萝莉社

2008-2009 Press Releases

6-1-2009 / 萝莉社 Rowing Signs Third Local Recruit

萝莉社 Rowing signed Sydney Fish to its 2009/2010 roster. Fish, a 2009 graduate of Wichita East high school joins two other local recruits, Sydney Blanton from Trinity Academy of Wichita and Grant Milford of Maize High School.

鈥淲e just ended the 08/09 season finishing 5th in the country in the novice men鈥檚 four,鈥� said Assistant Coach Tori Breithaupt. 鈥淥f this boat, two were former high school rowers: Malcolm Johnson and coxswain Isabel Villaneda van Vloten. If we can do so well with two former rowers, I鈥檓 really excited to see what four experienced novice can do for the team.鈥� (The fourth is red shirt Kevin Sossa 鈥�12).

Fish has been a part of the Wichita Rowing Club for 2 years where most recently she placed first in the women鈥檚 junior double at 09 Great Plains Regatta. She was also the gold medal winner at the 2009 Shocker Sprints in both the 2000 meter and 500 meter junior women鈥檚 events.

鈥淪ydney has the athletic mentality we鈥檙e looking for,鈥� said Head Coach Calvin Cupp, 鈥渟he understands what it means to be a student-athlete, how to balance athletics and academics. I鈥檓 looking forward to her leadership on the women鈥檚 novice team.鈥�

High school: Wichita East High School
Home town: Wichita, KS
Rowing experience: two years
Position: port and starboard, sculling
Honors and awards: National Art Honors Society member... letterman in high school swimming... first place in novice 2k and 500m at Shocker Sprints Indoor Regatta
Personal: parents are (mother) Marty Fish, and (father) Dave Fish... two brothers, also attending 萝莉社... Captain of the Wichita Rowing Association junior team with Coach Brian Adamson... four year swimmer on East High team with coach Joe Hutchinson and competitive swimmer for 12 years... advanced placement English, art, chemistry, and US history student...majoring in geology at 萝莉社
Why 萝莉社: 萝莉社 is a top notch school and I鈥檓 very excited to start there this fall. I鈥檝e been offered many opportunities, both academically and athletically, that are very generous and exciting. I鈥檝e had a great chance to get to know the coaches this year through the closeness of the 萝莉社 rowing team and the Wichita rowing association, as well as much of the team. By learning about all of these folks and already having friends in the team and coaches, I can say I鈥檓 going to have a blast on the team next year and learn a lot!

6-1-2009 / Three 萝莉社 Rowers Make All American Team

Kimberly Calaman was awarded third team All American, Peter Fast was a Regional winner and Fast and Lisa Burns were Academic All Americans of the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA).

Coaches of the 150 member organization could each submit 5 women and 5 men candidates. From these nominees, 9 student-athletes were recognized from each region. After the conclusion of the National Regatta on May 24, the regional officers chose the All Team Americans. Calaman and Fast were chosen for excellence in 2,000 meter testing score, career racing results, accomplishments within the team, individual performances and the coach recommendation performance of the crew, with most consideration given to the ACRA results.

Fast and Burns were awarded 2nd team Academic All American, the awards going to junior or senior athletes who have a cumulative 3.7 GPA or higher.

5-26-09 / 萝莉社 Rowing Medals at Nationals

Oak Ridge, TN鈥β芾蛏� Rowing medals in the women鈥檚 doubles and advances three boats to the Grand Finals at the American Collegiate Rowing Championships (ACRA), the best team effort in 萝莉社 Rowing history at a National event. Not only was the racing fantastic, but Student-Athletes Peter Fast 鈥�10 and Kim Calaman 鈥�10 were awarded All American honors at the regatta, an award given to athletes who have been in the top boat all season, have great sportsmanship and leadership. The athletes are nominated by the coaches and selected by the ACRA committee. Fast and Lisa Burns 鈥�10 were honored as academic All Americans, rowers who have a 3.8 or higher.

The ACRAs are the National Championship for non-athletic department sponsored rowing programs in the US. Teams come from both coasts and the midwest. 萝莉社 always looks forward to ACRAs because the level of competition is so high. 鈥淒uring this season, 萝莉社 has often taken off leaving its competition behind, at ACRA鈥檚 we know we鈥檒l be challenged all the way down the course,鈥� said head coach Calvin Cupp.

