Friends of Hanover Crew
Coaches
Julie Stevenson
Head Coach and Girls V1/2 Coach
Julie began coaching at HHS in the fall of 1998, and became head coach during Hanover crew’s inaugural year as a varsity sport in the spring of 2000. Julie was also instrumental in organizing the Friends of Hanover Crew. Julie’s own very successful rowing career began in high school where she was a 3-year member of and captained the Brooks School crew. She earned a spot in the Junior National Development Camp and her boat won a gold medal at the nationals. She continued to row at Dartmouth College as a rare, four-year member of the varsity boat. As Dartmouth captain her senior year, she and her boatmates went to the Henley Women’s Regatta in 1994, winning the gold medal. Julie next turned to teaching and coaching, first for two years at the Pomfret School in Connecticut, then at Hanover High School.
Kevin Cotter
JV Boys Coach
Kevin is the head Novice/Jv boys coach for Hanover High school. He works full time for the Richmond Middle School teaching 6th grade social studies. He's been coaching for Hanover for 5 years with many other years coaching other programs as well. His dog can also be seen in his launch and at many practices.
Win Piper
JV Girls Coach
Win is entering his fourth year as coach of the HHS JV girls. Since moving to the Upper Valley in 1997, Win has been an active sculler and competitive sweep rower through the Upper Valley Rowing Foundation. He has served as a board member and president of UVRF Rowing for the past six years. Rowing has been Win’s single greatest interest after his family for the past 20 years, and he is one of the sport’s most ardent supporters. Win first rowed at Trinity college, then later, as a graduate student, rowed with Yankee Rowing Club in Northampton, MA and served two terms there as president. YRC and Win were involved in collaboration with the Massachusetts Dept. of Natural Resources to develop and operate an adaptive rowing program. Win is currently a member of the Upper Valley Rowing Foundation board.
Heidi Lange
Novice Girls Coach
Heidi's introduction to rowing came at the University of Massachusetts where she enjoyed a very gratifying collegiate rowing experience. After college, she “lost her rowing way,” and went to grad school and pursued different career opportunities. In 2002, she moved back to New England with her husband and infant daughter. As soon as her son slept through the night, she began driving 45 minutes each morning to row with Upper Valley Rowing Foundation’s competitive women, captained the team for a year, and now serves on the UVRF board of directors and heads the programming committee. Heidi is also an avid alpine and nordic skier, a volunteer instructor with the Ford Sayre nordic program, and a competitive masters swimmer, but her passion is rowing, both sweep and sculling. Through HHS, Heidi hopes to share her experience and instill the same passion for rowing in others that she has in herself.
Roelof Versteeg
Novice Boys Coach
Roelof started rowing in 1980 in college in the Netherlands where he rowed both competitively and coached some recreational crews.
In the early 90s he coached for two years (from a single) at Rice University and then took a break from rowing til 2014 when he joined the Upper Valley Rowing Foundation and started rowing in the masters program. Since the pandemic he really has gotten into sculling. He joined Hanover High as an assistance novice boy coach in 2019. His dog Coco accompanies him to practice whenever possible.
Fred Cressman
FOHC President and Boys V1/2 Coach
Fred began rowing in 1972 at South Kent School and was captain of the Wesleyan University Crew 1977-78. His summers, from 1974 to 1982, were spent with the Dartmouth College Rowing Club. His coaching resume includes: Head Coach Rutgers Lightweight Men 1980-82; Coach of Princeton University Novice Women, Eastern Sprint and National Champions in 1983; Freshman Coach at Cornell 1983-85; Head Coach at Mount Holyoke from 1986-1992; Head Coach at Colgate University 1995-2003. Fred has been coaching with Hanover High School since 2005.
Ashley Gale
Jv Boys Coach
Coach Ashley started rowing at a small sculling program in 2011. She was recruited to row for the D1 women’s team at the University of Virginia, but switched over to the UVA men’s team halfway through her first year so she could compete as a sculler (her passion). She won three ACRA National Championships, two Dad Vail bronze medals, and three SIRA Championships among others. She joined the Albemarle High School coaching staff in 2019, where she helped coach medal-winning athletes in the VASRA State Championship, Stotesbury Cup, and Scholastic Nationals until she moved up to New Hampshire in November 2023. Ashley loves driving trailers, dancing in launches, and challenging her athletes to race her in a single. Her sidekick, Mako, also loves launch rides and challenging other boathouse doggos to race.
Erika Dade
Novice Girls Coach
Erika got hooked on rowing in the 1980s while in graduate school in Oregon, learning in a pair on the winding Willamette River. Later in Seattle, she rowed and competed for Lake Washington Rowing Club, and had the amazing privilege of learning to scull under the watchful eye of Frank Cunningham (The Sculler at Ease). Following a decade of living abroad, she moved to the Upper Valley in 2003, and returned to rowing and competing, both sweeps and sculls, with the Upper Valley Rowing Foundation. Erika has been assistant Novice Girls coach at HHS since 2011.
When she can manage to drag herself away from all things rowing, she writes computer software, with a background in Oceanography, satellite remote sensing, GIS and big data.
Hannah Levinger
Novice Girls Coach
Hannah Levinger began her rowing career in the very program she is honored to be able to help coach now. She found rowing her freshman year at Hanover High School after attempting (and failing) to be skilled at any land-based sport. After rowing at Hanover for four years, she walked onto the Brandeis University crew team and raced as 3 seat in a four in Dad Vails and Head of the Charles. She had knee surgery her junior year in college, which put an end to her collegiate racing career, but opened the door to coaching. Hannah coached the Brandeis novice men's boat during her senior year in college and her master's degree. She then moved abroad and left rowing behind only to find it again when she moved back to the Upper Valley in 2018. She has been rowing with the masters women at UVRF every summer since then and is absolutely thrilled to be able to give a little back to the sport that has given her so much over the years.
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Eli Snelling
Novice Boys Coach
Eli found rowing as a freshman at Hanover High School after he jealously watched his brother row for three years, and while helping his parents out under the food tent. He was a member of the program for all four years and was captain for his last two. During high school he also rowed for the UVRF Juniors program. Upon graduation, he took a gap year and then went to the NH Fire Academy where he became a certified Firefighter, later obtaining his Advanced EMT as well. He now works full time for town of Hartford on their fire department. After getting settled in as a firefighter, he decided to get involved in the HHS Crew program again. This year will be his third season coaching novices.
HHS Coaching Staff
Hanover High is fortunate to have an exceptionally experienced coaching staff with an impressive depth of competitive rowing experience at the collegiate, national and international level. The coaches share a passion for the sport and a dedication to passing their love of crew to successive generations of student athletes at Hanover High. This year’s coaching staff includes: