Friday, July 9, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. – The first full competitive season in women’s rowing in the GNAC has yielded four All-Americans and the top coaching staff in Division II.

The Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) has named Central Oklahoma seniors Megan Dwarshuis and Kateryna Klymenko and Western Washington senior Maddie Bangasser First Team Pocock All-Americans. Central Oklahoma senior Siobhan Quirke was selected as a Second Team All-American.

Bronchos’ head coach Brian Ebke was named by the CRCA as its 2021 Division II Coach of the Year while the UCO coaching staff was named the Division II Coaching Staff of the Year.

This is the third First Team All-America selection Dwarshuis, who was also named the inaugural GNAC Rower of the Year. She was also an All-America honoree during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Dwarshuis rowed in the No. 2 or No. 3 seat of the Varsity 8+ all season, which one all but one regatta it raced in. Dwarshuis also become the first four-time national champion in school history, having been a key member of the Bronchos’ Varsity 8+ national titles in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Klymenko earned her first All-America award and was also an All-America nominee in 2020. She was in the bow seat for the Bronchos’ Varsity 8+ at both the GNAC Championships and the NCAA Championships.

Bangasser earned her first All-American award after being named an All-America nominee in 2020. She was in the No. 2 seat for the Vikings’ Varsity 8+ at the GNAC Championships as Western Washington rowed to a second-place finish. Bangasser, a four-year performer for WWU, was also a member of the Vikings’ 2018 runner-up and 2019 third-place Varsity 8+ crews at the NCAA Championships.

Quirke held down the No. 8 seat in the Central Oklahoma Varsity 8+ all season and helped row the Bronchos to the GNAC and NCAA Division II championships. She was a key figure in UCO’s Varsity 8+ national championships in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Ebke and the Central Oklahoma coaching staff were honored for leading the Bronchos to their third straight Division II championship. The Bronchos swept both the Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ titles at both the conference and national regattas. Hired in fall 2019, this was Ebke’s first full season coaching at UCO after the 2019-20 season was truncated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Criteria for selection to the Pocock/CRCA All-America Teams includes meeting all eligibility rules as defined by the student-athlete’s institution, must have rowed in at least 75 percent of the season’s races in the varsity boat and must be nominated by the institution. The head coach must also be a member of the CRCA in good standing. Additional criteria considered include boat performance, nomination rank, coach’s comments, individual achievements and 2k erg score.