Indiana University Athletics
Bitz, Yeager, Fekete Named To Indiana Rowing Coaching Staff
8/17/2018 2:00:00 PM | Women's Rowing
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As Indiana rowing head coach Steve Peterson enters his 16th season leading the Hoosiers, he will do so in the 2018-19 season with some new faces on his coaching staff. Katie Bitz and Haley Yeager have been named assistant coaches while former IU rower Emily Fekete will serve as a graduate assistant coach.
The Hoosiers have joined the national conversation in rowing, having advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last five seasons and Peterson will look to these new additions to keep that run going in 2019.
"I am extremely excited about these additions to our coaching staff," Peterson said. "All three bring a wealth of successful collegiate rowing experience as athletes and coaches that will have a positive impact on our athletes and team. I can't wait to get started working with them."
Yeager joins the IU Rowing program as the coach of the Varsity Fours after serving on the coaching staff at her alma mater, the University of Washington, for the past three seasons. She helped guide the Huskies to a National Championship in 2017 and a National Runner-Up finish as a team in 2018 in addition to being part of the CRCA Coaching Staff of the Year in 2017.
"Working with this team and these athletes is an unbelievable opportunity," Yeager said. "They work so hard and are hungry to take the next step on the national stage and I look forward to being a part of taking that step."
In addition to the team success the past two seasons, Yeager guided the Novice Eight to the gold medal at the 2017 Pac-12 Championship and has assisted in the development of walk-on rowers through mechanics and techniques along with implementing a training and fitness program for new athletes to the sport.
"The first time I spoke to Haley about joining our staff, I knew she was someone I wanted to work with," Peterson said of Yeager. "Her enthusiasm for the sport and experiences both as an athlete and coach at one of this country's most successful women's rowing programs make her an outstanding addition to our staff."
As a student-athlete at Washington, Yeager won a Pac-12 title in the Novice Eight as a freshman in 2009 and a silver medal at the Pac-12 Championship with the Second Varsity Eight in 2010. She earned her undergraduate degree in Public Health with a minor in Political Science in 2013 and most recently graduated with her Master's Degree in Education from the Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership program at the University of Washington.
Bitz will lead the novice rowing program with the Hoosiers after being responsible for all aspects of the novice program at her alma mater, Michigan State, since 2012. In her tenure in East Lansing, she has guided the First Novice Eight and Second Novice Eight to third place finishes at the Big Ten Championships and most recently helped both crews to fourth place finishes at the conference regatta. In 2015 she coached the V4 to a bronze medal at the Big Ten Championships. She has developed multiple athletes that have gone from the novice program directly into one of the top two boats for MSU.
"I want to thank Fred Glass, Steve and sport administrator Kris Fowler for giving me this opportunity," Bitz said of joining the Hoosiers. "I am most excited about working with a fantastic staff where I know I will learn and grow from each individual. I cannot wait to meet all the student-athletes and start chipping away at next year's goal of breaking into the top ten at the NCAA Championships."
Prior to her return to Michigan State, Bitz was an assistant coach with the U.S. National Team for four years. She also served as an assistant coach at Princeton for the lightweight crews in 2010-11, where the Varsity Eight finished the regular season undefeated and took second place at IRAs.
"Katie is one of the most successful novice coaches in the country" Peterson said. "She is an extremely competitive and passionate coach and it shows in the way her crews race and the success they have had. I have coached crews who raced against her when she was an athlete and then later as a coach, and I am very happy to finally have her working with me rather than against me."
The 2008 graduate of Michigan State University earned Academic All-Big Ten honors three times on her way to a degree from the Broad College of Business with a concentration in Finance. She won two Big Ten team titles in 2005 and 2008 and was the coxswain for the Varsity Eight when they won the Big Ten title in 2008 and advanced to the Grand Final of the NCAA Championship. In 2007, she earned second team All-Big Ten, and in 2008 she garnered first team All-Big Ten and first team All-Central Region.
Fekete will serve as a Graduate Assistant Coach and help with the novice program as she begins her third year in Bloomington. After competing one year as a coxswain for the First Varsity Eight, she was a student assistant coach in 2017-18.
"I'm very excited to be stepping into this new role with the team," Fekete said. "It is a great opportunity to be able to work with the novice rowers this season."
As the coxswain for the First Varsity Eight, Fekete guided the Hoosiers to a bronze medal at the Big Ten Championships and was named Second Team All-Big Ten. That year at the NCAA Championships, the 1V8 finished 12th and the Hoosiers finished 12th as a team as well.
"I have known Emily now for a number of years," Peterson said, "and I am excited she is going to continue to work with our team as our Graduate Assistant Coach. Her energy and enthusiasm for the sport of rowing, especially Indiana, are contagious. Our novice will be fortunate to have her as their first rowing coach."
Fekete earned her Bachelor's degree in Natural Resource Planning and Decision Making in 2016 from Purdue University while also minoring in Environmental Politics and Policy and Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. She is currently working towards dual Master's degrees in Environmental Sciences and Public Administration.
