Clemson rowers head to first ever NCAA championships

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) _ Clemson's rowers filled up the lounge in the team's nearly completed boathouse. Their eyes focused and filled with energy as they spoke with a unity and confidence born from unexpected success.

"I suspect from where we came from and where we are today, I would've been satisfied with a team that got along and worked well together," said first-year coach Richard Ruggieri. "But we also happen to be really fast and (are) going to the pinnacle of the sport."

A year after a tumultuous season, one of Clemson's boats was picked for this week's NCAA rowing championships — a first for the 10-year-old program.

"There was a lot of uncertainty," said Suzanne Van Fleet, a senior. "I know it many sound cheesy, but it's really become a Cinderella story."

Susie Lueck, the program's first coach and two-time Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the year, was let go in early April 2007 with little explanation. Athletic director Terry Don Phillips later confirmed that Lueck's dismissal came after the coach provided one of her athletes lodging and transportation to and from campus.

The firing was announced when Clemson's rowers were competing at a weekend meet on the Potomac River. While the change didn't stop the Tigers from sweeping the races at the George Washington Invitational, the Tigers were confused and angry.

No one knew what might happen, Van Fleet said. Several, including the senior from Exton, Pa., strongly considered leaving.

Jessica Leidecker, a junior, talked to coaches at other schools about transferring. "There were a lot of phone calls to my parents crying wanting to get out it," she said.

"I'm not going to lie to you, it was pretty divided," said Van Fleet, one of the team's captains.

The rowers relied on each other to get them through the difficult stretches, much the way they're trained to row as a unit and not individuals.

Stability took root with Ruggieri's hiring last June. He had built Louisville into a top 20 program and saw potential for the same at Clemson.

He was briefed on past problems, but began rowers focusing forward and not behind. In return, he found a committed group but one in need of discovering how to work together.

"We treated them like adults," Ruggieri said. "We told them what we wanted. We allowed them to be who they are, which is very special, hardworking people."

Not that success came easy.

At the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston last October, Clemson's varsity 8-plus boat finished 21st out of 45 entries. "We were not prepared for the Boston race," Ruggieri said.

Still, Ruggieri saw the Tigers had bested several strong programs in that competition, along with finishing more than one-minute faster than they did a year earlier.

Ruggieri knew if his athletes "could row better, and get stronger and make good decisions, we definitely had a chance," he said.

The varsity 8-plus finished second to Virginia at the ACC championships last month, then shined earlier this month with a fourth at the Aramark South/Central Sprints in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Last week came the news the Tigers' varsity 8-plus coxswain boat was selected for the NCAAs, to begin Friday at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center in Gold River, Calif.

"It's still surreal," said Elyse Roenick, coxswain for the boat.

The rowers have gotten numerous phone calls, text messages and e-mails of congratulations and support from former teammates, Clemson students, alumni, family, friends and even competitors from other schools.

"I think it's because they knew what was going on at Clemson, so they knew it was special for us," Leidecker said.

Ruggieri thinks his rowers can have one more special moment at the NCAAs. They haven't had a bad practice in weeks, he says, and there is no reason the rise can't continue at this week's regatta.

No matter this week's results, Clemson's rowers know they can be proud of how far they've come and what they've accomplished.

"It's amazing to say we're part of history now," Van Fleet said.