Cougar Crew Alumni Association

Meet the Board of Directors of Cougar Crew Alumni Association (CCAA)
Tim Richards - Chairman
Josh Proctor - Vice Chairman
Doug Engle - Financial Advisor
Danny Brevick - Alumni Representative
Ken Struckmeyer - Faculty Advisor
Arthur Ericsson - Head Coach
Julia Gamache - Novice Coach
Mitch Williams - Commodore
Jimmy Johnson - Vice Commodore
Nick Estvold - Treasurer
Lauren Curtis - Historian
Kramer Wahlberg- Webmaster

People Instrumental in getting CCAA started:
Danny Brevick (Former Commodore)
Michelle Arganbright (former Head Coach)


Tim Richards - Chairman
     Tim, better known as "Haole" during his time on Cougar Crew, rowed from the Fall of 1977 to the Spring of 1980. In the Lightweight 8 during his rowing tenure, he rowed both starboard and port under then Head Coach Ken Struckmeyer who referred to this as being "Amphibious". ("Haole" wonders if this distinction had more to do with the rowing either sides or the fact that he took many long walks off short docks because of the coach....) He served as Commodore for the 1979-1980 season. A graduate of the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine in 1984, he is currently in practice and cattle ranching in Hawaii.

Josh Proctor - Vice Chairman
     Josh was a member of Cougar Crew from the Fall of 1997 to the Spring of 2001. His major was Management Information Systems and employment currently finds him as a Functional Analyst with The Boeing Company. He lives in Kirkland, Washington and continues to row and compete with Lake Washington Rowing Club, (2002 - present) as well as long distance running competitions.

Doug Engle - Financial Advisor
     Doug rowed for Cougar Crew from the Fall of 1975 until 1979. Originally intending to walk on the basketball team, Doug tried rowing and the rest of the story is evident. His class was the first to field a Freshman 8. (They also had the dubious distinction of borrowing the University of Washington's "Royal Brougham" 8 man shell and rolling it in Lake Washington.) Doug spent his rowing career in the 5 seat of the Heavyweight 8; part of the famous "Engine Room". He served as Vice-Commodore during the 1978-1979 and also volunteered as the JV coach for the 1979-1980 season. One of the shining highlight of his tenure came when he was a member of the "Meat Wagon", a 4 with coxswain. The first Cougar Crew ever to attend the IRA National Championships in Syracuse, New York, Doug with his team members made Cougar Crew Rowing history by winning the Championship in 1979. Today finds Doug still in Pullman managing the laboratory for the USDA - Western Wheat Quality / Ag Research Service. He has been active in Crew Alumni activities since 1980.

(Members of the "Meat Wagon" were John "Yumbo" Holtman, Chris "Squish" Gulick, Doug "D'Engle" Engle, Rich "Flip" Ray, with Al "Horseshack" Fisher as coxswain.)

Danny Brevick - Alumni Representative
     Danny rowed from the fall of 2001 to the spring of 2005. He immensely enjoyed the involvement that being an officer on the Crew provided. He looks forward to continuing his involvement with the team as the Alumni Representative.

Ken Struckmeyer - Faculty Advisor
     Ken to many, "Coach" to hundreds if not thousands of oarsmen and oarswomen of the 1970's into the 1990's, "Al" to a few, was the Cougar Crew Head Coach from 1973 until 1992. A coach, mentor and friend to the oarsmen that rowed during his tenure, Ken has been on the Washington State University Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture for 34 years. Currently he serves as the University Ombudsman and Chair of the Faculty Senate. Today finds Ken and Marg (Crew Mom) still making their home in Pullman.

Arthur Ericsson - Head Coach
     Coach Ericsson has now been the head coach for WSU Men’s Crew for five years. In this position, he has worked with the varsity open and lightweight crews and helped the team undergo significant expansion.

     Examples of the expansion of the team include membership in the WIRA and ACRA conferences, the revival of the lightweight crew, the creation of the Palouse Rowing masters and juniors community summer program, the annual fall camping row, spring break training in Tri-Cities, alumni entries at the Head of the Lake regatta, and the addition of the women’s lightweight team.

    “The success of WSU Men’s Crew boils down to three things: the student athletes, their parents and all of our alumni,” notes Ericsson. “Year after year, the Crew has worked as hard as ever, on and off the water. Thanks to this ceaseless effort by the students, we have given our parents and alumni something to be very proud of. It reminds our alumni of when they were involved. And our Cougar parents see how much the team means to them and what mature sacrifices they make to be a part of it.”

    Highlights during Coach Ericsson’s period include the Fawley Cup & bronze in the WIRA V8 & 5th in the IRA V4 in ’06, gold in the PCRC VL8 & WIRA VL4 in ’07, and gold in the WIRA V4 in ’08 & ’09.

    Arthur lives in Pullman with his wife Sharon, who enjoys her job working as an academic advisor for WSU, and is in constant training with their nine year old daughter and two year old son.

Julia Gamache - Novice Coach
     Julia Gamache is in her second year at WSU as the novice coach. The Novice men last season saw many successes including winning Second place at the ACRA National Championships. The biggest accomplishment the team made in the 09 season was placing 4th at the PAC-10 Championships, edging out Oregon State, one of the biggest upsets in recent Cougar Crew history. She was incredibly proud of all the members on the team, showing depth at the WIRA Championships where all 21 members of the Novice roster received Bronze medals in their respective events.