And returning for her third year on the IU coaching staff is Kristen Brownlee, who will move from coaching the Varsity Fours to directing the Second Varsity Eight in 2018-19.
The Hoosiers have joined the national conversation in rowing, having advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last five seasons and Peterson will look to these new additions to keep that run going in 2019.
"I am extremely excited about these additions to our coaching staff," Peterson said. "All three bring a wealth of successful collegiate rowing experience as athletes and coaches that will have a positive impact on our athletes and team. I can't wait to get started working with them."
Yeager joins the IU Rowing program as the coach of the Varsity Fours after serving on the coaching staff at her alma mater, the University of Washington, for the past three seasons. She helped guide the Huskies to a National Championship in 2017 and a National Runner-Up finish as a team in 2018 in addition to being part of the CRCA Coaching Staff of the Year in 2017.
"Working with this team and these athletes is an unbelievable opportunity," Yeager said. "They work so hard and are hungry to take the next step on the national stage and I look forward to being a part of taking that step."
In addition to the team success the past two seasons, Yeager guided the Novice Eight to the gold medal at the 2017 Pac-12 Championship and has assisted in the development of walk-on rowers through mechanics and techniques along with implementing a training and fitness program for new athletes to the sport.
"The first time I spoke to Haley about joining our staff, I knew she was someone I wanted to work with," Peterson said of Yeager. "Her enthusiasm for the sport and experiences both as an athlete and coach at one of this country's most successful women's rowing programs make her an outstanding addition to our staff."
As a student-athlete at Washington, Yeager won a Pac-12 title in the Novice Eight as a freshman in 2009 and a silver medal at the Pac-12 Championship with the Second Varsity Eight in 2010. She earned her undergraduate degree in Public Health with a minor in Political Science in 2013 and most recently graduated with her Master's Degree in Education from the Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership program at the University of Washington.
Bitz will lead the novice rowing program with the Hoosiers after being responsible for all aspects of the novice program at her alma mater, Michigan State, since 2012. In her tenure in East Lansing, she has guided the First Novice Eight and Second Novice Eight to third place finishes at the Big Ten Championships and most recently helped both crews to fourth place finishes at the conference regatta. In 2015 she coached the V4 to a bronze medal at the Big Ten Championships. She has developed multiple athletes that have gone from the novice program directly into one of the top two boats for MSU.
"I want to thank Fred Glass, Steve and sport administrator Kris Fowler for giving me this opportunity," Bitz said of joining the Hoosiers. "I am most excited about working with a fantastic staff where I know I will learn and grow from each individual. I cannot wait to meet all the student-athletes and start chipping away at next year's goal of breaking into the top ten at the NCAA Championships."
Prior to her return to Michigan State, Bitz was an assistant coach with the U.S. National Team for four years. She also served as an assistant coach at Princeton for the lightweight crews in 2010-11, where the Varsity Eight finished the regular season undefeated and took second place at IRAs.
"Katie is one of the most successful novice coaches in the country" Peterson said. "She is an extremely competitive and passionate coach and it shows in the way her crews race and the success they have had. I have coached crews who raced against her when she was an athlete and then later as a coach, and I am very happy to finally have her working with me rather than against me."
The 2008 graduate of Michigan State University earned Academic All-Big Ten honors three times on her way to a degree from the Broad College of Business with a concentration in Finance. She won two Big Ten team titles in 2005 and 2008 and was the coxswain for the Varsity Eight when they won the Big Ten title in 2008 and advanced to the Grand Final of the NCAA Championship. In 2007, she earned second team All-Big Ten, and in 2008 she garnered first team All-Big Ten and first team All-Central Region.
Fekete will serve as a Graduate Assistant Coach and help with the novice program as she begins her third year in Bloomington. After competing one year as a coxswain for the First Varsity Eight, she was a student assistant coach in 2017-18.
"I'm very excited to be stepping into this new role with the team," Fekete said. "It is a great opportunity to be able to work with the novice rowers this season."
As the coxswain for the First Varsity Eight, Fekete guided the Hoosiers to a bronze medal at the Big Ten Championships and was named Second Team All-Big Ten. That year at the NCAA Championships, the 1V8 finished 12th and the Hoosiers finished 12th as a team as well.
"I have known Emily now for a number of years," Peterson said, "and I am excited she is going to continue to work with our team as our Graduate Assistant Coach. Her energy and enthusiasm for the sport of rowing, especially Indiana, are contagious. Our novice will be fortunate to have her as their first rowing coach."
Fekete earned her Bachelor's degree in Natural Resource Planning and Decision Making in 2016 from Purdue University while also minoring in Environmental Politics and Policy and Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. She is currently working towards dual Master's degrees in Environmental Sciences and Public Administration.
And returning for her third year on the IU coaching staff is Kristen Brownlee, who will move from coaching the Varsity Fours to directing the Second Varsity Eight in 2018-19.
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