Xavier Prep Crew Coaches

Peter has spent most of his life involved in the sport of Rowing. A San Francisco native, he was taught to row by his father, a member of the South End Rowing Club. He went on to row in high school during the mid 1970's. After a break, he returned to rowing in 1996, sculling for the Lake Merritt Rowing Club Master's program in Oakland, CA.

As a member of the Lake Merritt Rowing Club's coaching staff, he taught sculling, as well as running group workouts for competitive crews and scullers, developing his skills under the guidance of the Lake Merrit coaching staff, as well as from visiting coaches.

Relocating to Arizona in 2002, he now instructs for the City of Tempe Parks and Recreation Rowing Program. Pete currently holds a US Rowing Level III coaching certification, and was Head Coach of Tempe Town Lake's Junior Crew before accepting a position with Xavier College Prep Crew.

A consummate competitor, Peter continues to successfully compete in US Rowing Masters events. He has medaled in local, regional, as well as national championship events. Winning the North Tahoe Classic for three consecutive years, he medaled in the 2000, 2004 and 2006 Master's National Championships, and won 3 sculling medals at the 2007 Masters National Championships. He most recently won the Men's Lightweight Master 1x at this year's LBRA Christmas Sprints.

His coaching philosophy is quite simple: "Being able to compete on a championship level is primarily about believing in yourself. Competing successfully is about attitude, and attitude is entirely in your mind... good technique doesn't hurt either."

    Emily Burkett
    Assistant Coach

A 2005 NCAA National Champion, Emily began rowing in Boston at age 13 at Community Rowing Inc. The eventual captain of her junior team, Emily amassed six National Championship titles during her high school career and trained with the U.S. Junior National Team. She was among the top two single scullers at the New England Interscholastic Championships every year she raced it, winning the singles title in 2000. She made a clean sweep of all her events at the 2000 Northeast Junior Championships, winning in the coxed-four, the quad and the eight. In 2001, her senior year, she won the Northeast Junior Championships in the varsity 8 and placed 3rd at the Youth Invite (now the USRowing Youth National Championship). She was elected MVP of her team at the end of her senior year.

After high school Emily was recruited to row at the University of California, Berkeley. Her freshman eight's victory over the University of Washington in 2002 was the first Cal women's 8+ to win the bitter rivalry between those two schools since 1990. A four-year letter winner, she was one of only four freshmen called up from the frosh squad to row for the varsity in her first year. During her tenure, Berkeley's women's crew won the overall titles at the PAC-10 championships in 2004 and 2005. Although injured for most of her senior year, Emily capped off her college career by winning the Carley Copley Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic as well as Cal's first-ever NCAA Women's Rowing National Championship.

Emily comes to Xavier after two years as the assistant coach of Berkeley High School crew and 3 years as the head coach for Arizona State's club program.

    Dana Ryan
    Assistant Coach

Dana Ryan began her rowing career in San Diego in 2000. She was recruited to cox at the University of Washington where she coxed all 4 years and earned 3 varsity letters. At UW Dana was a 2-time PAC-10 champion and qualified every year for the NCAA Championships. She was named the 2004 Most Inspirational Athlete and from 2003-2005 was on the PAC-10 All-Academic Team.

After graduating, Dana moved back to San Diego and began coaching high school rowers while working on a Masters degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology and a Certification in Nutrition for Optimal Health Wellness and Performance. In 3 years as a high school head coach for both ZLAC Rowing Club and San Diego Rowing Club, she qualified multiple boats to the U.S. Rowing Youth National Championships. At nationals all of her boats recorded top 10 finishes.

Dana is currently attending Arizona State where she is working on a Ph.D. in Physical Activity, Nutrition and Wellness.

   Kelly Vanek
   Assistant Coach

Kelly Vanek began her rowing career in 1999 as a freshman at the University of San Diego. In both her freshman and sophomore years she received the "Effort Award" and as a junior she was recognized as the team's "Most Improved" athlete.

Ms. Vanek was selected as co-captain her senior year. Rowing in both the Varsity 8 and Varsity 4, she helped her team sweep the San Diego City Championships and rowed to a third place finish at the San Diego Crew Classic, the team's first ever berth to the Grand Finale. Heading into West Coast Conference Championships, her crew was seeded first, yet conceded to Gonzaga by 0.4 seconds (the closest WCC finish to date). The team placed third in the Grand Final at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships. At the Dadvail Regatta they were the only West Coast team to make the Grand Final, where they placed 5th out of 40.

In addition to being on the WCC and WIRA First All Conference Teams, and a WCC Female Athlete of the Year finalist, Ms. Vanek was also selected to receive the team's "Most Valuable" and "Most Inspirational" awards her senior year. She was on the WCC All Conference Academic Team and was recognized as a USD Scholar Athlete for four years by maintaining an overall GPA of 3.8.

More recently, Coach Kelly was selected to attend an elite US Rowing Development Camp at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She began competing in marathons in 2006 and has since finished four. She also began training for triathlons in 2007 and finished her first Ironman in 2008.

Kelly Vanek is an Advanced Level certified rowing coach, with credentials that include three years of coaching Women's Varsity Rowing at Arizona State University, four years of coaching with the City of Tempe and four years for Xavier Prep Crew.