MRC COACHES

We love our coaches at MRC. We work hard to ensure proper training and certifications are provided. MRC has a wide variety of programs and offerings - from Learn to Row to highly competitive. 

Are you interesting in joining the MRC coaching team?  Please contact our Lead Coach at: leadcoach@minneapolisrowing.org for more information.


See our amazing team of coaches below.

Vicki Larson

Interim Lead Coach / Juniors Team (Head Coach)

Larson began her tenure with MRC as an athlete in the summer of 1991. With the exception of a few years off, she has competed at a high level with the women’s competitive team, served on MRC’s board, and coached at the club in various capacities. For Vicki, “coaching juniors is truly a fulfilling experience. As a competitive

team, winning is one focus, but bigger than that is my wish for the kids to be hungry to continue rowing for years to come, however that looks. It’s also important to create a safe space for the athletes to find who they are, to succeed and fail, and know they are supported.” Larson has also coached varsity at University of St. Thomas and novice women on the University of Minnesota’s women’s club team. 

Scott Armstrong

U30 Team

Scott joined MRC in summer of 2023 after becoming the men’s coach at the University of Minnesota last fall. He coached the heavyweight men’s varsity at Dartmouth and later was head masters coach at Saugatuck Rowing Club.  

Anne Beckman

Green Team (Head Coach) / Learn To Row / Novice Team

Anne Beckman is a homegrown coxswain, rower, and coach who came out of the 2016 MRC Learn-to-Row (LTR) class. She volunteered to cox on her second day of practice and hasn’t left the ninth seat since. Anne has been a competitive coxswain since 2018, racing at USRowing Masters Nationals and the Head of Charles. When COVID hit, she learned to scull and competed in the single scull event at Masters Nationals in 2021 after only 6 months of training! Anne is a high school teacher and has been coaching cross country running, Nordic skiing, and synchronized swimming for 15+ years. Her passion for teaching, learning, and developing character through competitive athletics is what inspired her to obtain her USRowing Level 1 coaching certificate. 

Colby Cartledge

Colby grew up in central Texas and began rowing her Freshman year for the University of Texas at Austin Women’s Rowing Team and helped the Longhorns win two Big XII Championships as coxswain. While there, she created a coxswain training program and served as an assistant coach for the Novice team. In the summers, Colby rowed with Austin Rowing Club where she coached executive programs and competed at the Royal Henley Regatta and at the Head of the Charles with ARC. Colby moved to Minneapolis in 2013 and coached at WeRow, an indoor rowing studio, for 3 years. She joined Minneapolis Rowing club in 2016 and coxed the Men’s Competitive Team. She currently competes as a rower and coxswain with the Women’s Competitive National Team. Colby began coaching at MRC in 2021 and helped create a Coxswain Training Curriculum.

Jill Cooper

Bow Clinics / Juniors Team Coordinator

Bio coming soon

Mel Dahlstrom

Juniors Team

Mel started rowing in 2014 at Twin Cities Youth Rowing, with Sara Baldvins (a former MRC coxswain) as her novice coach. She was then recruited to be a member of the Drake Rowing team in the same class as Coach Ingrid. Ingrid and Mel rowed as pair partners for many many races and Mel is excited to get to help out her home crew. You’ll probably see Mel dancing around or being goofy, so please please say hello!

Shane de Leuw

Juniors Team

Bio coming soon

Jeff Forrester

Originally from Mathews, VA, Jeff began rowing after a rapid growth spurt and having the worst batting average on his JV baseball team. He rowed collegiately at Rutgers University as a heavyweight for three years before shifting to lightweight his senior season, culminating in a silver medal at the IRA. He coached a high school in VA before moving to Boston to train at Riverside Boat Club where he won the Head of the Charles, qualified for the 2007 World Championships, and advanced to the semifinals at Henley Royal in 2008. Jeff retired from rowing and began coaching multiple groups at Riverside before taking over the Men’s sweep program from 2011-2017, winning multiple Head of the Charles medals. He simultaneously coached lightweight men collegiately at MIT. Jeff and his wife moved to Minneapolis in 2018 to be closer to family, coaching at U of M until 2023. He is now working with the Rec team and enjoying a different coaching and rowing environment. He spends a lot of his free time with his wife and two daughters.

Patty Hansen

Competitive Women’s Regional Team (Head Coach)

Patty comes from a rowing family legacy. In the 1960s her family helped build the original A-frame boathouse on the current MRC site. When that building was destroyed by fire in 1997, the new boathouse was named after her father, Lloyd Ohme, in honor of his devotion and support of rowing in the midwest. In 1984, Patty competed with the Midwest Rowing Women’s Team in the World Games in Montreal. Patty has coached for various MRC teams and programs since 1979, and coached for Macalester College during the years 1989-1991 and 2006-2012. You may also recognize Patty at local and national regattas in her role as a US Rowing Referee.

