The Barometer Online

Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Cory Reed Senior Sarah Joos (left) and junior Celia Magistrale (right) cox for Oregon State's 18th-ranked women's crew. Joos and Magistrale came to Oregon State with no experience in rowing and now are key parts to the success of the women's 8+.

Perhaps two of Oregon State's smallest athletes compete for one of the Beavers least known athletics teams.

Despite their stature, junior Celia Magistrale and senior Sarah Joos play a crucial role on the Oregon State women's crew team. The No. 18 Beavers are not well-known to the campus as a team; even Joos, who grew up in Corvallis, knew little about it before she joined.

"The only thing I had ever really seen of them was when I saw them in the river as I crossed over the bridge," Joos said.

As individuals, Joos and Magistrale may be even less known as athletes than their teammates, playing the role of coxswain on two of OSU's 8-boats.

"People say, 'well what do you do?'" Magistrale said. "I have a microphone and tell the rowers what to do while steering the boat. They respond with, 'so what do you say? Row, row, row?' I don't say 'row, row, row,' but I say lots of other things."

"People don't really understand the position. They think we have it easy," Joos added. "It is really hard to steer a boat with a credit card-sized rudder, and the boats are very long. It's hard to do that and hard to see what the rowers are doing from our perspective."

While the entire crew is essential to the success of Oregon State's team, coxswains serve multiple roles while hunched over the stern of the boat. Magistrale and Joos are coaches in the boat during racing situations, motivational cheerleaders and navigators, steering the boat in the right direction.

"We are mini-coaches in the boat, literally," said Joos with a laugh. "If you think of what a coach does, that is what we do in the boat."

In the state of Oregon, where both Joos and Magistrale are from, rowing is not typically something children grow up participating in. Joos and Magistrale found the Oregon State women's crew in much the same manner; however, their experiences prior differ greatly.

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