Brian Ebke Named UCO Head Rowing Coach in Pursuit of Third Straight Title
Derek Parker
The University of Central Oklahoma announced Brian Ebke as the new head rowing coach on Aug. 7 after Montia Rice moved to the University of Central Florida following back-to-back national championships in 2018 and 2019.
Ebke is a former Princeton heavyweight rower and was a UCO graduate assistant coach in 2014. He spent six years on the Oklahoma River working with the Oklahoma City Boathouse developing top rowers.
“We are really excited for Brian to be coming back to Central Oklahoma and take over our rowing program,” said Britni Brannon, UCO senior women’s administrator. “Brian has deep roots in Edmond and in Oklahoma City and has a proven resume as a rowing coach. He is going to be a great addition to UCO.”
Ebke spent the past two seasons with the Princeton open rowing team as an assistant coach.
In 2018, Princeton beat every Ivy League team and only finished second place to the University of Iowa by 2.7 seconds. They also defeated Brown University, University of Michigan, Columbia University and University of Notre Dame. They finished ninth overall in the 2018 NCAA Rowing Championships.
In 2019, the Tigers won all of their regular season races, including a first place finish in the Ivy League Championships by 3.8 seconds. Princeton finished seventh in the 2019 NCAA Rowing Championships with 94 points.
Two-time national champion and @ucoathletics dual-sport athlete Bailee Thomas will graduate with two degrees once her time as a Broncho is complete.
The 2019 NCAA DII rowing #Elite90 award winner shares how her studies help her compete for @row_uco. #MakeitYours pic.twitter.com/dhx8JbB9R5
— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) June 28, 2019
Now, Ebke will inherit a Broncho team coming off back-to-back titles. Central has been dominant the past two seasons, earning the university its 20th national title last season.
The Bronchos will be returning the core of their national championship squad. Eileen Anderson, Madisyn Kitchell, Megan Dwarshuis and Shelby Wackerly all earned All-American honors in their junior season.
Rice will now be joining a UCF squad that will be gunning for its sixth straight American Athletic Conference title.
In his three seasons at UCO, Rice coached the Varsity 8+ boat to national titles in all three years. Rice also coached the Varsity 4+ to a win in his final season at Central. Eighteen All-Americans were honored in Rice’s tenure at UCO.
“Montia is a great person and a great coach and we wish him the absolute best in his future,” said UCO Athletic Director Eddie Griffin. “We can’t thank him enough for what he did for our program. Back-to-back national championships is something only a select few can say they’ve done and we are incredibly grateful to Montia for helping us achieve that here at UCO. We wish him the very best.”
Ebke and the Bronchos will now look to win their third straight national title.