Lola Heimlich

Juniors Team / Middle School Program

Bio coming soon

Whitney Holm

Bio coming soon

Philip Johnson

Juniors Team

Philip started rowing in 2008 as a junior at the Austin Rowing Club (ARC) in Austin, Texas where he was a team captain and competed at the highest levels of junior rowing, including the USRowing national championship. He went on to row with the men’s crew at the University of Minnesota. There he served on the student board and split his time between the varsity 8+ and 2nd varsity 8+, competing at several national regattas including the Head of the Charles, the Dad Vail Championship, and the ACRA National Championship. He spent his college summers back in Austin coaching ARC’s junior and adult learn to row programs. Philip started coaching part-time with the Minneapolis Rowing Club juniors in 2015. That same year he attended the USRowing level II coaching clinic with John Davis. Philip graduated from the U of M in 2016 and continued coaching with MRC. Philip took a break in 2017 to attend graduate school in Chicago, but is happy to be back coaching and rowing at MRC. Outside of coaching, Philip works on the data team of a California based climate tech startup.

Corinne Linderman

Competitive Men’s Team / Bow Clinics

Corinne began rowing in 8th grade for TC Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, then rowed D3 for Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in the Varsity 8 all four years and was named to the NEWMAC Varsity All Conference team. After completing her NCAA eligibility, she coached the Novice team for WPI. After moving to Salt Lake City, she volunteered to coach for Utah Crew, a juniors program, and rowed with the Great Salt Lake Rowing Club. She became Head Coach of Utah Crew, taking the junior team to USRowing Southwest Youth Rowing Championships as well as taking a Men’s Junior Four to Head of the Charles for the first time in the club’s history. In 2016 she relocated to Houston Texas, where she rowed and competed for Greater Houston Rowing Club. There she helped with Learn to Row, coached land-based training for three years, and coached on the water as much as she could. Linderman moved to Minneapolis in 2023 and started coaching with MRC. She is a Level 2 Certified USRowing coach.

Ana Manolis

Juniors Team

Bio coming soon

Andy McCabe

Novice Team / Green Team

Andy began rowing as a novice in 2016 as a college freshman and rowed sweep competitively (and sculled non-competitively) for the Ithaca College team for 4 years. During that time his team competed year round with fellow Liberty League college programs including Colgate, Temple, Hamilton, and RIT. After a truncated senior spring (cancelled due to Covid 19 pandemic), he pursued coaching, getting launch training and onboarded at Cascadilla Boat Club in Ithaca but was never able to coach due to the pandemic. McCabe moved to Minneapolis in August 2019 and has been working his way back into the habit of rowing beginning with MRC in the spring of 2021 and now as a coach for the Novice and Green teams.

Ixchel McKinnie

Ixchel grew curious about rowing when a high school friend’s parents described their experience in college. Unfortunately her high school didn’t have a crew then. Decades later, she ran into a woman with a rowing logo on their jacket. She was told to look for LTR classes in the spring. That’s all she needed! After learning to row in April of 2017, she expanded her knowledge and skills by rowing six days a week at both Minneapolis Rowing Club and the Minnesota Boat Club. She later became a licensed US Rowing Referee, and now coach. Ixchel spent two years learning from legendry coach Miriam Baer and is excited to join us on the other side of the river. She is also a supporter of Hockaday School crew (her alma mater) and diversity in rowing.

Ingrid McNeely

Bio coming soon

Ben Mertz

Competitive Women's National Team (Head Coach)

Bio coming soon

Peter Morgan

A former Harvard oarsman, Peter Morgan has spent more than 20 years coaching for institutions including the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard, and Bucknell; the University of Minnesota women’s program and their USRowing Development Camp, and the University of Minnesota men’s program. Morgan rowed competitively with MRC in the summer of 1989 and served as the men’s head coach in 1996, head novice coach in 2003, and assistant women’s coach 2003-2005. He then spent five years coaching at the Minnesota Boat Club, leading the competitive men’s and women’s team to the Northwestern International Rowing Association points total in 2009 and 2010, and MBC’s women’s master four to Head of the Charles Regatta victories in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. 

