Erin Neppel was named the interim head coach of the Canisius rowing program Dec. 28, 2016. Neppel, a former rower at UNC, took over for former head coach Joel Furtek, who resigned to move on to Yale.
Neppel was an assistant under Furtek at Canisius for three years, and she has made an immediate impact on the program since joining the staff. At the end of the 2015-16 season, she was part of the CRCA Region 2 Staff of the Year. She also helped coach the Griffs varsity four to a MAAC championship in 2015.
Neppel is a 2001 graduate of the University of North Carolina and recently earned her master's degree in sport administration from Canisius.
While at UNC, Neppel was a three-time All-ACC standout and CRCA Scholar-Athlete, also garnering two NCAA Central Region First-Team honors and a second-team All-American award. Her varsity eight regularly made the Grand Final at the NCAA Central Regional and was ranked in the top-15 nationally. Neppel spent the summer of 1998 in residence at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.
By the numbers: Neppel earned a 3.88 grade point average and topped off her senior year with a 7:05 PR on her final 2k test.
Prior to coming to Canisius, Neppel was on the coaching staff at Central Florida, and she has been instrumental in running the Nike Rowing Camps in Chapel Hill, N.C.
At the Nike Camps, Neppel oversaw 100 junior boys and girls each summer, and along with Furtek, taught the very first strokes to Caroline Lind, who is at six-seat in the US Women's Eight competing at the World Championships, and who holds a world record, two Olympic gold medals and multiple World Championship golds with the U.S National program.
In addition to coaching at Canisius College, Neppel has coached the USRowing Development Camp at the West Side Rowing Club in Buffalo in each of the last two years.
