The United States, led by the play of a number of Cardinal, won its third consecutive FINA World Championship and sixth overall at the recently concluded tournament in Gwangju, South Korea.
The third consecutive world championship is a record for any women’s or men’s program and joined the program’s titles from 2003, 2007, 2009, 2015 and 2017. The 11-6 win in the final over Spain in which Kiley Neushul scored three times and Maggie Steffens added a pair of goals, was the United States’ 53rd victory in a row.
Neushul and Steffens were joined by alum Melissa Seidemann along with undergraduates Aria and Makenzie Fischer on the U.S. roster. It was the third gold medal for Seidemann in her fifth appearance at the FINA World Championships (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019) while Neushul and Steffens also collected their third golds in their fourth appearances at the event (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019). Makenzie Fischer has now won in each of her three trips to the World Championships (2015, 2017, 2019) and Aria Fischer is also perfect at the event with a pair of golds in her two appearances (2017, 2019).
Neushul and both Fischers were three of the United States’ five double-digit scorers at the tournament, each rattling the cage 10 times. Steffens poured in seven and Seidemann six. In all, Stanford’s five representatives on the 13-player roster were responsible for 46 percent of the U.S. scoring. Team USA outscored its six opponents in Gwangju 93-26.
Alumnae Jamie Neushul, Jordan Raney and Gabby Stone also led the United States to the inaugural beach water polo title at the FINA World Championships after a 14-12 victory over Spain on July 18. The victory capped a 4-0 run for Team USA at the exhibition tournament, which was staged for the first time. While no medals were awarded, athletes received certificates for their participation in the historic event. Jamie Neushul scored seven goals in the victory to lead Team USA.
Next up for the American squad is the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru from August 4-10. That 11-person U.S. roster includes Seidemann, Steffens, Jamie Neushul, Kiley Neushul, Aria Fischer and Makenzie Fischer. Team USA will open in Peru against Puerto Rico on August 4. Slotted in Group A, Team USA will also meet Brazil and Venezuela in group play that concludes on August 6. A champion will be crowned on August 10.
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Month: July 2019
Men’s soccer: Gunn adds two assistants, filling out staff
Stanford’s Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer Jeremy Gunn announced the additions of Shane Carew and Ben Moane to his coaching staff on Thursday.
Carew, who has spent the past two seasons as head coach at Cal State Monterey Bay, will serve as an assistant while Moane arrives on The Farm to fill the role of volunteer assistant. He was most recently the head coach of the Boston Bolts’ U19 and U17 U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams and served as the organization’s Director of Goalkeeping.
“The priority with anyone we bring on staff is simple,” Gunn said. “Do they help the program? Shane and Ben certainly do and are phenomenal additions to the Stanford soccer community. Their resumes speak for themselves and the expertise they bring will no doubt help shape the program moving forward.”
Carew and Gunn have strong ties. Carew played collegiately a Charlotte from 2000-02, was a three-time All-Conference USA selection and later returned to the program as its director of operations. Gunn served as head coach at Charlotte for five seasons (2007-11), went 64-26-14 and built the 49er program into a national title contender, his tenure highlighted by a run to the 2011 College Cup final.
Carew also served as deputy to Simon Tobin at San Jose State for three seasons (2014-16) prior to taking the job at CSUMB. Tobin is now in his sixth season leading the Spartans following a 27-year run at CSU Bakersfield where he coached 1993 Bakersfield graduate Jeremy Gunn. Gunn got his coaching career started as an assistant at his alma mater alongside Tobin, serving as an assistant coach with Bakersfield’s men’s and women’s soccer programs from 1993-1999, winning the 1997 NCAA Division II Men’s National Championship.
“Coming in as a new coach at Charlotte, Shane was someone in the city that opened up and really helped me out in my first years there,” Gunn said. “He was one of those wonderful alums that was so desperate for the program to be successful and opened doors for me with the soccer community in Charlotte and North Carolina. I’m certainly indebted to him for all the assistance he gave me there.
