2018 Capital Rowing Club Board

Executive Board

Kirsten Peterson (President)
Originally from Iowa, Kirsten has been living and working in the DC area for the past 13 years. She currently works as the Human Resources Manager at American Humane, a national nonprofit dedicated to the welfare, wellness and wellbeing of children and animals. Over the years, when not rowing or working she has spent time supporting a handful of nonprofit organizations in a variety of capacities. Kirsten joined the Learn to Row program in 2013 because she’d always been curious about rowing but hadn’t had the opportunity to try it. Kirsten loves the fun, interesting people at Capital, found rowing to be an amazing form of exercise, and loves having a great excuse to leave work at a decent hour! After LTR she went to INR and SAW and now rows with Club PM.

James Mauro (VP of Resources)
James took Learn to Row with Capital in 2012 and has been a member ever since.

Mike Neumann (VP of Operations)
After rowing in college at Northwestern University, Mike took a two-decade hiatus from rowing before joining Capital Rowing Club in 2014. Since then, he’s been an active member of the Club PM program, and now serves as Capital’s Vice President of Operations. In his professional career, Mike served as a United States Marine for 12 years, and for the last 8 years he has worked as the Director of Operations for a national security unit at an international research and analysis think tank.

Toni Kerns (VP of Membership)
Toni Kerns joined Capitol in 2013 and is serving her fourth year on Capitol’s Board of Directors, and third year as VP of Membership. She can be found rowing with Club PM most nights and working on sustainable fisheries policy during the week. Toni found her way back to rowing after many many many years off and can not be happier about being out on the Anacostia with a great rowing community!

Lain Wilson (Secretary)
Lain has been rowing, off and on, since college. He has been a member of Capital for the last three years, both with Club AM and Club PM. He moved to D.C. five years ago to work at a research institute, where he is currently the digital content manager.

Directors at Large:

Elected

Stephanie Acerra (Director at Large & Race Czarina)
Having been a collegiate Field Hockey and Lacrosse player, seeking a sport I could continue to be competitive in, I learned to row after college in 1997. I rowed recreationally in 1997 and 2002-2005, and competitively 1998-2001, and since 2005, and began rowing with the Capital Competitive Sculling and Sweep teams in 2012. In addition to rowing with Capital, I teach math and coach the crew team at a local high school. I also bring the experience of having served on two previous rowing clubs’ boards, as well as having started and served on the board of a not for profit organization funding schools in Uganda.

Jacqueline Battistini (Social Director)

Anne Diggs (Director at Large)
Anne Diggs has been a member of CRC since 2013. She began rowing in 2001 with the Concept2 Holiday Challenge – and has completed it every year since. She was exposed to rowing on the water in 2005 with the first DC “We Can Row “ weekend at ACBA – 30 minutes of sweep fame! Anne learned how to scull in 2008 at San Diego Rowing Cub. When she returned to Washington DC in 2013, she truly learned how to scull at CRC with Coach Kate Bonner. Anne sculls competitively for CRC, and is also a leader on the “ARIEL TOY” Virtual Rowing Team during the Concept 2 January Virtual Team Challenge. Recently retired from the US Navy, she now has time to give back to her community.

June Marshall (Director at Large)
June is a originally from Houston, Texas and came to Capital in the summer of 2013 beginning with the Learn to Row program, then matriculated through INR and has been rowing with Club PM since 2014. She appreciates that Capital provides a quality rowing experience for all who want to participate in the sport and is a diverse and inclusive rowing club. June came to Washington, DC for law school and has stuck around ever since. When not rowing, June is a real estate attorney at a national law firm in DC.

Appointed

Gretchen Abell (Director at Large)
Gretchen Abell’s rowing career began when she was tapped for coxing by the mighty Oakland Strokes in her California high school days. Following four years of coxing with the BU terriers in the 90s, and some time coaching at MIT during her Masters, Gretchen landed in the Washington DC area where she took on the role of head coach of the Georgetown Visitation Cubs. Shortly after, some light persuasion to cox “just one race” brought Gretchen to Capital. Fifteen years later, Gretchen has coached for several Capital programs, MC-ed many a Cap sprints, and is a long-time member of the Comp Women’s team as well as having served on the board for eight terms as VP of Operations.

Georgia Bullen (Webmaster)
Georgia Bullen is the Director of Technology Projects with New America’s Open Technology Institute. Georgia joined Capital Rowing Club in Spring of 2014. She started rowing in college at Carnegie Mellon University, where she later coached while rowing with Three Rivers Rowing Association.

