Mark Voorhees Named Men's Rowing Assistant Coach
8/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Crew
Aug. 16, 2010
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University men's rowing head coach Dan Gehn has announced the promotion of Mark Voorhees as assistant coach in charge of novice rowing. Voorhees, who will also be the recruiting coordinator, replaces Shawn Bagnall who left to take a similar position at Syracuse University. Voorhees has been an assistant women's rowing coach at GU for the previous two seasons before moving over to the men's side and rowed for the Zags men's program from 2000-04.
"I think Mark is a great hire for our program," said Gehn. "He had a hand in the upswing of the program being a four-year varsity eight guy during his rowing tenure. Mark also went on to train on the East Coast for four years at Vesper Boat Club and gained a lot of experience there. He knows our school, our program and our community. I am very excited to see what he can do here!"
In his two years on the women's staff, Voorhees focused on coaching the Varsity 4+. The Bulldog Varsity 4+ won gold at the 2009 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships and placed second at the 2009 West Coast Conference Championships to help GU win its 12 title in 13 years. This past season, the Varsity 4+ claimed fourth at the WIRA Championships and again earned silver at the WCC Championships.
While a student-athlete at Gonzaga, Voorhees earned All-Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) first team honors two-straight seasons (2002, 2003) and served as the team's captain in 2004. As a senior he helped lead the Varsity 4+ to a ninth place finish at the IRA National Championships and the Varsity 8+ to a fourth place finish at the WIRA's. His junior season, he was part of the Varsity 8+ that took fifth at the ECAC National Rowing Invitational, finished second at the WIRA's and won the Cal Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic.
During his time in Philadelphia, Voorhees trained and raced at the pre-elite and elite levels for Vesper Boat Club, winning several US National and Canadian Henley Championships. He also competed in numerous National Selection Regattas, the '06, '07, and `08 World Championship Trials and the 2008 Olympic Trials.
Voorhees graduated from Gonzaga in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science.
