March 2001		Vital Signs A Passport to Cairo Forecasting the Bush Years	Letters Sports E Line Classes Q&A First-Person Alumni Passages Huskiana From the Field
	A Tale of Two Coaches A galvanizing campaign and a varsity boat that flies. By Paul Perillo After twenty-three years of coaching the men’s crew team, Walter “Buzz” Congram has given much of his life to Northeastern. And he’s still giving, only now in a different role. In August, Congram stepped down from the head coaching position to take over as director of men’s crew. He made the decision because he wanted to spend more time with his son, Will, and push back from the rigors of coaching a sport that typically runs nine months a year. But he couldn’t walk away completely until he knew Northeastern’s crew program would stay solid for years to come. “I knew it would be really hard to leave,” Congram says. “I wanted to spend a year overseeing the program, to try to raise enough money to permanently endow the program. Even though I’ll retire fully in June, I’ll always stay involved in rowing.” Congram went to athletics director Ian McCaw during the summer to pitch the idea of his moving aside so his assistant, John Pojednic, could take over as coach. When McCaw agreed, Congram took the helm of a fund-raising campaign for the men’s crew program. It’s an aggressive two-part campaign, designed to keep the Northeastern program strong for the foreseeable future. The first part—the Competitive Enhancement Fund—endows the program’s operational costs, including equipment, recruitment, and traveling. The second part—the Men’s Crew Scholarship Fund—endows scholarships. “We hope to raise upwards of a million dollars over the next five years,” Congram says. “During my coaching career, I spent an incredible amount of time raising money. I didn’t want the next coach to have to do that. It detracts from coaching and the time spent with the athletes. “I feel great about the direction we’re headed,” says Congram. “We built one of the best boathouses in the country about ten years ago. This fund-raising will further cement Northeastern as one of the country’s rowing powers. I’ve had some great conversations with alumni. I’ve really enjoyed catching up with them. We’ve already had several outstanding pledges.” With Congram managing the program’s financial side, Pojednic has been able to concentrate his efforts on the team. All this sits just fine with Pojednic, who will spend the 2001 season as interim head coach. He inherits a team that last fall was the fastest collegiate crew at the Head of the Charles regatta, the first time Northeastern has won that honor. “I actually planned to attend law school in September,” the twenty-six-year-old Pojednic says. “But when Buzz came to me last March with the proposal, I really didn’t have to think much about it. I want to build on the tradition Buzz created. An opportunity like this doesn’t come along that often, and I love the sport. “Buzz taught me so much about coaching,” says Pojednic. “I thought everything in crew was simple: You work hard, and good things happen. But Buzz paid attention to things that I never considered. He could take someone with a good rower’s body—long, lean, and lanky—and turn him into an oarsman who could compete for a national championship. “A lot of coaches explain technique, and then it’s up to the athlete to learn it,” Pojednic says. “But Buzz is extremely persistent and will coach you until you get it right. That’s the number-one tradition I’d like to continue.” Pojednic also has a deep respect for Northeastern’s student-athletes. A Boston College graduate, he was unaware before he came to NU of the difficulties the co-op program can create for athletes. He believes his rowers have a much greater sense of responsibility than athletes at other universities. He is particularly excited about the talent on this spring’s squad. Senior Dan Walsh, in the stroke seat, is a candidate for this summer’s National Team and has legitimate Olympic aspirations. Pojednic calls Dan Cahill, another senior returning to the varsity boat, “an extremely hard-working guy, and the heart and soul of the team.” The captain is Canada’s Andrew Wieler, also a senior—a lead-by-example type, his coach says, who has the potential to row for the Canadian National Team after his college days are over. “We expect to be competitive with anybody in the country,” Pojednic says. “The team on top at the Head of the Charles is generally among the top three in the country in the spring. We intend to win the Eastern Sprints. I feel this crew is going to achieve some great things.” Thanks, in large measure, to the dedication and foresight of coaches like Congram and Pojednic. The Inside Track on Nikiya Reid Until you watch Nikiya Reid on the track, you might never guess how she dominates there. But spend a few minutes with her coach, Sherman Hart, and you’re left with no doubt about what the senior sprinter/hurdler can do. Hart’s confidence in Reid’s abilities sometimes embarrasses his star pupil. One of his favorite pastimes is talking her up with opposing coaches. “She doesn’t like it when I do that,” Hart laughs. “But while a meet is going on, I joke with the other coaches. I say, ‘You might win this or that event, but I own the sprints.’” The coach’s boasts have merit. Reid has joined a long line of gifted NU women track stars. When Reid came to Huntington Ave., Dion Gardner ruled the America East roost. Next came Andrea Clarke, who made her mark in various events during her NU career. Now Reid is the dominant performer, and, Hart believes, the best of the group. She exploded on the NU track scene in 1997, setting a meet record in the 55-meter hurdles at the America East Indoor Championships, and later taking the 100-meter hurdles at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Outdoor Meet. The following season, as a sophomore, Reid won the 200 meters and the 100-meter hurdles at the America East Outdoor Championships, earning Most Outstanding Performer honors as Northeastern captured its sixth consecutive outdoor conference championship. Reid’s track aspirations began in Trenton, New Jersey. Her brothers, Cornell and Terry, were a successful sprinter and hurdler, respectively. Nikiya enjoyed watching both her brothers compete. In fact, she couldn’t decide which event she liked better. So when she started running, she concentrated on both. Reid’s parents tell a different story about her track career’s origin. “My mother [Brenda] says I started track to get out of the house,” Reid says with a laugh. “I lived close to my high school [Trenton Central]. School got out at three, and I was expected to be home by three-fifteen. I was a freshman, and all my friends hung around after school, but I had to be home. “I came in the house one day and said I wanted to join the track team. My mother laughed, but she and my father [James] are glad now.” The Reids’ decision to let their daughter follow in her brothers’ footsteps eventually earned her an NU scholarship. Hart first saw Reid when she was a senior participating in the competitive New Jersey High School meet in Princeton. While she was excelling in a number of events, Hart searched out Brenda and James and made his sell. “I didn’t even know he was there,” Reid admits. “The meet was over, and my parents told me, ‘He likes you, we like him—you’re going to Northeastern.’ I thought they were crazy. I wasn’t even sure where NU was.” Once she made her way to campus, the future journalism major fell in love with Boston and the NU community. Reid hopes to carve out a career in public relations, recently finishing her final co-op, in the communications department at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety. But just now she has some unfinished business. Reid has already qualified for the nationals in the 55-meter hurdles. She also has the spring season to contend with. “When track is over, I will definitely feel like something’s missing,” Reid says. “The feeling I get when I win a race is amazing. Once I cross the line, I feel like I’m the fastest person in the world.” It’s a feeling Nikiya Reid knows very well.