Rachel Cartwright 鈥�09 and Carlie Miller 鈥�12 took the Bronze medal in the women鈥檚 doubles, third to Kansas at 2nd and 1st place Oklahoma City University. 鈥淕oing into the race we felt really confident and ready,鈥� Miller said. The double is a sculling event, in which each rower has two oars instead of the one oar in the sweep events. Most collegiate rowing takes place in the fours and eights (sweep events), but a few programs such as 萝莉社 feel that offering both sculling and sweep rowing to its student-athletes affords them more racing opportunities and an overall better quality experience. Said Cartwright, 鈥淚 was happy to be able to see how I could do in something completely different.鈥�

萝莉社鈥檚 three fours all placed out of their heats and semi finals to advance to the Grand Finals, where all of them took fifth place.

The men鈥檚 varsity and novice fours each needed to finish in the top 4 of 6 in their heats on Saturday May 23 to advance to their afternoon semi finals. The novice men placed first and the varsity men second.

The afternoon semi finals posed more challenging competition and requirements, each had to be in the top 3 of six to advance to Sunday鈥檚 Grand Finals. In their semi, the novice finished third to Ohio State and Grand Valley.

Said Sam Smith 鈥�10 of the men鈥檚 varsity four, 鈥淲e knew Dayton would be ahead, and Sonoma close, our main goal was to stay ahead of UCLA 鈥� they have a good program and even though we had beaten them in the heats, we knew they would pick up more speed.鈥� The close pushing of UCLA helped 萝莉社 to be third over the finish line.

The women鈥檚 fours requirements for advancing to the finals were more challenging in some regards. In the morning heats, the first place boat automatically advanced to the grand final and the others re raced in the afternoon. The University of New Hampshire had the lead from the start followed by 萝莉社 but both were beaten over the finish line by a late charge from the University of Colorado.

In their semis, the same requirements existed: finish first to advance to grand finals. Going into the semis, the women felt very confident, 鈥淲e stayed long, constant and positive, 鈥� said stroke Melissa Koehn 鈥�11. The women rowed an 8:03, 10 seconds faster than the second place boat, easily sending them to Sunday鈥檚 Grand finals.

Going into the finals, 鈥渨e felt nervous, knowing we needed to race better than we ever have. We stepped it up and had a good race, even though we didn't medal, but I鈥檓 really looking forward to next year. In the boat, the rowers were all 2nd year rowers and the coxswain a first year. Next year, we will be more experienced as most program鈥檚 varsity boats have third and fourth year rowers.鈥�

In the varsity men鈥檚 four final, 鈥渨e had a good laugh at the start line as we looked across at the other athletes who were all larger than us. We鈥檙e a mismatch of height and weight, but somehow we make it come together,鈥� said 3 seat Peter Fast. Height is a benefit in rowing as 6鈥�5鈥� Fast knows, but with only four varsity men, Fast has to follow 6鈥�0鈥� Jimmy Fast stroke for stroke or the boat doesn't go.

The varsity men were particularly pleased with their time of 6:52.0, their fastest of the season and two seconds faster than last year鈥檚 best.

The ACRAs ends the 08-09 season for the Shockers, by far one of its best seasons. 鈥淲e won the Upper Midwest, won the state championships, and won the Midwest Championships, this is first time we have won all three in addition to putting four boats in the Grand Finals at a National Championship,鈥� said head Coach Calvin Cupp.

5-09-2009 / 萝莉社 Rowing Wins Governor's Cup at Sunflower State Championships

萝莉社 Rowing takes first in every event except the novice women鈥檚 four to win the Governor鈥檚 Cup at the Sunflower State Championships.

The traveling event hosted by 萝莉社 this year was meant to take place on the Arkansas River with the finish in front of the Douglas St bridge so that Riverfest runners and participants could watch the racing and the staging would occur from the BG Products boathouse, home of the Shocker Rowers. Unfortunately, the Arkansas River鈥檚 discharge was at 9,000 cubic feet per second, making it far too dangerous for man powered boats to attempt to navigate, let alone race against and finish faster than at a snail鈥檚 crawl. Normal flow is around 500 cubic feet.

