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
Garrett Lyman- Alumni Representative
Ken Struckmeyer - Faculty Advisor
Arthur Ericsson - Head Coach
Julia Gamache - Novice Coach
Andrew King- Commodore
Jimmy Johnson - Vice Commodore
Josh Wadagnolo- Treasurer
Nichole Martin - Publisher
Paul Ehlers- 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.)

Garrett Lyman - Alumni Representative
     Garrett rowed from the fall of 2005 to the spring of 2009. 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 been the head coach for WSU Men’s Crew for six years. Also within his purview are the Women’s Lightweight team and Palouse Rowing.

     The 2009-10 season marks the team’s best in a long time. The depth and competitiveness of both the varsity and novice squads hailed back to the glory days, with race results including the WIRA Team Points and Varsity-8 trophies. The JV-8 and Lightweight-8 medals reveal the number of talented athletes that made this possible. And a 3rd place finish at the ACRA National Championship.

    Thank you to all of the athletes I have coached; success for one is success for all. And thank you to the parents for their love and support of their sons and daughters and their new found passion. Thank you to all of the alumni who have stayed involved in whatever way, keeping it our team. And thank you to all of my assistant coaches, especially Julia, for being part of my team which has been so rewarding.

     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 three year old son.

Julia Gamache - Novice Coach
     Julia Gamache is in her third year at WSU as the novice coach.

Andrew King - Commodore
     Andrew is a 3rd year oarsman. Andrew'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.

Josh Wadagnolo - Treasurer
    Josh Wadagnolo is a third year oarsman from Covington, WA. He is a Junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering. He lives and trains for spring racing in California and various other locales across the country. He plans on keeping diligent records and managing the team budget.

Nichole Martin - Publisher
     Nichole will be a fourth year Varsity coxswain this year. She comes from Sweet Home, Oregon and is majoring in fine arts with a focus in digital media. Her duties as publisher include keeping alumni, family and friends informed of the happenings on the team with our monthly news letter The Pull Hard. She is also in charge of the clothing catalog. Nichole is excited for another season of great rowing.

Paul Ehlers - Historian
     Paul is a fourth year Varsity oarsman studying Biochemistry. His duties will include recording boat lineups and race results/race times, and also making press releases to the newspapers statewide. He also looks forward to contributing in any other way possible.

Kramer Wahlberg - Webmaster
     Kramer is a fourth year oarsman from Covington, WA, graduating from Kentwood High School. He is majoring in Bioengineering at WSU with ambitions of attending medical school. Last season, he was a member of the JV 8+ that defeated Gonzaga at the Fawley Cup, placed third at WIRAs and finished 6th at ACRAs. He was also a proud member of the Lightweight 8+ and hopes to make his senior year the best yet. 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.