      In the 2007-2008 Season she spent the year as the Varsity assistant coach for the University of Miami women’s crew. Julia was also the Miami boathouse manager, whose responsibilities included repairing and maintaining equipment and general upkeep of the boathouse.

      Prior to her time at Miami, Julia was an intern coach at the University of Washington and worked closely with both the men’s and women’s teams. Before her stint at Washington, Julia was an assistant master’s coach at the Conibear Rowing Club in Seattle, and was an assistant master’s coach and women’s novice coach at the Everett Rowing Association in Everett. Julia also gained experience as a volunteer coach for the Canadian National Adaptive Rowing Team as she worked with the adaptive 4+ in Miami as they trained for the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

     A native of Seattle, WA, Julia earned a degree in Health and Sport Science with a focus in Sport Psychology at Western Washington University in 2006. While at WWU, Julia was named a first-team All-American by the Division-II NCAA Coaches Association three years in a row and led the Vikings to back-to-back NCAA Division-II National Championships in 2005 and 2006. Julia served as the team captain from 2004-2006 and was named the Western Washington Athlete-of-the-Year for the 2005-2006 season.

      Julia continues to encourage athletes to love the sport of rowing however she can. She is excited to see the new class of novice realize what this sport is about. Being able to watch the transition into this sport is one of the most satisfying things for a novice coach.

Mitch Williams - Commodore
     Mitch Williams is a 4th year oarsman. He graduated from Kentwood High School in Kent, Washington. His decision to attend WSU was an easy one, having parents and grandparents who are alumni of the university. Mitch never gave rowing much thought, until he got a letter in the mail before his freshmen year. He says joining the team has been one of the best decisions of his life. He has traveled the nation and world thanks to crew. His favorite memories are attending the IRA Championship Regatta in New Jersey and spending a semester abroad in Australia to row at the Sydney Rowing Club. Mitch looks forward to the 2009-2010 season and hopes to win the WIRA Championships and make some noise at the Pac-10 Championships. Mitch's responsibilities including coordinating with coaches and overseeing the decisions and projects of the team, as well as organizing the "Erg-A-Thon" and "Tables and Chairs" fundraisers.

Jimmy Johnson - Vice Commodore
     Jimmy comes to the crew from Federal Way, Washington. He will be in charge of scheduling travel for the team, as well as the Rent-A-Rower fundraisers.

Nick Estvold - Treasurer
     Nick appreciates immense opportunity for leadership and hands on learning, by becoming involved in an organization like WSU Men's Crew. Looking for ways to give back to the team beyond what he is capable of giving on the water, Nick felt it best to utilize his training as a Junior Accounting student to control the finances of the team. The interesting, and challenging accounting principals involved in managing a government affiliated non-profit provide a very rewarding opportunity for prudent fiscal management.

Lauren Curtis - Historian
     Lauren is a third year Varsity coxswain studying Marketing and Spanish. Lauren hails from Suquamish, Washington, and is excited to have a great year. Her duties will include recording boat lineups and race results/race times, and also making press releases to the newspapers statewide. She also looks forward to contributing in any other way possible.

Kramer Wahlberg - Webmaster
     Kramer is a third year oarsman from Covington, WA, graduating from Kentwood High School. He is majoring in Bioengineering at WSU, and is hoping to continue the success of Cougar Lightweight Rowing. His duties include updating this website, along with the sister site, row.wsu.edu.

Michelle Arganbright (Former Head Coach)
     Michelle was born in Tacoma but grew up in the Inland Empire; mostly around Spokane, Washington. In the Fall of 1992, she walked on to the Washington State Women's Crew as a Sophomore. Initially earning a partial scholarship, Michelle received full scholarships during her last 2 years of rowing. A member of the Varsity 8, she rowed 6 and Stroke and competed in the National Championships in 1995 and 1996. Graduating in 1996, Michelle worked for 2 years in a financial advisory group. In 1998, she returned to Pullman and accepted a job as Recruiter and Assistant Varsity Coach for the WSU Women's Crew. Michelle held this position while continuing her schooling until 2002 when the Women's Head Coach retired. In the Fall of 2002, the Men's Cougar Crew had lost their Head Coach. Michelle contacted the Men's Crew and in short order was hired as the Head Coach. From the Fall or 2002 until June 2004 and through her first pregnancy, Michelle coached the Men's Cougar Crew. (The team members sported shirts that read, "I Survived My Coaches First Trimester.) In June 2004, Michelle chose to leave coaching. Today, you will find Michelle with her husband and two children in Pullman pursuing further education and avid Cougar Crew supporters.

A note about Danny and Michelle:
     Danny, working closely with the then Head Coach Michelle Arganbright decided in the Fall of 2003 that if Cougar Crew was to prosper it was essential that the current Crew reconnect with the Alumni of Cougar Crew. They were told that it would be easier to "raise the dead". Undeterred, Coach, Commodore, and team members set out to contact and reconnect. Though the going was slow and progress almost glacial at first, the duo kept at it. By persistence and sheer perseverance, momentum of a reuniting was started. Eighteen months later, the Cougar Crew Alumni Association was born.