Rick Evans (Director at Large)
Rick started rowing this year and joined CRC for the fall season as it afforded more opportunities to row. The people associated with the club are fantastic and the Capital Way is very effective in training people from absolute beginner through to the clubs and even to the competitive team if desired. His son rowed for UCSD and created the bug to row. The bucket list now includes a father-son rowing event at the San Diego Crew Classic in the near future. When Rick isn’t rowing, erging or dreaming of rowing (note he is not dreaming of erging), he’s busy as a network and communications engineer.

Courtney Fratzke (Director at Large)
Rowing has been a huge part of my life ever since I first learned nine years ago. Having rowed competitively for six of those nine years has been both incredibly hard work and just as immensely rewarding. When I moved to D.C. from Cleveland three years ago as part of a job change, the ability to join Capital Rowing Club helped me make wonderful friends as well as get to know my new city. My experience on multiple competitive rowing teams as well as my genuine appreciation for the skills anybody can learn and use to enrich their lives through this truly unique sport are things I value and hope to share.

Bethany Neumann (Director at Large)
Bethany joined Capital through the Club’s Learn to Row Program in 2012. She served on the Board as the VP of Resources 2013-2015, and as a Director at Large from 2016 onwards. Bethany spends her days as a Finance Director at George Washington University and her evenings rowing on the Anacostia with Club PM.

Caitlin Toynbee (Director at Large)

Meagan McAllister (Director of Adaptive Programs)
Meagan McAllister, Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) first learned about crew as a high school freshman. She then was a member of the rowing team as part of her time at Ithaca College. As a Recreation Therapist at INOVA Mount Vernon Rehabilitation Hospital, Meagan assists individuals with stroke, traumatic brain injury, orthopedic and cardiac injuries reach their cognitive and mobility goals for community re-entry through involvement in leisure and social activities. Meagan has always had a passion for adaptive sport and has been involved in hand-cycling, quad rugby, amputee soccer, and wounded warrior flag football events. Meagan is thrilled to be a part of the Capital Adaptive family and to promote the inclusion of athletes with various abilities in the rehabilitative, community, and competitive aspects of rowing.

Brandon DuBois & Karen Werth (ACBA Representatives)

Lauren Cisek (Gear Goddess)

Lily Elsner (Community Programs)
Lily recently joined Capital after moving to the D.C. area to work at Capital One. She learned the basics of rowing at Wellesley College, but spent the last several years erg-ing out her frustration while living in New York City. Her enthusiasm for and infatuation with the sport of rowing makes promoting the club to the community easy. She is always glad to connect you and your community members with ways to be more involved.

Program Reps:

CARP — Joe Tezak

Club AM — Mark Lance
I am professor of philosophy and professor of justice and peace at Georgetown University. I have served in the past on numerous boards – both of academic and activist organizations. This is my first sports-related board, though I have been active in various sports for 4 decades and taught several, including rowing.

Club PM — Mary McMenamin
Mary has been rowing on the Anacostia River since 2006, when she first joined the University of Maryland’s women’s crew team. After rowing for a few summers on the Potomac River, Mary is glad to be back on the Anacostia and, more importantly, to have made a home within the Capital Club PM team. Outside of rowing, Mary works at the National Foreign Language Center, a research center at the University of Maryland. (Things really do come full circle.) Occasionally she’ll call power 10s in other languages to mix things up.

Club Sculling — Chantel Sheaks
Chantel was in Capital’s learn to row program in 2012.  Due to a heavy travel schedule in 2013, Chantel began sculling, and she has continued since.  She can be found most evenings with Club Sculling, and on the water at random times on her own. During the day, she is an employee benefits attorney.

Comp Sculling — Rob Best
I learnt to row in 2004 and have been at it most years since then. I got into sculling at Capital, continued with Rob Roy Boat Club in Cambridge, and have been back since 2013. Outside of rowing, I am a scientist at the NIH in Bethesda.

Comp Men — Craig “Capital Will Be Great Again” McKay
I am 57 year old guy who married his college sweetheart (who happened to be a coxswain on the rowing team) and subsequently bred to female coxswains (both competed in high school and college) and has now successfully transitioned to be a happy empty nester. I recently retired from 32 years in the civil service to private sector job that enables my rowing addiction. My wife also provides support by coxing two mornings a week. It doesn’t get better than this!

Comp Women — Jack Battistini

SAW (co-reps) — Sara Grimes and Susie Allen-Serpinski
Sara: I grew up on the Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest. My happy place is on or near a body of water. I only wish I had learned to row sooner. I currently live in Germantown Maryland. I have been working as a dental hygienist for 26 years. I have come to love the Anacostia Community Boathouse and hope to row here and contribute to the rowing community for many years to come.

Susie: In my day job, I’m an engineer for the US Navy working on aircraft systems. I started rowing in college at Florida Tech and fell in love with the sport.