“We’ve always been in contact since that time, both as coaches and friends, and I’m absolutely thrilled he’s coming on board. He was a standout defender as a player and his background in that area will be a great addition. More importantly, I think Shane’s enthusiasm and energy for life is absolutely infectious and something that can’t be taught. He affects everyone around him in such a positive way and is a wonderful addition to Stanford.”
In North Carolina, Carew was the Executive Director of Coaching for FC Carolina Alliance from 2008-12 and an assistant coach at Elon in 2013. That season, the Phoenix went 15-5-3, defeated a pair of top-10 teams and advanced in the postseason for the first time, reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Carew comes to Stanford from Monterey, where he ran the Otters’ up-and-coming program for two seasons. In 2018, CSUMB went 7-9 overall, more than doubling it win total from a year prior (3-11-2), and 5-7 in CCAA play. Carew’s side finished with the program’s fourth-best record since it joined the NCAA in 2004 and just one spot removed in the conference standings from what would have been its first playoff berth since 2007.
“The opportunity to work with Coach Gunn, his players and staff is one that truly excites me both professionally and personally,” Carew said. “When you mention Stanford, people’s eyes change. The drive to be the best is infectious. The success of the program under Coach Gunn has been incredible and I am both humbled and honored to be on his staff.”
Carew, who holds UEFA B and USSF A coaching licenses, played professionally for Shelbourne FC and Killkenny City in Ireland and the Long Island Roughriders in the United States.
Moane returns to collegiate coaching after a season away to focus on his work with the Bolts and in pursuit of additional coaching licenses. He was awarded his USSF A license in 2018 and is working on his UEFA A license to be completed in December.
“Ben has been truly impressive in every interaction we’ve had since looking to bring in a new coach,” Gunn said. “His credentials and his qualifications are quite incredible and the work he has done with the Boston Bolts club program has been phenomenal. Everyone he has worked with has said wonderful things about Ben and he’s someone that will bring a wealth of experience and has a fantastic future in college soccer.”
Moane spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Boston College (2016-17), helping the Eagles to a 9-9-3 record and second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2016. He worked primarily with BC’s goalkeepers and oversaw the team’s fitness regime in conjunction with the athletic department’s strength and conditioning staff. He spent the 2015 season as the goalkeeper coach at Northeastern and at the same time began his four-year connection with the Bolts.
“I am extremely excited and honored to have the opportunity to join Coach Gunn’s staff,” Moane said. “Stanford is a world-renowned university with one of the nation’s best soccer programs and he has created an unbelievable environment in which to learn and develop as a young coach. I am looking forward to getting started with the guys and adding value to the program wherever I can.”
A 2013 master’s graduate of Bethel University, Moane earned his undergraduate degree at Manchester Metropolitan University in Manchester, England. He played in the Irish Premier League as a goalkeeper for Cliftonville FC and also for Queens University, Carrick Rangers and Institute FC and as a youth international for Ireland’s U17 and U19 sides.
The nation’s most successful collegiate men’s soccer program over the last half-decade, Stanford has won three of the last four NCAA titles, five consecutive Pac-12 championships and posted a 77-14-18 (.789) overall record since 2014.
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Women’s lacrosse: New hire Spencer adds two to Cardinal staff
Stanford women’s lacrosse head coach Danielle Spencer announced the additions of Nicole Flores and Megan Whittle to her coaching staff on Wednesday.
Flores will serve as the defensive and recruiting coordinator, while Whittle will will be the Cardinal’s offensive coordinator. Both coaches were assistants to Spencer at Dartmouth last season, where the trio led the Big Green to an Ivy League title and the program’s first NCAA appearance in six years.
“Individually we are good, but together we make a great team,” Spencer said of the staff. “I am humbled that Nicole and Megan trust me enough to move across the country with me; and I am grateful to have this impact in their coaching careers. The future is bright for Stanford Lacrosse.”
“I am ecstatic for the opportunity to join such an amazing institution and family,” Flores said. “I would like to thank Danielle Spencer. Stanford is a dream job and I can’t wait to get started. I’m excited to join the Pac-12 and be a part of the Home of Champions.”