Andrew Morrow

Competitive Men's Team (Head Coach)

Andrew began rowing in high school, then at Princeton, and represented Team USA on three occasions, twice capturing silver medals. As an athlete, he was fortunate to be coached by many familiar names in rowing, including Rich Davis, Larry Gluckman, Dan Roock, Curtis Jordan, Kris Korzeniowski, Charley Butt, and Igor Grinko, to name a few. Andrew coached at Vesper, UCLA, and Columbia Univ before landing at MRC in 1999. He was a founding member of TCYR in 2006, and North Star Community Rowing in 2016. He rowed for 612endurance while also coaching at MRC pre-pandemic. Andrew is thrilled to be back on the Mississippi in 2023, eager to share his love of the sport.

Michael Nicholls

U30 Team / Competitive Women's Regional Team

Michael Nicholls coaching career started in 1985 while an exchange student at Oxford University. After trading his oars for a stroke watch permanently, he’s coached at universities and rowing clubs ever since. He holds a USRowing Level III coaching certification and has served as a Level I instructor, having coached all levels from novice to elite. His accomplishments include: teaching 3,000+ people how to row in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East; guiding 6 athletes onto World Championship or Olympic teams; 3 collegiate national championship (IRA) victories; leading a team to the semifinals at the Henley Royal Regatta; and serving as a mentor coach to 39 professional coaches at the junior, club, and collegiate levels. Nicholls currently serves as the Director of Leadership Development for Team Concepts, Inc., an experiential training company that teaches participants how to build and lead their own high performance teams.

Ann Schley

Recreational Team (Head Coach)

Like many of the Recreational Rowers she coaches, Ann Schley started rowing through a club learn to row class. Since that first class a few decades ago, her love for the river, and the rhythmic beauty and challenge of the sport, brings her back to the water each season. Ann’s previous coaching experience includes leading MRC’s Learn to Row program, coaching the Novice Team, and Varsity Coach for Macalester College. Ann has a unique ability to provide individual instruction while remaining focused on the progress of the entire team. She generates enthusiasm for the sport and provides clear instruction that allows each rower to improve their skills. 

Natalee Stockdale

Natalee started in 2017 with MRC and loves to share the passion of rowing with others. Natalee has acquired a level 2 certification for coaching with USRowing and enjoys continued learning of all things boats and water. Natalee works to see each rower as a whole individual with needs for balance and support in body, mind, and spirit.

Annette Van Guilder

Novice Team / Green Team

Annette competed in three different sports in high school and college and missed competing with a team after graduating so, in 2016, she began rowing as a novice at the Minneapolis Rowing Club. She has rowed both leisurely and competitively, having rowed Head of the Charles and Master’s Nationals among other regattas. Annette has taught Learn To Row and coached Novice and Green team at MRC, as well as coached Macalester College rowing. She loves being outdoors and being

on the river. She is interested in sharing both the technique and the camaraderie of rowing, and especially enjoys coaching new rowers.

Blake Wagoner

Novice Team (Head Coach)

Blake started rowing his freshman year of college with the University of Minnesota by chance when a varsity rower said to him, “Hey you’re tall, you should try rowing.” So, he tried it and fell in love with the sport. Since then he has been trying to expand access of the sport, either by coaching novices in hopes of passing on his passion to rowers who are just getting involved in the sport, or in his work as a board member of North Star Community Rowing – expanding access to youth rowers from under resourced communities or to rowers with disabilities through the adaptive rowing program. Sports are Blake’s life! He is involved with rowing, cycling, mountain biking, rollerskiing and golf in the summers, and cross country skiing, biathlon, and downhill skiing during winters. Blake has been coaching with MRC since 2015.

Rhiannon Williams

Recreational Team

Rhiannon began rowing at the Minneapolis Rowing Club (MRC) as a novice more than ten years ago. Over the past five years she has taught learn to row at MRC, coached Macalester College novice rowing, as well as a few other MRC programs. Rhiannon has coached a variety of ages, athletic abilities, and fitness levels. She is “in love with the sport and everything that goes along with it”. As a coach she wants to teach rowing technique, and also convey a love of the sport and the Mississippi River. 

Jill Winegar

Green Team / Recreational Team

Jill Winegar has been coaching and teaching movement professionally for over four decades in the areas of Nordic skiing, personal training and group fitness, and is a master trainer for Stott Pilates. She became interested in rowing ten years ago when her son, Ryder, took a Learn To Row class and joined MRC’s junior team. She followed suit a year later and fell in love with the sport, deciding she also wanted to coach. Jill coached novices at Minnesota Boat Club, then coached the University of Minnesota’s men’s novice team for two years. Her area of expertise is in making things simple and fun for novices and LTR.