She’s known as the smiley one, the optimist and the
goal-setter. For UCSD women’s crew, Jennifer Myers has proved to be a valuable
athlete and leader as the Tritons return from their fourth consecutive NCAA
Championship trip with two silver plaques as National Runners-Up. As she is set
for graduation next week, Myers looks back now on how the team’s visit to
nationals has provided her with some of the best ways to remember her 2007-08
season at UCSD. For Myers, that memory is made more special when she considers
the Tritons’ hard work and ability to overcome some of the disappointment they
experienced early in the season.
“Everything
was so amazing,” Myers said about the national championship. “It really was the
best way to end my time here. It had been a long season for us and it got off
to a pretty slow start, but nationals was an affirmation of all our hard work
and the trust that we all have in each other.”
This season brought numerous honors to Myers as she joined
the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association’s First Team and picked up three
medals — gold, silver and bronze — for her stellar racing at the Pacific Coast
Rowing Championships. Soon after, Myers received additional recognition as she
was named to the Division-II Pocock All American Team just before learning the
team would be making a returning trip to nationals to compete for the title
from May 30 to June 1.
Growing up in a small, ski-resort town in
Myers credits the environment around
as she took up mountain biking, swimming and hiking during her summers and skiing
in the winters. In high school she became a U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association
Junior Olympian. With such a sport-oriented background, it is a wonder as to
how Myers chose crew.
“Actually, I didn’t know I would pursue crew,” she
said. “My freshman year I came down here
and I wasn’t really looking at sports. Sophomore year I decided, ‘Okay, I’ve
got to get on a team.’ I went to talk to [head coach Pattie Pinkerton] and she
just totally convinced me. She said, ‘If you’re looking to be part of a team, this
is the sport for you because there’s no other sport that is so team-oriented.’”
That same year, Myers’ talent and atheticism became apparent
as she captained the novice team and was named “most inspirational member.”
Myers also found herself ranked first on the charts for UCSD’s All-Time Novice
5000-meter and 2000-meter records.
“It’s kind of a mindset that I have,” she said. “It’s not
like you go into them expecting to break records but you’ve got to aim for it;
otherwise, it’s never going to happen. I try to make every day an improvement.
Any time we go out on the water or any time we get on the [Ergometer], I do
have that mindset that I need to be strong for my teammates and that I do need
to make the most of my time.”
According to Pinkerton, Myer’s success is not only a result
of her athleticism but also her outstanding work ethic, something the team will
greatly miss next year.
“I’ll miss her smile and her willingness to get out there,”
Pinkerton said. “Her whole joyous approach to training. I could say that about
all the seniors really, they’ve been wonderful, but with Jen I think that it’s
her whole approach to training. She’s really raised the bar for the athletes in
general because every time she goes out there and sets a new record. So in that
sense, she will still be contributing after she’s gone.”
According to her senior co-captain partner, Kali Webb, Myers
has been invaluable to the crew’s morale.
“Jen is the smiley one; the one who is always in a good
mood,” she said. “We’ve complemented each other really well as far as our
personalities go. It’s been really nice to work with her because she’s fun
loving and optimistic. She never loses
faith even when things look unlikely or difficult because she tells us, ‘We’ll
get through this and well make it.’ I think that’s the greatest way she’s
helped me and the rest of the girls on this team.”
For the rowers, Myers’ presence has been welcoming and
inspirational.
“What I admire most about Jen is her ability to make
everybody feel accepted and important,” said freshman Kristen Hayashi of the
varsity-four boat. “The amount of trust and faith she has in our team, and the
way she believes that we can do better in every single race is incredible.”
After three years on the team and earning honor after honor,
Myers’ duties as co-captain and racing seasons rich with athletic prowess have
finally come to a close. Although the 2008 season may conclude her legacy at
UCSD, her time as a rower will endure.
“Definitely just recreationally I’ll get out there because I
love it,” she said. “Being on the water is something I really enjoy.”
In fact, Myers’ love for sports and her empathy for fellow
athletes, is something that will aide her in the future as an aspiring physical
therapist.
“I injured myself in high school, so I spent some time in
physical therapy and just really enjoyed how much patient-practitioner
interaction there was,” Myers said.
“That was really cool to me. Just being an athlete and loving to be
active, I want to work with other athletes. I want to help them get back to the
sports they love and get back to their teams.”
Myers says that she has an appreciation for the amount of
work athletes put into their sports as well as an affinity for being immersed
in UCSD’s athletic department. With her lasting contributions to women’s crew
and connections to her teammates, there is excellent reason to think that Myers
will merge her superior athleticism with her ambition for helping others.