“I am thrilled to join the Stanford family,” Whittle said. “I want to thank Danielle for believing in me and helping guide me in my transition from player to coach. I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue coaching with such an amazing staff every day and to begin working with the talented, hard-working women at Stanford.”
Spencer and her staff inherit a Stanford program that finished 13-6 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. The Cardinal returns its top four scorers, as well as nine of 11 starters and its starting goalkeeper.
Nicole Flores
Flores comes to The Farm with 10 years of coaching experience, including the last two with Spencer at Dartmouth.
In her first season in Hanover, the Big Green went 11-5 and made the Ivy League Tournament for the first time in five seasons, and the following year, she worked with Spencer and Whittle to lead Dartmouth to an Ivy title and the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to her stint with the Big Green, she was a member of the coaching staff at Trinity. In her one season, the Bantams reached the Division III national semifinals.
The Branford, Connecticut, native’s time at Trinity followed a stint at Bowdoin College, where she worked from 2014-16. During her time with the Polar Bears, she was part of a staff that helped lead the program to the 2015 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Game as well as to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.
Previous coaching experience also came from time at Union (2011-14) and Eastern Connecticut (2009-11) following the completion of her collegiate playing career at Springfield in 2009. While a student-athlete with the Pride, she was a first-team all-conference player and team captain as a senior.
Megan Whittle
One of the most prolific scorers in NCAA history, Whittle began her coaching career last season when she joined Spencer and Flores at Dartmouth, where the Big Green reached the NCAA Tournament on the heels of an Ivy League championship.
A 2018 graduate of the University of Maryland, Whittle capped one of the most impressive careers in the history of women’s collegiate lacrosse in 2018. The Glenwood, Maryland, native has a laundry list of individual accolades longer than many Division I programs have compiled in their history.
The Terps’ all-time leading goal scorer, Whittle finished with 298 career goals, good for second most in NCAA history. A three-time All-American, she helped lead her team to a pair of national championships as a freshman and junior in 2015 and 2017, respectively.
A team captain as a senior, Whittle led the Terps back to the Final Four for the fourth time in her career, while posting career highs with 84 goals and 99 points. In 90 games over four seasons, she amassed 339 career points in addition to her nearly 300 goals, both figures that rank near the top of the NCAA all-time record books.
During her career, Maryland won four Big Ten regular season championships and three conference postseason titles en route to an 86-4 record. For her efforts, she was twice named the Big Ten Attacker of the Year (2016 and 2018) and was an all-conference player all four seasons in College Park.
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Looking back …..
By Dave Kiefer/Stanford athletics
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, American soccer changed forever. And it happened at Stanford.
To understand how the 1994 World Cup altered soccer in America, consider what soccer was like in America.
Most young American soccer players had never seen a professional match — on TV or in person. The only soccer programming came on Spanish-language channels, and often only with the help of rabbit-ear antennas draped with tin foil for better reception.
There was no true outdoor professional league in 1994. The mercenaries who tried to make a living at the game played indoors, on turf-covered ice rinks. The Continental Indoor Soccer League was more stable than the top outdoor circuit, the American Professional Soccer League, which hardly lived up to the second word in its title.
The APSL averaged “crowds” of barely more than 2,000 and hardly was the launching pad the American game required to increase its popularity and stature. American players were not really accepted in Europe, and the best players had barely any club options at all. Instead, the U.S. national team assembled more than a year before the World Cup and played a long schedule of international friendlies to make up for a lack of domestic club competition.
Most of the American media begrudgingly accepted soccer, only because they understood that the World Cup was a big deal. Otherwise, the sport largely was belittled, if acknowledged at all.
But the 1994 World Cup, which included six matches at Stanford, changed all that. Look at soccer in this country today: Massive crowds at club and national team matches, boisterous rhythmic supporters’ groups, recognition of international clubs and stars.
All that began in 1994. And nowhere was the juxtaposition of soccer tradition and emerging passion greater than when mighty Brazil played the United States at Stanford Stadium on the Fourth of July.
