Coaching Staff
Adrienne McConnell (Head Coach)
Adrienne started rowing while in high school at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. She was a four-year varsity letter winner at the University of California Berkeley, where she helped her team to a fourth place finish at the 1993 Collegiate Nationals. During and after college, Adrienne participated in a number of National Team talent identification and Development camps, where she earned several medals at the US Nationals, American Rowing Championships, and Canadian Henley. She has trained at the ARCO Olympic Training Center, Marin Rowing Association (CA), Vesper Boat Club (PA), and the Newport Aquatic Center. As a Master level rower, she has earned two San Diego Crew Classic championships, as well as several state and national titles. Adrienne has also trained with the US Canoe and Kayak Development Team as a flat-water sprint kayaker. As a coach, Adrienne served as the assistant for the ’94 Cal women’s varsity and novice teams, then moved on to coach the Marin junior women’s varsity, adult recreational, and intermediate rowing programs. Her collegiate coaching experience include serving as the varsity assistant at Yale University in 1995-96, and as an assistant at Humboldt State in 2006-07. In 2004, she helped start the HBRA Junior Team, and continues to serve as the club’s head coach. She is a USRowing Level 3 Certified Coach. Go Flying Egrets!
Jerome Simone (Sculling Instructor)
Although attracted to the sport since he was very young, he was finally able to take up rowing at the age of 40 here on Humboldt Bay. Jerome “Jerry” Simone is the founding President and member of the Humboldt Bay Rowing Association which he helped organize in 1987. He now has about 20 years of rowing experience mostly in singles and his favorite, doubles, much of it spent with partners who had rowed for HSU Crew, thereby refining his skills and technique. Always looking for new places to row, Jerry and his double have traveled throughout California, Washington, Oregon and Canada as well as taking the opportunity to row in various locations around the country as well as in Italy. He has been a sculling instructor for HBRA for over 15 years, has attended many USRowing sanctioned clinics and is a certified Level I Coach. He, along with the other coaches and members of HBRA, welcomes the entire community to rowing by continually striving to not only maintain but to expand and improve the various programs offered.
Jeanne Wielgus-Marlatt (Sculling Instructor)
Jeanne is one of the founding members and currently Secretary of the Humboldt Bay Rowing Association Board of Directors. She began rowing at the suggestion of a friend (isn’t this how many of us started?) and soon discovered the joy of rowing on Humboldt Bay. She now has over 20 years of experience rowing mostly singles, doubles and now sweep rowing experience with our Master Women. She has been a sculling instructor for HBRA for over ten years, attended a U.S. Rowing sanctioned clinic and is a certified Level I Coach. With a background in wildlife biology, Jeanne particularly enjoys the wonderful close-up views of our local wildlife that rowing allows her and is always willing to share her knowledge with her fellow rowers and students.
Shannon Tracey (Junior and Masters Team Assistant Coach)
Shannon learned to row on the Charles River as an undergraduate with Radcliffe Crew. After one year of NCAA rowing (with an undefeated season) she decided to branch out and switched to the intramural program at Harvard, where she coached, coxed, and rowed for Mather House, growing the co-ed team from 2 to 5 boats over three years and winning the women's championship cup her senior year. Working with beginners and sharing her love of sweep rowing led her to seek out Lake Merritt Rowing Club in Oakland, CA, her first west-coast crew experience. Now, at Humboldt Bay Rowing Association, Shannon is excited to be back on the water to help build the Masters and Juniors programs in the greater Eureka community. She has been coaching summer adult Learn-To-Row clinics since 2005 and assisting with the Juniors program since 2006, and has rowed and coxed with the Masters program since 2005.
Dave Kenworthy (Masters Team Coach)
Dave learned to row on Humboldt Bay with HSU's Mens team, rowing varsity for 3 years in the late 1970's and early '80's. He co-coached the HSU's Womens team for a year and then assisted his previous rowing coach with the Women's team for 2 years after graduation. In 1985, he took over the Women's team alone and coached it for 3 years, travelling extensively, including a trip to Pennsylvania with his Varsity 8 in 1986 for collegiate nationals. Prior to coaching the Masters in early 2006, he was a handy stand-in for various local coaches when other commitments kept them from practice for a day or two. And as the on-the-water starter for HSU's home regatta, he's never had a year off off Humboldt Bay in his adult life.