Coaches:

Stephanie Acerra (Juniors)

Susie Allen-Sierpinski (Adaptive)

Sophia Alonso (Juniors)

Loreen Arnold (Club Sculling)

Nathan Ballou (Club PM)

Rachel Blessing (Learn to Row)

Elena Bratichko (Competitive Sweep)

Guennadi Bratichko (Competitive Sweep)

Jonathan Clark (Adaptive)

Brandon DuBois (Juniors, Adaptive, INR, Learn to Row)

Zoe Gentes (Club AM)

Michele Hill (Juniors)

Jason Johnson (Comp Sculling)
Jason stated his rowing career as a coxswain at Holy Cross in Worcester Massachusetts. By his second year he had grown into the role of lightweight stroke and finished his college career assisting the novice coaches following an injury. After moving to Washington, DC he served as head coach for Trinity College for three years. Following a 20 year hiatus from rowing Jason joined Capital as the Competitive Sculling coach in 2015.

Emmie King (Adaptive)
Emmie was a founding member of the rowing team for the university of Maryland in college park in 1999. She was the head coach of the women’s program at UMCP in 2002 and the men’s program at UMCP in 2010. Emmie was the assistant coach for Capital’s Club AM program in 2008 and one of the novice sculling coaches in 2009. She’s been assisting CARP since 2015. Otherwise, I’ve been trying to stay in shape with sculling and help her rowing family as much as she can.

Jai Mitchell (Adaptive)
As a high school rower at Washington-Lee, Jai rowed under the legendary Charlie Butt, and stroked his lightweight eight to a gold medal at the Stotesbury Cup. He then continued his rowing career at UC Santa Barbara as both an athlete and later on as head coach of the men’s freshmen team, leading his heavyweight 8 to an upset victory at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. This past year, he coached the Rock Creek Rowing Men’s Masters team and after winning a gold in every event and race of the sprint season, the 8 won its first ever gold medal at the Diamond States Regatta. Jai has degrees in film from UCSB and the New York Film Academy, and has worked for companies such as The Discovery Channel, NBC, CBS, and the Hallmark Channel. Jai is thrilled to be coaching at CARP and brings a program that emphasizes hard work, technique, tradition and fun.

Sarah Montgomery (Learn to Row)

Steve Neumann (Club PM, Juniors)
Steve Neumann is the lead coach of the Capital Private Sculling and Your Team programs, and is an assistant with the Capital Juniors (high school), Club PM (adult) and Indoor Learn to Row programs. Steve has ten years of experience coaching sweep rowing and sculling programs – developing competitive, recreational and novice rowers from ages 13-70+. As an athlete, in 20 years of competing Steve has won championship medals at dozens of national and regional regattas at the collegiate and adult levels. He has served as a team captain and board member in various capacities, building multiple competitive and educational rowing programs. Steve is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, and as a member of Wisconsin’s crew won medals at three IRA national championship regattas and the 1997 Ten Eyck national team championship. His coaching mentors include current and former national champion coaches Chris Clark and Randall Jablonic.

Bob Reichart (Competitive Sculling, Club Sculling)
Bob Reichart has been with CRC since 2013, and currently coaches one session of the club sculling and novice sculling programs. Bob starting rowing at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, where he rowed in the highly successful Freshmen and Varsity Lightweight Crews. He has rowed with the Bantam, Minnesota and San Diego Rowing Clubs, and is Captain for the “ARIEL TOY” Virtual Rowing Team during the Concept 2 January Virtual Team Challenge. Bob is a 30 year US Navy Veteran who began coaching rowing in 2014.

Lisa Saladino (SAW)

Jim Spruill (SAW)

Russell Topp (Juniors)

Andy Waiters (Learn to Row, INR)

Rob Walker (Learn to Row)
Rob Walker is currently the boys varsity coach for the Justice High School Rowing team in Falls Church, Virginia. Rob has been coaching and teaching at Justice High School for the past four years. Prior to moving to Virginia, Rob lived in Pittsburgh for five years, where he attended The University of Pittsburgh and learned to row and compete with Pitt Crew throughout his collegiate career. Rob has either coached or rowed every type of boat over the years and looks forward to introducing rowing to anyone willing to listen.

Jane Wang (Club PM)

Committees

• Executive Committee: President, VP of Resources, VP of Membership, VP of Operations & Secretary
• Safety Committee: President, VP of Operations, all Program Reps, one at-large director and anyone appointed by the President.
• Finance Committee: President, VP of Resources, and the President, in consultation with the board, will appoint at least three additional members.
• Development Committee
• Hiring & Recruitment
• Juniors Program Committee