Brazil won the Round of 16 match, the U.S. team’s first venture beyond the first round in the modern era of the tournament. But the success of the World Cup, in attendance and interest, spawned Major League Soccer and changed the sport in America from backwater to mainstream.
* * *
WHEN THE U.S. was awarded the World Cup by FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, in 1988, the U.S. hadn’t qualified for a World Cup since 1950. The concern internationally was whether the tournament would be a source of embarrassment for the U.S. on the field and in the stands.
Stanford earned the trust of FIFA because of its success in hosting matches during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Nine were played at Stanford, with crowds of 83,642 for an Italy-Brazil semifinal, 78,000 for the U.S. against Costa Rica in the first round, and 75,000 for West Germany against Brazil.
In the years that followed, Stanford became a regular stop for the U.S. national team, which played five exhibitions at Stanford Stadium from 1990-93. Opponents were the USSR and Russia, Argentina, China, and Germany. The 1998 World Cup cycle included two qualifying matches at Stanford, against Costa Rica and Canada.
The South Bay had a rich soccer history, ignited by original San Jose Earthquakes in 1974. The club was well-supported throughout its 10-year history, until the collapse of the old North American Soccer League. That heritage and a massive 90,000-capacity, made Stanford Stadium an ideal choice as one of the 1994 Cup’s nine venues.
It got even better: the South Bay became the home base for Brazil, the three-time world champions and the masters of “the beautiful game.”
Brazilian fans descended upon Los Gatos, where the team made its headquarters at the now-closed Villa Felice lodge, and its training ground at Santa Clara University’s Buck Shaw Stadium. Practice was accompanied by chanting and singing fans. At night, they turned Town Plaza Park in Los Gatos into a Sambadrome.
The Brazilians taught Americans how to be soccer fans and their influence remains in evidence today with the singing, chanting, and drum-beating supporter groups that now proliferate the American soccer scene.
In contrast was Russia, Brazil’s dour first-match opponent. Unlike a year earlier when the Russians trained in the South Bay without security and with levity in advance of their 1993 friendly against the U.S. at Stanford, this group hid behind lock and key.
Russia was based at a businessman’s retreat in the hills above Santa Cruz and bused to Cabrillo College in Aptos, where players loaded and unloaded behind closed doors. All but one training session was off-limits, in contrast to the openness expressed by the Brazilians just over the hill. Safe to say there were no Russian parties by the Boardwalk.
* * *
AS THE CUP drew closer, Stanford braced for the onslaught of media and fans. At the time, hooliganism was a major concern, and there were sighs of relief when England, a nation notorious for such behavior, did not qualify. About 2,500 media representatives descended upon Stanford, as well as a security force of 700, including officers, private security and trained volunteers.
Stanford was prepared. The Department of Defense sold security systems to the University that included a new perimeter fence and a video surveillance network.
The University spent $700,000 to replace the wood benches at Stanford Stadium with gold-colored aluminum. Total expenses in hosting the event, with some of the tab picked up by FIFA, was $2.5 million, including $2.2 million in capital improvements. Revenue totaled $1.8 million, including $500,000 in the rent of the stadium and $800,000 in parking.
The area that is now the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, across from Stanford along El Camino Real, was largely a series of empty lots turned into a World Cup souvenir center.
A 30,000-square foot media operations center was built on the current hammer throwing field next to Angell Field, with a pedestrian bridge built to span Nelson Road and allow credentialed media direct access into the stadium.
The international contingents certainly did things differently. While American reporters are trained to be unbiased, many of the foreign journalists clearly were not, wearing their team’s jerseys, snapping pictures with and getting autographs from their favorite players, and even cheering answers during press conferences and goals during games.
Some of the questions were a bit bizarre. One often repeated in the buildup to the Brazil-Russia opener referred to Russian coach Pavel Sadyrin supposedly saying that the Brazilian team was a “myth.”
“How could you say such a thing?” Sadyrin was asked pointedly.
Something must have gotten lost in the translation. The subject didn’t make sense in any language, and Sadyrin continually denied making the remark. That didn’t stop the Brazilian press.
