Forty-five minutes after five. In the morning. That’s what time the Northwestern varsity crew team goes to practice, six days a week. And as far as senior Greg Andrianis can recall, 6 a.m. is the latest the team has ever practiced in his four-year run as a varsity member.
“We used to have a 30-minute commute each way just to get on the water,” Andrianis said.
Despite the early rising, crew ranks far and away as Northwestern’s largest club sport in terms of participation. Boasting both men’s women’s varsity teams, there is also an overflowing novice team. The bulk of the team is people who had never rowed before college, yet they still fare well in prestigious races — or regattas — each year.
Andrianis’ favorite team moment in recent history was the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston last October.
“Being around so many teams at the same time, it’s just unreal,” he said.
Northwestern Women’s Rugby: The 69-0 drubbing that highly-regarded Northern Iowa handed to the Northwestern women’s club rugby team may look lopsided, but the match pitted two of the Midwest’s top club teams against one another. According to club president Elaine Helm, campus editor for The Daily, the Wildcats have enjoyed a No. 1 ranking in the Chicago area for the past two years.
Despite the rough loss, senior captain Megan Caldwell predicts better times to come. An aggressive recruiting approach has added a new and improving complement of players to a team that claims a membership of over 30 — 15 of whom play on the pitch at any one time. As the team competes nearly every weekend during the fall and spring, its members have bonded.
“We have parties after almost every game,” Caldwell said. “We’re one big family.”
The Man in the Middle: After four years on the job, Peter Parcell had ample time to settle into his role as NU Club Sports Director. Acting as a liason between the university and NU’s 33 student-run club teams has given Parcell the chance to see exactly how important the sports are to the clubs.
“It’s not about the glory for them,” he said. “It’s that they found something they love.”
Parcell added that club sports give students who participated in high school sports — and those who didn’t — a forum in which to pursue their athletic careers.
His primary task, however, remains overseeing the various clubs. Parcell makes sure that they follow the guidelines laid out by the administration in regard to fundraising and scheduling.