Fortunately, Wichita area rowers have been rowing from the shores of the Little Arkansas for several years and so the three teams loaded their boats on trailers and headed to Riverside for racing in Riverside Park. The current was still fast, but raceable. The course was shortened from its normal 2000 meters to 1300 m to be able to race on a straightaway, otherwise a turn would give the inside lane an unfair advantage.

萝莉社 Women鈥檚 Varsity Four was the real delight of the day, taking the win from Kansas who had beaten them last weekend in Topeka. Coxswain Lisa Burns, rowers Kacie Laha, Kim Calaman, Melissa Koehn and Stephanie Lillie finished the race in 4:04.7 to KU鈥檚 4:10.1 and KSU鈥檚 4:39.8. 鈥淚鈥檝e been racing these girls {KU} since last year where they came in third to our fourth last year at Nationals,鈥� commented Lillie. 鈥淚 really wanted to hand them a win鈥�Finally.鈥�
萝莉社鈥檚 novice women鈥檚 four also had a surprise ending. Novice rowers can only compete as novice their first year of collegiate rowing. 萝莉社 only has four novice women, one of them, Eva Spare, has been injured until two weeks ago, so the rowers have not been able to compete together. With little practice time together, the four was not expected to do well. They started the race in the lead, and unfortunately dropped to KU who finished in 4:10.9, but 萝莉社 still finished ahead of KSU, 4:25.2 and 4:32.7.

萝莉社 men鈥檚 boats all brought home gold, as was expected, having beaten Kansas and KSU several times earlier in the season.

The team now spends two weeks at home gearing for Nationals on May 23 and 24.

5-04-2009 / All 萝莉社 Rowers Medal at Great Plains Regatta in Topeka

The Great Plains Regatta on Lake Shawnee in Topeka, KS saw intense racing by 萝莉社 Rowing especially in the Men鈥檚 Varsity events and women鈥檚 eight, with each and every Shocker rower sporting a bronze, silver or gold medal on the bus ride home.

The Men鈥檚 Varsity eight, four, pair and lightweight four all took first place. The novice men鈥檚 lightweight four, mixed four and women鈥檚 pair also brought home the gold for the Shockers. Also placing well were Malcolm Johnson and Allen Strickler in the men鈥檚 double who placed 2nd in a 7 boat race. Johnson and Strickler have not rowed the 2x all season and this was Johnson鈥檚 7th race of the day and Strickler鈥檚 4th. The women鈥檚 eight has all season long been making great strides, Saturday saw the Shockers beat all of the regional club programs and finish behind Drake and Creighton, two fully funded NCAA athletic programs. The women鈥檚 varsity four beat Creighton鈥檚 B boat which had two weeks ago easily beaten 萝莉社. The Shockers placed 4th overall out of 9. The women鈥檚 team was also able to race a women鈥檚 novice four, the first of the season, with Eva Spare off the injured list. Hannah Schell, Kelsey Corrigan, Spare, Carlie Miller and cox Lisa Burns placed third in this event.

The novice men finally had some good competition from Midwest teams. After having beaten Iowa at the Upper Midwest, the Hawkeyes were determined to beat the Shockers and unfortunately did in the men鈥檚 novice eights and four events. 鈥淏eing beaten can be a good training tool,鈥� Assistant Coach Tori Breithaupt said, 鈥渆specially when we assess what we could have done differently and practice to be stronger next time. At the National Championships, we know we are going to face very stiff competition, we need every blip and bump in the season we can get. If we鈥檝e already handled being behind after 500 meters then we know what we need to do to take the lead again. If all season long, we鈥檙e always in the lead, this doesn't give us as many opportunities at different race strategies.鈥�

The Shockers host KU and KSU at home this weekend and head to National Championships on the 23rd and 24th of May.

4-29-09 / 萝莉社 Rowing Hosts KU and KSU on Big Arkansas River May 9

There are a few sports in which 萝莉社, the University of Kansas and Kansas State University are able to compete against the other two schools all at the same time; rowing is one of them. All three school鈥檚 rowing teams will race in the Sunflower State Championships in Wichita on May 9, 2009 at 9-11:30 a.m.

The races will take place out of the BG Products Boathouse on the Arkansas River. The start line will be just north of the Lincoln Street bridge with races concluding by the Hyatt. Viewing can be seen anywhere along the river or from the Lewis St. bridge. Spectators are welcome to park at the BG Boathouse and view from the boathouse鈥檚 banks where refreshments are available and race play-by-play can be heard.