Amy O’Herron (Junior and Masters Assistant Coach)
Having learned to row on the Liffey River in Dublin while attending Trinity College, Amy fell in love with the sport competing on the scenic waterways of Ireland. Since returning to the States in 2001 she has had the privilege of training on Lake Washington (Seattle), the obscure and soon nonexistent Milltown Reservior (located in Missoula), and she currently practices her stroke on Humboldt Bay. Amy says, “I was blessed to learn the art of rowing from some phenomenal coaches. As I grow into the kind of coach that I hope would make them proud, I am ever inspired by the sport and the excellence that it brings out in all of us who love it.”
Jema Patterson (Junior and Masters Team Assistant Coach)
Jema began her rowing life at the University of Oregon during her undergrad career. Upon moving to Humboldt, she was pleasantly surprised to find an affordable rowing club and eager to put many-a-erg sessions back into practice. She's enjoyed coaching a wide spectrum of sports including rock climbing, white-water rafting, basketball, and self defense. Currently she is an assistant coach for the HBRA Juniors Team and part of the Master's Summer Clinic Coaching Staff. Her pedagogical philosophy is to tailor the coaching to the rower, rather than the rower to the coaching. She’s been certified as a Level II Coach by the USRowing association and looks forward to a lifetime of teaching and coaching.
Brian Robison (Junior Team Assistant Coach)
Brian began rowing for The Humboldt State University Men’s Team in 2003 and rowed collegiately for four years. Unable to leave the water, coaching became the next logical progression. The first step was a few summer masters clinics in 2006. Currently he is in his second year as an assistant coach with the juniors rowing program and looks forward to competitive racing season. This spring he will also be teaching a recreational rowing class at HSU and continue assisting with the HSU men’s team. He looks forward to improving his sculling skills, competing at the masters level, and hopefully developing a men’s masters program. He is also a USRowing Level 2 Certified Coach. Brian hopes to continue working with the growing programs of the Humboldt Bay Rowing Association and passing on his love of rowing.
Clare Nowel (Junior Team Assistant Coach)
Clare began rowing and coxing for the HSU Women’s Crew in the Spring of 2007. She is currently rowing and coxing for the HSU women’s crew and working on a B.S. in Kinesiology/Athletic Training. She began coaching the juniors in the Fall of 2007.
Michele Africa (Consulting Junior and Master Coach)
Michele began rowing during her last year at Humboldt State University. It was in one of HBRA’s singles that she first experienced sculling. She then continued rowing at a pre-elite pairs camp out of the University of Washington. After a break, Michele further refined her sculling skills in Seattle and began coaching for the Moss Bay Rowing Club. Starting in 1999, Michele trained in Victoria BC for single sculling. Michele is two-time bronze medalist in the 1x at the US National Rowing Championships and has won both the championship single and the 500-meter dash at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. Michele enjoyed racing internationally in Europe. She has coached for Moss Bay Rowing Center and also for the Gorge Rowing Center, home of the Canadian National Team, in Victoria BC for four years in a variety of programs including learn-to-rows, the junior program and Camosen College. Michele has also helped coached the novice women at Humboldt State University. She has been a coach at the Craftsbury Sculling Center in Vermont for the last four years. After all of her travels rowing in the U.S., Canada and Europe, she considers Humboldt to be her home.
Kahheetah “Katie” Barnoskie (Junior Team Assistant and Masters Clinic Coach)
Kahheetah “Katie” Barnoskie just completed her third year rowing for the Kansas University women's rowing team. In her three years, she has rowed in every position, in just about every different type of boat. Katie has rowed starboard, port, stroke, bow, in a single, double, quad, four, and eights, she’s done everything but cox, plus she has raced in 4k and 5k head races and of course 2k sprints. She ended her third year at the U of Kansas sitting at stroke seat for the varsity four. Katie is also an avid Tri-athlete whose goal is to do the Iron-Man someday and to that end is training with Mike Pigg this summer here in Arcata. Her major in college is Exercise Science. She will be a welcome addition to our summer coaching staff.
Shyanne Chilton (Junior Team Assistant and Masters Clinic Coach)
Shyanne Chilton has been rowing for the past six years, three of which were spent primarily sculling, and three sweep rowing. She rowed for two different teams in high school, Vancouver Lake Crew, where she qualified for nationals in the varsity double, and Rose City Rowing Club. Shyanne is approaching her third year of rowing for Humboldt State Women's Crew. She feels very comfortable either sculling or sweep rowing and loves both types. She is looking forward to applying her love for the sport into assistant coaching for HBRA this summer.
Humboldt Bay Rowing Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the sport of rowing for community members of all ages and abilities. HBRA is located in the Adorni Center and the HSU Boathouse on the Eureka Waterfront. Please call 707.677.3214 for further information.