UOIT Athletics Media Release

July 19, 2007

First Ever OUA Provincial Award Winners For UOIT Ridgeback’s

Oshawa, ON – The UOIT Ridgebacks' splash onto the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) rowing scene continued last week when two members of its rowing crews were recognized with OUA All Academic Awards for the 2006-2007 season.

Varsity rowers Rachelle Krause, a second-year Biological Science student, and Geoff Chadsey, a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student, were the first Ridgebacks to receive OUA All Academic awards, which are awarded to students who participate on non-Canadian Interuniversity Sport teams and have a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.5.

"I like rowing because there is so much teamwork involved," said Krause. "I'm busy, but I don't get too stressed out keeping up with my grades. I row in the early morning, which leaves a lot of time in the evening for homework."

Her interest in rowing was sparked when her mom began rowing three years ago. Krause has been rowing the same amount of time and feels it is both a challenging and unique sport.

Chadsey has been rowing competitively for about a year. He enjoys challenging himself physically and rowing is just the way to do that. He's always busy during rowing season, which forces him to schedule time for homework, but it's never been a problem. "You just have to work smart and be efficient with assignments," he said.

Rowing has its own culture, according to Chadsey. "There is so much energy among our teammates and among the teams from other schools," he added.

The university rowing season runs for 10 weeks from September to mid-November. Rowers are expected to attend all regattas from Monday to Friday and all five weekly morning training sessions at the Durham Rowing Club in Port Perry, Ontario.

"This is yet another proud accomplishment of our Ridgebacks, one that recognizes their dedication to academics as varsity athletes," said Scott Barker, athletic co-ordinator for UOIT. "Both Rachelle and Geoff carried full course loads during the 2006-2007 academic year, which makes this accomplishment even more impressive when you factor in their daily practices and competition."

Lisa Power
Marketing & Communications

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For Further Information:
Angela Cull
Department of Athletics
University of Ontario Institute of Technology
905-721-3111 ext 2784