Morgan Jarvis and Rares Crisan
Men’s rowing
Morgan Jarvis and Rares Crisan highlighted an exceptional event for Queen’s rowers at the National Rowing Championships in London, Ontario last weekend. They earned gold medals in the senior men’s lightweight pair category, winning their final in a time of 6:54.80, more than two seconds ahead of the next boat.
Crisan and Jarvis rowed together in the past with the Queen’s men, but Jarvis stepped out of the national team loop three years ago to focus on academics. Earlier this year, Crisan, the Queen’s men’s team captain, approached Jarvis about returning to the sport competitively to row as a pair.
Jarvis said it was the chance to reunite with his team that motivated him to take up competitive rowing again.
“Rowing with your friends, there’s nothing more motivating than pulling for your men,” he said. “In the last 500 [metres], the only thing that keeps you going is your mates.”
The two men took drastically different paths to the podium. Jarvis started to row at the age of 12 in New Zealand, primarily as a sculler with the national team, while Crisan picked up rowing at the end of his high school career as a way to train for swimming.
Crisan said they had their sights set high heading into the event.
“We came to this regatta with something to prove,” he said.
Crisan and Jarvis now have their attention set on a strong season with the Gaels.
“Our immediate goal is to win the OUA [men’s lightweight] eights,” Jarvis said.
As the team captain, Crisan said he’ll be working hard to ensure the team is on the same page moving forward.
“[I’ll be] keeping everyone focused, keeping everyone on task … making sure everyone is staying on track,” Crisan said. “We can do it. … This is our best year to take the OUA team banner.”
—Anand Srivastava
Lisa McLaughlin
Women’s lacrosse
Gaels’ centre, and one of the team captains, Lisa McLaughlin finished up last weekend’s games in Toronto against the Laurier Golden hawks, Toronto Varsity Blues and Guelph Gryphons with a combined seven goals and four assists.
McLaughlin said she felt that her being selected a team captain in second year shows the amount of responsibility expected of her from her coaches, and that her young age
is immaterial.
“It just shows me that the team has confidence in me,” she said. “It motivates me to be a leader on and off the field for the whole team, regardless of age.”
McLaughlin said in order to increase the popularity of lacrosse on campus, the team will have to continue to build on their winning record and continue to remind students about upcoming games. McLaughlin even created a Facebook event for this weekend’s upcoming home games, the Gaels’ only home games of the regular season.
As for continuing in lacrosse after university, McLaughlin said she intends to stay involved in the game after her time in the Tricolour.
“It’s hard to say [whether I’ll keep playing],” she said. “I’ve played on the national junior team, but there isn’t a professional league for lacrosse. I’ve already started coaching this summer, and there are senior teams that I can be part of, so I’ll definitely stick with it.”
Player and coach Ruth McArthur said the decision to make McLaughlin captain was based on her performance on and off the field during her first year.
“The reason we picked her to be captain was because she has excellent leadership on and off the field,” she said. “She could direct the play on both sides of the field. When she came into the team last year, she took on a big role with the team and gave it 110 per cent all the time. She really commands the respect of the team.”
—Amrit Ahluwalia
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