Despite the years of planning and preparation, it was inevitable that something would go wrong, and it did when on the day of the first match, a garbage truck knocked down the Nelson Road press bridge and knocked out power to the 22 television sets inside the press center.
Because of a lack of space in the stadium press box, many reporters depended on the TVs to cover the games. The Internet still was in its infancy and information was not readily available except off traditional media such as television, radio, and newspapers.
Fortunately, a volunteer named Silvestre Espinoza brought his battery-operated portable TV to the media center and dozens of reporters crowded around it to catch a glimpse of the tiny screen.
Not only did Brazil show American fans how to watch a game, the Brazilians showed how to play it – with flair and creativity. Brazil was led by South American Player of the Year Bebeto, a skinny speedster who pulled his shorts just a bit too high, and Romario, the heartthrob forward. On the bench was 17-year-old Ronaldo, the first of the greats sharing that name.
* * *
BRAZIL ROLLED OVER Russia, 2-0, and Cameroon, 3-0, on the way to winning its group. But two other Stanford first-round matches had a more lasting impact.
Colombia was the tournament’s biggest disappointment. The team of Carlos Valderrama and Adolfo Valencia was among the favorites, but lost to Romania 3-1 in its first match and 2-1 to the U.S. in its next, at the Rose Bowl. The Americans’ first score was an own goal off the foot of Colombia defender Andres Escobar, who lunged to intercept a cross, only to deflect it into his own net.
As revealed in the ESPN 30 For 30 documentary “The Two Escobars,” the Colombians were under intense pressure from the drug cartels back home. Players, coaches and even their families received death threats. By the time Colombia beat Switzerland before 83,401 on a scorching June 26 at Stanford, there was nothing to gain by its 2-0 victory, except for a somber and brief respite.
It was the final match in Escobar’s life. Six days later, upon his return to Medellin, Colombia, Escobar was gunned down by a bodyguard working for members of a drug cartel.
On June 28, Russia and Cameroon played in a meaningless match to end the tournament for both teams. For the first time at Stanford, tickets were even being given away or sold cut-rate by scalpers because of a lack of interest. But the crowd of 74,914 – the lowest attendance in the six Cup games at Stanford — witnessed history.
Oleg Salenko, a 24-year-old striker from Leningrad, set a World Cup record by scoring five goals in Russia’s 6-1 victory. His six goals overall earned him the Golden Boot for the most goals in the tournament. Salenko never played again for Russia in an injury-riddled career.
As the match concluded, an announcement was made to the crowd. The second-round matches were set and the U.S. would play Brazil at Stanford on Independence Day. The crowd roared its approval.
“The atmosphere going into that game was incomparable,” said U.S. Soccer president and World Cup organizer Alan Rothenberg to Seth Vertelney of SBnation.com.
“I’ve never seen American soccer fans before — almost any kind of fans — get into it the way they did,” Rothenberg said. “The streets were just mobbed with everybody with painted red, white and blue faces, singing. And the Brazilians, as colorful as they are, were singing. I remember being driven to the game and I made the driver stop about a mile out. I said, ‘I’ve got to be a part of this. I want to march with them all, it’s just too exciting.'”
Said U.S. midfielder John Harkes to Vertelney: “The atmosphere was tremendous. Those are the moments you live for whether you’re on the field playing or you’re in the stadium experiencing that. It was absolutely fantastic and that’s the No. 1 thing that I remember.”
* * *
THE U.S. WAS undermanned in any setting against Brazil, but especially because one of its core players, Harkes, was suspended for the match because of a red card he received against Romania in the final group contest.
The Americans also suffered a blow when Tab Ramos, the team’s most creative player, was elbowed viciously in the head by Brazil’s Leonardo late in the first half, leaving Ramos with a fractured skull. The U.S. had little chance with its thin bench.
Still, the U.S. fought off the Brazilians until Bebeto slipped in a shot between the legs of sliding defender Alexi Lalas in the 72nd minute, the only goal in Brazil’s 1-0 victory.
After the match, American fans were disappointed, but not defeated. The tournament was a victory. The U.S. showed it could support soccer and a crowd that numbered 84,147 proved it.
