Sanford-Wendry Named Dad Vail Collegiate Coach of the Year; Huskies Compete On Day One Of Regatta

DAD VAIL OFFICIAL RESULTS

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (May 11, 2007) – University of Connecticut rowing coach Jennifer Sanford-Wendry has been honored as the “Collegiate Coach of the Year” by the Dad Vail Regatta, which is taking place this weekend in Philadelphia.

The award is presented annually to a collegiate rowing coach that has had outstanding success and has also contributed to the Dad Vail Regatta.

Sanford-Wendry is in her tenth season as the head coach at UConn. She was named rowing coach in the fall of 1997 when women’s rowing became a varsity sport at UConn.

Sanford led the team to its most successful season yet in 2005. The team won the points trophy at the Dad Vail as the varsity eight won, the junior varsity eight finished second, and the novice eight finished third.

In 2005, the team also finished fourth at the BIG EAST Championship – its highest finish ever at that event. In 2004, Sanford-Wendry saw the UConn junior varsity eight win the Dad Vail title.

Prior to coming to UConn, Sanford was the novice women’s coach at the University of Pennsylvania, where she led the Quaker novice eight to the finals of the Eastern Sprints. In 1996 and 1997, she was the United States Junior National Development Team coach.

Sanford-Wendry, a 1993 graduate of Syracuse University, has been associated with rowing her entire life. She began rowing when she was seven years old and had her first race in a single when she was 10. Her coaching career began at age 16, when she began coaching youth programs for the Syracuse Chargers Rowing Club. After graduating from college, Sanford-Wendry taught elementary school for three years while coaching the Liverpool High School women’s crew. In 1995, her Liverpool High School senior eight won the Scholastic Rowing Association National Championship.

Sanford-Wendry comes from a large coaching family. Her father, Bill Sanford, retired in 2002 after coaching the men’s crew at Syracuse University for 37 years. Sister Kris is the head women’s rowing coach at Syracuse. At Marist College, her cousin Tom Sanford is the Director of Rowing.

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UConn began competition on Friday in the 2007 Dad Vail Regatta as the Husky varsity eight finished second in their opening race to advance to Saturday’s semifinal. Massachusetts won the heat in 6:57.5 while UConn was second in 7:02.36 over Lehigh, Delaware, Marquette and John Carroll.

The UConn novice four also placed second in its opening race to advance to Saturday’s semifinal. Penn State won the heat in a time of 8:10.85 followed by UConn (8:14.66), Fordham and Delaware.

In lightweight four action, UConn again finished in second in its opening heat to advance to Saturday's semifinal. The Huskies finished in 8:04.88 behind Brock College (7:56.23) and ahead of Iona, Susquehanna and Cleveland State.

The UConn novice eight won its Friday race in a time of 7:08.93 to advance to a Saturday semifinal and topped Lehigh, Oklahoma City, St. Thomas, Robert Morris and Ohio University.

The Husky junior varsity eight did not advance out of their heat as they finished fourth in a time of 7:22.64. Purdue won the heat.