen served as the co-Novice Coach at the Baldwin Girls School in Philadelphia. Her crew won a silver medal at the Robert White Regatta and also qualified for the finals at the Stotesbury Cup as part of a winning season record.
A 1998 graduate of Rutgers University with degrees in American and Women's Studies, Mirochna was a three-year member of the Scarlet Knights rowing program. In her first year with the team, she was part of the Novice Eight that won a silver medal at the Eastern Sprints and a bronze medal at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. This impressive season remains Rutgers' best Sprints finish to date. In 1997, she was a member of the Varsity Eight Big East champion crew, which earned Rutgers their first bid to the inaugural NCAA championships. That year her Rutgers team placed 6th at NCAA's. Her senior season saw her crew defend its conference title and go on to win a silver medal at the IRA championships.
"Carmen has really done some great things as both a coach and a student-athlete," said Peterson. "She has had a lot of success as a young coach and I think IU will benefit tremendously by having her here."
O'Rourke spent the past two years as the women's intern rowing coach at her alma mater, Cornell University. O'Rourke's first year of coaching saw her first Varsity Four victorious against five regular season competitors as well as a win in the Petite Final at Eastern Sprints. Her second Varsity Four won seven regular season races and made the Grand Final at Sprints, placing fourth overall.
At Cornell this past season, her first Varsity Four raced its way to a gold medal at Eastern Sprints, finishing four seconds ahead of the field. This crew lost only one race during the entire season and regularly posted open water victories. Her second Varsity Four went undefeated all season and also won gold, 10 seconds ahead of the field. Crews that fell to O'Rourke's boats include rowing powerhouses Princeton, Brown, Radcliffe and Yale.
A 2002 graduate of Cornell's Animal Science program, O'Rourke was part of a turn-around recruiting class, leading Cornell to greater success than had been enjoyed since the late 1980's. O'Rourke's college career started in Cornell's first novice boat, which finished a close fourth in the Grand Finals at Eastern Sprints, just .3 seconds behind the bronze medal winning crew. In her sophomore year, she was part of the first Varsity Four that went undefeated all season and entered Sprints ranked first. They finished Eastern Sprints as the highest placing Big Red crew that year by earning a silver medal, Cornell's first Sprints medal in years. The next two years Fran earned two varsity letters rowing in the Varsity Eight, and secured the first ever Cornell bid to the NCAA Championship in 2002. A member of the Student Athlete Advisory Council and the Red Key Honor Society, O'Rourke was named co-captain by her teammates her senior year and was awarded the Big Stick Award by her head coach.
"Fran is another young coach who brings a lot of excitement to the program," said Peterson. "We are lucky to have two great young assistant coaches come to Indiana where there impact will be felt greatly."