The average attendance for the six matches at Stanford, including Sweden’s quarterfinal penalty-kick victory over Romania, was 81,736. The overall average attendance of nearly 69,000, was the highest in World Cup history.
Even more important was the respect the U.S. gained as a soccer nation. Not only did America prove to the world that it could appreciate and support the game at its highest levels, but the quality of play by the U.S. was proof of inclusion into the realm of soccer elite.
The match at Stanford, on July 4, proved that.
As thousands of American fans left Stanford Stadium with flags draped around their shoulders and stars and stripes painted on their faces, Brazilian fans did something unique – they congratulated the defeated fans for America’s performance, for the World Cup, for everything.
Rick LaPlante, the Stanford venue press officer, recalled a scene that played out earlier in the Cup, as the United States earned the seminal victory over Colombia.
“About 30 reporters and some of my volunteers gathered around a TV in the Stanford media center to watch,” he recalled. “At another TV about 20 feet away, a group of about the same size, mostly Brazilian reporters, watched the Portuguese feed. When the U.S. won, the Brazilians, pretty much to a man, walked over and congratulated us.
“‘Welcome, Rick, to the world of football,’ one of them told me.”
Thanks to a Fourth of July at Stanford Stadium 25 years ago, the United States entered that world.
Welcome, indeed.
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Women’s basketball: Cardinal’s Jerome lands spot on Canada’s PanAm Games roster
Junior forward Alyssa Jerome has been named to Canada’s roster for the 2019 Pan American Games from Aug. 6-10 in Lima, Peru.
Currently ranked a fifth in the FIBA World Rankings, Canada travels to Lima looking to defend its gold medal from the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. Canada is one of only three countries (along with Brazil and the United States) to have participated in every Pan Am Games since 1955, earning one gold, one silver and three bronze medals in 15 appearances.
Canada is in Group A for this year’s event and will face Brazil (August 6), Paraguay (August 7) and Puerto Rico (August 8) in the preliminary round.
Canada qualified by winning a gold medal at the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2017. The field for the 2019 Pan American Games includes the top six teams from the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2017 (Canada, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Brazil, U.S. Virgin Islands, Paraguay and Colombia), along with the United States (Olympic champion) and Peru (host country).
Jerome played in all 35 games as a sophomore and made 11 starts, averaging 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.1 minutes.
Jerome has been among the youngest players at a pair of Senior Women’s National Team camps over the past two years and has great success for Canada at a number of other FIBA age-level tournaments, captaining Canada to bronze at the U19 World Cup in Italy in the summer of 2017, averaging 7.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
In 2016, she played in both the FIBA U17 World Championships in Spain and the FIBA Americas U18 Championships in Chile. Jerome captained Canada to seventh at the U17 World Championships, which ran from late June to early July, and averaged 10.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in six games. Less than two weeks later she was in Chile at U18 FIBA Americas and helped Canada win silver, averaging 15.8 points on 48.5 percent shooting, 9.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. She finished third in that tournament in points, seventh in field goal percentage, third in rebounds and second in double-doubles (3).
Jerome was team captain and tournament MVP of the FIBA Americas U16 Championships in Mexico in 2015 and averaged a near tournament double-double of 13.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
Jerome will join fellow Stanford teammate Kiana Williams in Lima. Williams made her first USA Basketball roster for these Pan Am Games in late May and will head to Colorado Springs, Colo. for training camp July 23-Aug. 4 before continuing on to Peru for the tournament.
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Men’s rowing: Sobolewski given oars to steer program in right direction
Ted Sobolewski has been named Stanford’s Farwell Family Director of Men’s Rowing, as announced Tuesday by Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics Bernard Muir.
Sobolewski joins the Cardinal after serving as the associate head coach at Northeastern for the previous four seasons. Most recently in 2019, Sobolewski was instrumental in guiding Northeastern to a seventh-place finish as a team, including the first varsity recording its best finish since 2013 with a fifth-place showing in the Grand Final.
