BOSTON – Stanford head coach Kate Bertko was named the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Bertko led the Cardinal to its fourth straight team IRA Championship this season, the second in as many years at the helm. She also guided the Cardinal's lightweight eight to its own fourth consecutive title, securing the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders Trophy by open water in the Grand Final earlier this month in West Windsor, New Jersey.
In her first two seasons at the helm of the Cardinal, Bertko guided Stanford to consecutive IRA team titles. Last season, all three boats claimed gold medals for the first time in the regatta's history.
The Stanford lightweight eight featuring coxswain Shea Cours, Claire Smythe (eight seat), Brigitte Schmittlein (seven seat), Michele Holtkamp (six seat), Grace Cotter (five seat), Keagan Hanley (four seat), Johanna Francis (three seat), Kate Hickey (two seat), and Isabella Garcia-Camargo (bow) won the IRA title by open water at the national championship regatta. It was the boat's eighth national championship in the past nine years. Stanford's lightweight four also took home the individual title at this year's championship regatta, helping secure the team IRA title. The boat, featuring coxswain Allison Tielking, Samantha Dore (four seat), Ally Hinson (three seat), Diba Massihpour (two seat), and Serena Harber (bow), secured its second title in as many years.
Bertko, one of the United States' most decorated lightweight rowers and a 2016 Olympian, completed her second season as head coach of the Cardinal lightweight rowing program in 2018. A seven-year member of the National Team, she was named the 2013 USRowing Female Athlete of the Year.
