Magic Eights

By Graham Hays

In the pre-dawn stillness that's familiar to bakers and school bus drivers, when many college students are still a REM cycle away from hitting the snooze button, one of Vanderbilt's newest sporting dynasties is about 14 miles east of Vanderbilt, gliding across Percy Priest Lake.

You don't win back-to-back national championships by giving anyone a head start on the day.

In May, at the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the Vanderbilt women's varsity eights beat all challengers for the second year in a row. They dominated the premier event for collegiate club teams, with head coach Jon Miller and assistant coach Emmanuel Pagan; rowers Sarina Samuel, Norah Kolb, Ivy Thornborough, Gabrielle Opdyke, Ella Dzialowski, Greta Higginbotham, Julia Maushardt and Amelia Simpson; and coxswain Sofia Brown.

What's even more remarkable is the Commodores came close to a three-peat. In 2023, Vanderbilt finished second in the same event by .02 seconds-the literal blink of an eye.

In May, the Vanderbilt women's varsity eights won the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championships for the second year in a row. Front row, left to right: Sarina Samuel, Norah Kolb, coxswain Sofia Brown, Ivy Thornborough, Gabrielle Opdyke. Back row, left to right: coach Jon Miller, Amelia Simpson, Julia Maushardt, Greta Higginbotham, Ella Dzialowski and assistant coach Emmanuel Pagan. (Submitted photo)

That 2023 silver was Vanderbilt's first medal in eights, the sport's signature event in which eight rowers marshaled by a coxswain propel a boat over 2,000 meters. Yet when Coach Miller later asked Samuel if her teammates were "psyched" about the showing, she told him that calling it "psyched" would be a stretch. They were pleased to cap a year of unprecedented success. Still, the overriding emotion was one familiar to everyone from Tim Corbin's VandyBoys to John Williamson's bowlers to peers from athletic fields, lecture halls and biology labs alike. They wanted more. And that drive to excel and to win fueled the back-to-back championships that followed.

The best thing about this program is we always find that balance between being proud but not satisfied.

"What's so special about this group is we always want more," Samuel says. "Sometimes wanting more can be a curse because you're never satisfied with where you are. But the best thing about this program is we always find that balance between being proud but not satisfied."
Historically, at least half of Vanderbilt rowers join the program with no prior experience. All students are welcome, as novice-turned-champion Thornborough exemplified this past year. But many arrive as accomplished rowers-Samuel still uses the rowing machine her grandfather gave her when she got hooked on the sport in seventh grade. Recruited by Division I programs, Samuel instead chose Vanderbilt because Opportunity Vanderbilt put a world-class degree within reach. And Miller, the 2024 ACRA Coach of the Year who took over as head coach in 2009, assured her she would still be able to reach her full potential as a rower at Vanderbilt.

Shouts of victory went up as the Vanderbilt women's varsity eights won the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship for the second year in a row. The competition was in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. (©Row2K.com)

It's been a labor of love. Rowers and coxswain are usually on the water by 5:30 a.m. Fundraising allowed the team to charter a bus to a regatta in Oklahoma this past spring, a rare exception to driving themselves to events closer to home. They hope their success will spur future fundraising efforts to enable travel to West Coast regattas, eliminate first-year dues and add boats.

After winning a second national title and graduating from Vanderbilt in the span of a week in May, Samuel says, "As hard as it is to leave-and it does hurt because it's home, it's where I'm the happiest-I think I'm ready for whatever's next. I'm prepared from all the lessons that I've learned, especially here at Vanderbilt and from Jon and my teammates."