During Sobolewski’s tenure at Northeastern, he was responsible for domestic and international student-athlete recruiting, development of training plans and academic support, among other areas.
“I am excited for the future of our program under Ted’s leadership,” said Muir. “Ted has experienced success at all levels of the sport. I believe that Ted will motivate our student-athletes to be the best on the water, in the classroom and in the community.”
“I am incredibly excited to join the Stanford Athletics family,” said Sobolewski, who also boasts experience as a two-time member of the United States Under-23 National Team during his collegiate career as a rower at Northeastern. “One of Stanford’s goals is to ‘Inspire Champions in Life’ and it is clear that this ideal permeates all levels of Stanford Athletics. I am humbled to have the opportunity to embrace and advance this goal as the head coach of Stanford Men’s Rowing.”
“I want to sincerely thank Bernard Muir and Jamie Breslin for their belief in me, and for providing me the opportunity to shape the student-athlete experience for our program. I am excited to get to know and start working with our student-athletes. I know the team is comprised of intelligent and motivated individuals who are eager to achieve at the highest levels of sport and academics. With a professional approach, and a culture built around hard work and integrity, I am confident we can achieve excellence on and off the water.”
During Sobolewski’s first year back at his alma mater in 2016, Northeastern faced adversity throughout the spring season, but responded when it mattered most. After both the first and second varsity boats finished seventh at the Eastern Sprints, lineup changes shifted four freshmen, three sophomores, and one junior and senior for the IRA Championships. At the national regatta, despite racing four times throughout the weekend, the first varsity won the petite final to take seventh in the country, marking the first time since 1984 that the Huskies’ varsity finished seventh or better in four straight seasons.
Two years ago, Northeastern concluded its season with a victory in the petite final of the first varsity, finishing seventh in the nation for the second straight season. The Huskies, seeded ninth entering the championships, finished two spots ahead of its seed in the first varsity, while the third varsity finished eighth and the second varsity 11th under sunny skies and calm conditions on Lake Natoma.
In 2018, Northeastern finished sixth at the IRA Championships, thanks to the first varsity setting the tone with a victory in the Petite Final to place seventh in the country while the Huskies’ second varsity took fifth in the Grand Final, and the third varsity finished sixth as all eights boats finished at or above their seeds entering the weekend.
Prior to Northeastern, Sobolewski served as the head coach with the Princeton National Rowing Association (PNRA). Sobolewski was directly responsible for organizing and administering the rowing programs for 220 high school and adult athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training site at Mercer Lake. Sobolewski worked with all aspects of the association, both in the coaching realm and with administrative duties.
As a coach, Sobolewski led the Mercer Junior Women’s crews to their best performances in the history of the program. Sobolewski coached the women’s 8+ to a runner-up finish and women’s lightweight 8+ to a third-place effort at the 2015 Youth Nationals and followed that result up with an unprecedented sweep of all U19 and U17 Women’s events at the 2015 Royal Canadian Henley, bringing home nine total gold medals as a club. His crews have also had successful performances at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta.
Sobolewski’s first coaching experience at Northeastern came in a volunteer assistant capacity during the 2010-11 campaign, working with head coach John Pojednic in all aspects of developing and training the freshman eight, which finished third at the Eastern Sprints. He also oversaw the second freshman group, which took the gold in the 4+ at Sprints. Following the 2011 spring season, Sobolewski was promoted to assistant coach, and organized all team practice and race travel logistics while assisting with the recruiting process in accordance with NCAA regulations.
As a student-athlete at Northeastern from 2005-08, Sobolewski competed with the freshman eight during the 2005 season before rowing in the varsity eight during his final three seasons. In the 1V, Sobolewski helped the Huskies to two appearances in the Grand Final of the Eastern Sprints, including a fourth-place finish in 2006. Sobolewski was also a two-time member of the United States Under-23 National Team, rowing in the quad in 2006 and 2007 at the World Championships in Hazewinkel, Belgium and Glasgow, Scotland, respectively.
A native of Buffalo, New York, Sobolewski graduated from Northeastern in 2009 with a degree in business administration, with a concentration in accounting.
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