Bearcats Add Calfo As Rowing Assistant

Bearcats Add Calfo As Rowing Assistant

Bearcats Add Calfo As Rowing AssistantBearcats Add Calfo As Rowing Assistant

Sept. 9, 2005

Contact: Shawn Sell

CINCINNATI, Ohio --Sandy Calfo has joined the University of Cincinnati rowing staff and will work as an assistant to new head coach Pam Mork. Calfo comes to UC after spending the last three seasons at Gonzaga University.

Calfo has worked in the coaching ranks since 2000 after concluding a three-year stint as a rower at Purdue during her undergraduate years. While at Gonzaga, Calfo was the novice team coach, with responsibilities in practice planning and training for the squad. She was also the primary recruiter for the Gonzaga program.

Calfo's crews found great success at Gonzaga, winning the conference championship in the JV8 in 2005 and winning a pair of WIRA crowns.

"I am very excited about the opportunity to coach at UC," Calfo stated. "The team has a great amount of potential and I am pleased to be a part of it."

Prior to her stop at Gonzaga, Calfo was a graduate assistant and novice coach at her alma mater of Purdue from 2000-03. With the Boilermakers, Calfo was responsible for all aspects of the novice squad including practice scheduling, retention and training. In her three years at Purdue, Calfo mentored a total of four SIRA winning crews, including two in 2003.

Calfo graduated from Purdue in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies Education and Psychology. She went on to earn a Masters of Education in Educational Psychology from Purdue in 2003. As a competitive rower, Calfo was voted her team's Most Valuable Oarswoman in 1999 and earned three medals with the varsity 8 at the Dad Vial Regatta.

"We are very fortunate to add Sandy to our staff," Mork commented. "She is a proven talent in developing rowers and her energy and enthusiasm are immeasurable. Those two qualities are very important when it comes to developing team speed."

The Bearcats, in their first year under Mork and Calfo, will open the 2005 season with a scrimmage at Indiana on Oct. 23. The regular season kicks off a week later at the Head of the Elk in Elkhart, Ind.