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Veronika Platzer, who led the University of Virginia rowing team's women's four to the 2004 NCAA Championship, is in the midst of her third year at UMass Lowell and is directing the transition of the women's rowing program into its second year in NCAA Division II after nine years competing at club status.
Last year - UMass Lowell's return year as a Division II program - the team made significant gains, including a fourth place showing in the eights and a second place result in the fours at the East Region Invitational. The results catapulted the program into the CRCA Division II rankings, peaking at No. 2.
Platzer comes to the University with an extensive background in rowing. Prior to coming to UMass Lowell, she spent two years at the University of Michigan, which preceded four years at the University of Virginia and stints at the University of Wisconsin and Mercyhurst College.
Additionally, Platzer has been a U.S. Junior National Team coach for the last four years. She continues to row competitively, having won the 2010 women's four championship at the FISA World Rowing Masters Regatta in St. Catharines, Ontario on Sept. 4.
As an assistant with the Michigan women's program, Platzer served as the recruiting director and the coach of the second varsity eight. Her 2007 and 2008 recruiting classes were billed among the top in the country.
Platzer highlighted her four years at Virginia by leading the Cavaliers varsity women's four to the 2004 NCAA title. She also guided the novice team to Atlantic Coast Conference and South Region championships in 2005 and 2006.
Prior, Platzer was the women's novice lightweight coach at Wisconsin in 2002, which followed a short stint as the men's coach at Mercyhurst College.
"This is a position that requires the rare combination of coaching and recruiting skills and an entrepreneurship component as well," Platzer said. "Anytime there is talk about using a sport for creative outreach, you're singing my tune. I was very impressed at the fact that Dana Skinner and Chancellor Meehan are visionaries of this program, not just for UMass Lowell, but for the community.
"What is so exciting is that we have the seeds for a fantastic program," she added. "We have resources that would rival any Division I program and I am looking forward to giving it the identity and direction it needs. I've had the opportunity of working at two of the best rowing schools in the country, and I will be bringing that with me."
Platzer is a 1987 graduate of Grinnell College (B.A., anthropology) where she was a three-time NCAA Division III champion in the discus. She was inducted into the College's Hall of Fame in 1991 and voted the NCAA's Female Track and Field Athlete of the Decade (1980-90).
Last May, Platzer was among five men and women inducted into the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame.
On the advice of a friend, she turned her attention to rowing following graduation and steadily worked her way on to the U.S. National Team. She represented the United States in World Cup races from 1993-97 and well as the 1993 World Championships.
Platzer is a native of Colorado Springs, CO. She lives in Lowell, Mass.
