Rothstein, Wolverine Staff Receive CRCA Regional Coaching Honors
6/10/2024 11:00:00 AM | Rowing
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- At the end of a season that included the program's ninth Big Ten Championship and a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships, the coaching staff for the University of Michigan rowing program was named the Region 4 Staff of the Year by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association on Monday (June 10), while head coach Mark Rothstein was named CRCA Region 4 Coach of the Year.
It is the second time the U-M staff has been honored as the CRCA Region 4 Staff of the Year (2019) and Rothstein's fourth time as Regional Coach of the Year. He was Central Region Coach of the Year in 2000, '01 and '09, and Region 4 Coach of the Year in 2019.
Rothstein leads the staff along with associate head coach Liz Tuppen, and assistant coaches Emily Sugiyama, Lauren Schmetterling and Fran Raggi. Volunteer assistants Rachel Rane and Katy Ward also work closely with the program.
"As head coach, I feel extremely fortunate to work with Liz, Emily, Lauren, Fran, Rachel, and Katy," said Rothstein. "They each bring their very best to our team every single day and the Michigan Rowing program is fortunate to have such an outstanding group of individuals leading our team. Our program and the people in it are better off for working with and learning from these coaches. I'd also like to include a shoutout to our Boatman, Jack Miles, who is integral to everything we do and an important part of our team's success."
Rothstein was named Co-Big Ten Coach of the Year this spring, his seventh conference honor. Under his direction, U-M has won or been runner-up at the Big Ten Championships in 19 of 23 seasons (82.6 percent) with nine conference titles.
At the 2024 Big Ten Championships, Michigan won gold medals in five of seven events (1V8, 2V8, 1V4, 1N8, 2N8) and silver medals in two (2V4, 3V4). The team's 189 points marked the third-highest total in league championship history. It was the 10th time Rothstein's 1V8 captured first place at the conference championship.
In the time Tuppen has worked with the 2V8, the boat has won six of eight Big Ten titles. Sugiyama has coached the varsity four boats to 10 Big Ten gold medals, and Schmetterling led the novice eights to three out of four possible Big Ten titles.
At the 2024 NCAA Championships, the Wolverines outperformed their seeds in the 2V8 (10th) to finish seventh and in the 1V8 (11th) to finish ninth. Those outcomes helped U-M finish seventh as a team, better than their projected ninth, for the team's best NCAA Championship result since 2021.
• CRCA Release