萝莉社 Rowing has been competing against KU and KSU since 萝莉社鈥檚 crew inception in 1975. While 萝莉社 has won the Governor鈥檚 cup (all around trophy) in recent years, 萝莉社 has not dominated every year.

萝莉社 goes into this year鈥檚 races having already beaten KU at the John Hunter Regatta in the men鈥檚 novice eight, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 varsity four events. 萝莉社 was faster than KSU at the Upper Midwest in the same events. One event that will be hotly contested is the women鈥檚 eight and novice women鈥檚 four events in which all three teams鈥� speeds are equitable.

In years past, there has been an alumni event. Kansas rowers interested in racing other alumni should contact 萝莉社 Assistant Coach Tori Breithaupt. 978-3465

Special to this regatta will be a boat naming ceremony at 10:30 AM. Boats are given names for people who have contributed to the program; for example, one of the boats is named the Giovanni Bancheri in honor of former 萝莉社 Rowing coach John Bancheri who lead the team in the 1980s. The new name is being kept a secret until the 9th.

4-26-2009 / 萝莉社 Rowing Takes Men's Team Trophy Second Week in a Row

Wichita, KS- This Saturday the 萝莉社 Rowing Team competed in the Midwest Intercollegiate Rowing Championship, Tulsa, OK, where the 萝莉社 men took the Men鈥檚 team award a second week in a row (the Upper Midwest Team Trophy was won last week), while the women fought against some of the fastest crews of the nation.

The Midwest Intercollegiate Rowing Championship, is a regatta for rowing teams without a distinct rowing conference; Drake, Creighton and 萝莉社 represent the Missouri Valley, Tulsa and SMU, Conference USA and the University of Oklahoma City, the NAIA. This year was 萝莉社鈥檚 first appearance in the competition.

The men won the team points trophy by placing first in the Novice 4+, Varsity 4+, and Varsity 8+ events. The men's eight of coxswain Alfredo Ortiz, and rowers Jimmy Sharp, Malcolm Johnson, Clint Simmons, Peter Fast, Sam Smith, Paul Houston, Brandon Manuel, and Allen Strickler finished the race with the fastest time of the day of 5.52.

鈥淚 was glad to see that they raced fast and hard, especially given to the poor water conditions,鈥� Assistant Coach Tori Breithaupt said. The rowers had to battle against 7-8 mile currents and wind gusts of 20 mph. The current was so strong the race course was shortened to 1500 meters instead of the standard 2000 meters to prevent being pushed against bridge pillars.

In the Women鈥檚 Varsity 4 event , (coxswain Maggi McKibben, rowers Kacie Laha, Kimberly Calaman, Melissa Koehn, and Stephanie Lillie) advanced from heats to the petite final where they took second place with a time of 8:12. The JV women鈥檚 four also placed second with a time of 8:47 (coxswain Diana Troung, rowers Daphne Sierra, Carlie Miller, Hannah Schell, and Rachel Cartwright).

鈥淲e鈥檙e pleased to see that the women鈥檚 boats are getting faster every race, early in the season they were 1 陆 minutes behind Creighton, that time has decreased to 25 seconds and the men continue to pull out fast times,鈥� Breithaupt said. 鈥� We are looking forward for good quality racing and challenging competition next weekend in Topkea at the Great Plains Regatta.鈥�

May 9th the 萝莉社 Rowers will host KU and KSU at home on the Big Arkansas. Races start at 9 AM and can be viewed from the Riverwalk.

4-22-2009 / 萝莉社 Rowing Signs Two Local Recruits

萝莉社 Rowing is pleased to announce the addition of Grant Milford of Maize High School and Sydney Blanton of Trinity Academy High School in Wichita to its 2009-2010 squad.

