2 assistants added to team

When Steve Peterson took over the IU crew head coach duties in 2003, the collegiate rowing world took note. After all, he had spent two decades in an East Coast rowing establishment where, according to tradition, oarsmen stay for life. \nBut Peterson saw potential in the Big Ten, particularly at IU's young program. He set his sights on a national championship.\nBoosting that ambition is the hiring of assistant coaches Carmen Mirochna and Fran O'Rourke from the Ivy League's Cornell University. \n"Carmen and Fran bring outstanding recruiting experience and an excellent record of turning their recruits into very successful rowers," Peterson said. "They are two of the best assistant coaches in the country."\nMirochna will coordinate recruiting while working with Novice and Varsity boats. O'Rourke, in a position recently elevated to full-time from part-time to reflect the rowing program's growth, will handle Novice crews along with some recruiting responsibilities.\n"I couldn't have done better," Peterson said. "They are building the face of IU's rowing future."\nThe new coaches fill vacancies created when the previous assistants left to pursue graduate degrees.\nIn the past three years at Cornell, Mirochna's Novice Eight won second- and first-place finishes in the Petite Final at Eastern Sprints besides taking a silver medal in the Grand Final at Sprints. The second Novice Eight grabbed a gold and silver medals at Sprints, the latter capping an undefeated season. The Novice Four with coxswain outpaced the field by 12 seconds at Sprints this past season. \nAt Lehigh University in 2000-01, Mirochna's Novice Eight captured the Patriot League Championship and won the Grand Final at the Dad Vail Regatta in an undefeated season. At the Baldwin Girls School in Philadelphia the previous year, her crew took a silver medal at the Robert White Regatta and raced in the finals of the Stotesbury Cup. \nIn O'Rourke's two years as Cornell's interim coach, the Varsity Four beat all opponents her first season, winning the Petite Final at Sprints. This past year, the Varsity Four pulled its way to a gold medal at Sprints, while the second Varsity Four won gold to crown an undefeated season.\nOn the IU campus only a few weeks, Mirochna and O'Rourke already have sensed the administration's readiness to give the crew team what it needs to be fast. The institutional support is an appreciated difference from the Ivy League, they explained.\nThe two assistants also said they like what they have seen of IU rowers. \n"They're like, 'Let's go faster. Let's make this program fast,'" Mirochna said. "They're not afraid."\nThe new coaches know that reaching Peterson's goal will require hard work, but they join the quest with confidence and enthusiasm. \n"We plan on getting tough women who can get us to the NCAAs," Mirochna said.\nO'Rourke concurred with her fellow assistant's sentiments. \n"We're vying for a national championship," she added.\nBesides putting fast boats on the water, the new assistants contribute backgrounds as college rowers who could crank an oar.\nMirochna crewed for three years at Rutgers University and O'Rourke contributed to the Cornell crew team for four years. \n"Carmen and Fran have not only worked together," Peterson said, "but they also have been successful. We're lucky to have two great young assistant coaches come to Indiana, where their impact will be felt greatly."\n-- Contact staff writer Bill Meehan at wmeehan@indiana.edu.