The Falcon   |   Volume 81, Issue 26

Published 6/02/10   |   Log In

Persistence pays off

Photo credit: REBECCA CRAIG/The Falcon.

Allan's passion for sports allows her to have fun while rowing

By DAVID TRISTANO, Sports Editor

Published: May 27, 2009

Many members on the SPU crew team didn't compete in sports in high school. But, for senior Holly Allan, sports is a passion she has been committed to her entire life.

Allan came to SPU with the determination to find a sport where she could walk on. She did soccer for her first three years in high school then cross country her senior year. She also competed in track all four years. She even toyed with the idea of playing rugby.

Allan got more information about crew at a meeting and then it just seemed to click for her. She didn't mind the early morning workouts, and, like most of the rowers, she has been taught many lessons from crew that can be applied in the classroom.

"Being able to be self-motivated is a big thing," Allan said. "Everyone is pushing you so hard that you motivate yourself. The teamwork and everyone pushing each other to be better has helped motivate me. I've always been trying to do well in studies, and it's just added on to that."

When Allan began her rowing career at SPU, it didn't come without challenges.

One of the most difficult parts of crew for Allan was waiting to become a member of the varsity squad. In crew, usually after an athlete's novice year they are placed on the varsity team. Allan's sophomore year, however, there was a very strong novice class. The varsity eight team had three varsity athletes and five novices, so she stayed on the junior varsity team.

"(I've learned) persistence and pushing through the hard parts: winter quarter and the individual workouts," Allan said.

Junior year is when she finally saw a lot of her results pay off. She was constantly using the Ergo meters rowing machine for strength and to improve her technique. But it wasn't just the rowing machine that made her a better rower.

"It was me personality wise, being more comfortable with the leadership, bringing the novices in and being more experienced," Allan said.

For Allan, rowing isn't the only thing that motivates her.

As a math education major, Allan is involved in the Sharpen ministry on campus that helps off-campus SPU students stay connected. Sharpen looks to build relationships, organize meals together, conduct Bible studies and participate in community service.

Besides Sharpen, Allan loves to mentor and teach. She strives to be a teacher one day and currently works with a mentor program at SPU to match upperclassmen with lowerclassmen needing mentors.

This past season, Allan said she has grown more comfortable in the boat as well as with her teammates.

"This year everybody gets along. It's been a really good group," Allan said. "No divisions or clicks and no personality clashes."

Allan and her teammates look to connect and bring the fun they have had all season and use that to fuel their race this weekend at the 2009 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Women's Rowing Championships on Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.

"[(We've got to) stick with what we've planned," Allan said. "We all know that we can do well. We've had some good practices and we're hoping that we're improved more than the other teams."

Some of the competition SPU will see is Western Washington University and Mercyhurst College. The Falcons have come within five seconds of both WWU and Mercyhurst earlier this season. WWU has won the varsity eight boat at nationals four years in a row. Mercyhurst won the varsity eight boat at nationals in 2004.

Allan said, in order to improve, her team simply needs to be faster. When they enter the final 250 meters of a race, their boat needs to be close enough to their opponents that they have a shot to win, she said.

As Allan has reflected on her four years at SPU, she said it's the relationships and the competition that she will best remember.

"Part of it is relationships and being able to compete and have something I want to do," Allan said. "Fall is getting back into the swing of things, winter is when we hit the workouts hard to get us fully where we want to be, and spring is racing, where all the hard work pays off."

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