Milford, a 6 yr football player and Blanton, a 7 year swimmer, both began rowing this winter for the Wichita Rowing Association with coach (and former 萝莉社 rower) Brian Adamson 鈥�92. Blanton, impressed with the Barton School of Business at 萝莉社, knew that she wanted a team experience in college, but 萝莉社 had no swimming team. 鈥淚 discovered that a lot of swimmers take up rowing as a second sport. I began in January rowing for Wichita Rowing Association to see how I would like it and I really enjoy it,鈥� Blanton said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited to have picked up Sydney,鈥� said Head Coach Calvin Cupp, 鈥渉aving more student athletes that know what rowing is, is a huge boon to our program. Sydney is excited to come be a student athlete and contribute to the program we鈥檙e trying to grow. It鈥檚 also really nice to have two local kids with rowing experience who are coming to row for their hometown college.鈥�

Milford picked up rowing because he thought it looked like a great sport and now loves the experience and workout. The Shocker coaches were immediately impressed with Milford鈥檚 race results at the Shocker Sprints Indoor Rowing In February 2009 where Milford placed first among junior (high school) men and second in the 500 meter open category beating several college-aged athletes. The coaches approached Milford and were pleased to learn Milford was already interested in 萝莉社 because of its renowned engineering program.

Both athletes have been offered scholarships by 萝莉社 Rowing. Milford will officially sign at 10:45 AM Friday April 24 at Maize High School. Blanton was offered the Don and Lee Wadsworth scholarship named in honor of the Wadsworths in honor of their generous contributions to 萝莉社 Rowing.

Milford and Blanton will join red shirt athlete Kevin Sossa on the novice squad next year. Sossa 鈥�12, an engineering major, has been with the team since January 2009. 鈥淭his is a great investment on Kevin鈥檚 part and we鈥檙e really impressed with the technical and physical progress he has made,鈥� said Assistant Coach Tori Breithaupt. 鈥淏eing a red shirt shows a lot of character and determination to be as prepared and experienced as he can, Kevin can be a good role model to the novice rowers and an example for other red shirt rowers could use in future,鈥� commented Coach Cupp.

Most of the rowing team is and will continue to be walk-ons, but having three student-athletes with previous rowing experience will help drive 萝莉社 Rowing to future success. Much of the current Shocker wins can be attributed to the leadership of Malcolm Johnson 鈥�12 and Isabel Villaneda van Vloten 鈥�12, both former rowers.

Sydney Blanton
High School: Trinity
Hometown: Wichita, KS
Rowing Experience: port, starboard and sculling
Other sports: 7 years swimming, 7 years soccer, 9 years basketball
Major: Business-Entrepreneurship
Awards and achievements: National Honors Society (11,12); Headmaster's Honor Roll (9-12); Missouri Valley Swimming All-Academic Team 2006-2007, 2007-2008; Sedgwick County Zoo Volunteer Service Award Summer 2007; Varsity Swimming lettered (9-11)
Personal: parents Gary and Althea Blanton. Father is a 萝莉社 alumnus.

Grant Milford
High School: Maize High School
Hometown: Maize, Kansas
Rowing experience: port, starboard and sculling
Other sports: football 6 years, track 2 years
Awards and achievements: Sedgwick County Scholarship, General Academic Scholarship
Major: Computer Engineering
Personal: Parents Rocky and Leisa Milford, both 萝莉社 Alumni, siblings Kelsey and Brock

Kevin Sossa
High School: Andover Central
Hometown: Andover, Kansas
Rowing Experience: Red Shirt 萝莉社 Rowing
Position: Port or Starboard and sculling
Major: Engineering
Personal: David and Martha Sossa sister Jasmine
Awards and achievements: lettered in track, wrestling and football, football Bi-District Champions
Sports: 3 yrs football, 2 track, 2 in wrestling
Why 萝莉社 Rowing: 鈥淐an't imagine doing anything else!鈥�

4-20-2009 / 萝莉社 Rowing wins the Men鈥檚 Team Championship Trophy at Upper Midwest Collegiate Sprints.

Both the men鈥檚 varsity and novice eight take first place in their races to help put the team over Nebraska, Kansas State, Iowa, St. Thomas and the University of Kansas in Omaha, Nebraska Sunday April 19, 2009 at the Upper Midwest Collegiate Rowing Sprints.

The men鈥檚 eight of coxswain Alfredo Ortiz, rowers Jimmy Sharp, Malcolm Johnson, Clint Simmons, Peter Fast, Sam Smith, Paul Houston, Brandon Manuel, and Allen Strickler started the day for 萝莉社 with an easy win in their 8s heat. The rowers then raced in several other events before finishing the day with a 3 boat length win of 4:28, the second place boat, Iowa finished 17.6 seconds behind 萝莉社 and .2 seconds in front of 3rd place KSU.

Going into the Men鈥檚 Eight Final, 萝莉社 knew St. Thomas would have a fast start and good speed. St. Thomas鈥� four won the Dad Vails men鈥檚 four championship in 2008 and those rowers were back on the water. 鈥淓ven though we knew that St. Thomas was the 鈥榖etter鈥� boat, we knew that we had to get out and get the job done in order to win the team point trophy,鈥� Brandon Manuel commented, 鈥渨e were told that St. Thomas would have a very fast start, when we saw that we were ahead at the beginning of the eight, this gave us great motivation.鈥�

The hardest part of the day for many of the men鈥檚 rowers was pacing themselves. Manuel and Johnson both raced in 6 races that day, 5 for Simmons and Houston Strickler, Ortiz and Sharp in 4, and 3 for the others. In each of the early races, the boats were commanded to get ahead and if ahead by open water, to take the rate down. Several teams are known for starting slow and finishing with a fast sprint so it鈥檚 not an easy task for the 萝莉社 rowers to get ahead and see a boat creeping back on them and have the courage to take it slow. Despite pacing themselves, the lightweight, novice A and men鈥檚 varsity four A all took first place. The men鈥檚 varsity four B took second by .08 to Oklahoma City University.

The men's novice eight also had several boat lengths of open water over their competitors finishing with a time of 6:12.58, Nebraska was second, 16.29 seconds behind. KU finished third.

The women鈥檚 team brought home their first medals of the season with a third place win in the women鈥檚 varsity four and the women鈥檚 eight placed out of their heat to go to the grand final where they finished sixth.

萝莉社 heads into next weekend's races in Tulsa, Oklahoma excited to test how much speed they have been gaining over the course of the season, particularly the women's eight. At the Texas Invitational, 萝莉社 women's eight lost to Central Oklahoma by 45 seconds. This weekend, 萝莉社 lost to UCO by 3 sec, who had lost to UCO by 10 seconds on the previous weekend. Most teams aim to get faster over the course of a season, but gaining 30 to 40 seconds on a competitor is a huge task. Furthermore, the 萝莉社 lineup has not changed over the course of the season, whereas UCO and OCU have had depth to cull from in order to feed the fastest lineup of the weekend.

萝莉社 Rowing Medals in Five Events, Fourth in the Other Three

萝莉社 Rowing heads away from the John Hunter Regatta bearing medals in 5 events and fourth in the remaining 3. The regatta took place on Lake Lanier, Georgia, home of the 1996 rowing Olympic events. 萝莉社 headed into the regatta coming off strong racing in March and were eager to test their speed against fast east coast teams such as Emory, Georgia Tech and Georgia.

萝莉社 definitely caught the attention of the east coast who might not have known who we were until the Novice Men鈥檚 Four took a gold with open water early in the day over NC State, Georgia Tech and others. The boat of (cox: Isabel Villaneda van Vloten 鈥�12, Clint Simmons 鈥�12, Paul Houston 鈥�12, Brandon Manuel 鈥�10 and Malcolm Johnson, 鈥�12) finished with a time of 7:25 and were the fastest time of any of the 24 men鈥檚 novice fours of the day.

Johnson, Villaneda van Vloten and Manuel, then jumped in the Men鈥檚 Novice Eight and helped that boat to a bronze medal losing only to Emory and Georgia Tech with a time of 7:10.

But the racing was not over for Johnson and Manuel, who went straight from the eight to the men鈥檚 lightweight four with three (Alfredo Ortiz 鈥�10, Jimmy Sharp 鈥�10, and Allen Strickler 鈥�10) of the varsity four men who had just finished their race. Lightweight men must average 155 lb, with no one being over 160 and the men weighed in 0.1 lbs under the limit. The Four fought hard all race but could not beat Emory whose racers were fresh finishing their first race of the day.
The varsity men鈥檚 four and varsity women鈥檚 four both placed out of their heats, 1st and second respectively to go to finals. The men鈥檚 four finished third overall of 17 boats with a time of 7:16 and the women finished 4th of 18 boats with a time of 8:35.

Other medalists of the day were the men鈥檚 novice four B who finished third with a time of 8:10.
萝莉社 Rowing nows heads into two weeks of solid training before heading to Omaha, Nebraska for the Upper Midwest Championships.