Bucknell University Athletics
A Whirlwind of Changes
10/17/2006 8:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Oct. 17, 2006
By Todd Merriett, Bucknell Athletic Communications
Over the last two years Page Kannor has experienced a number of changes in her life. She took up rowing, traveled more than 2,000 miles from home to attend college, joined the women's rowing team, became part of the Rooke Chapel Choir, made her first-year college journey an open book with a Web site feature called Year in the Life and made a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe.
At the same time the Bucknell women's rowing program has undergone a transformation as well. From changing its name to rowing from crew to joining the Patriot League and recruiting student-athletes for the first time, the Bison program looks completely different than it did in 2004, even upping its number of full-time coaches to four.
With both Kannor, who will be embarking on her sophomore year at Bucknell this fall, and her team in transition periods, it is no wonder they have meshed together so successfully.
An extremely active person who had a hand in nearly every sport while growing up, Kannor was stuck playing basketball in high school because of her height, but, much like her previous endeavors, did not really like it. Her father came across an advertisement for the University of California Crew Camp and Kannor jumped on the idea and immediately fell in love with the sport.
Despite her late introduction to rowing, Cal, the 2006 NCAA Champion, was among the schools recruiting Kannor, a Boise, Idaho, native, as her senior year moved along. A mailing from Bucknell, which spurred a visit to the picturesque Lewisburg, Pa., campus, brought the Bison into the fold. After her trip East and a meeting with Bucknell head coach Stephen Kish, Kannor decided the smaller school was more her style than the 20,000-plus student behemoth Cal.
Having only rowed for a year, and even then not having much in-boat experience due to the dearth of water in arid Idaho, Kannor arrived at Bucknell unsure of what awaited her.
"I actually didn't have much confidence in myself because I did not know much about rowing at the college level," remembers Kannor. "I had never rowed a single and had only sculled a little, so I didn't really know what to expect."
Those worries were quickly quelled. Kannor rowed as part of the novice eight during the fall season, but jumped to the varsity eight during the most successful spring campaign in the history of the program.
The highlight of the spring season was Bucknell claiming its first Patriot League Championship. Kannor, in the 3-seat, helped lead the varsity eight to victory over defending champion Navy as the Bison earned Boat of the Year honors. The victory showed Kannor was not the only one unsure of what to expect in 2005-06. Bucknell had been chosen to finish fifth out of five teams in the league's preseason poll.
"Winning the championship was indescribable," comments Kannor as she pauses to come up with words. "Crossing the finish line and realizing we had won was the best experience of my life. We wanted it so bad and then we won and it was amazing."
The Bison were able to win the title despite a very youthful boat that featured just one senior, one junior, five sophomores and two freshmen.
"We had a lot of talks about our young boat," explains Kannor. "It takes awhile for a team dynamic to work itself out and it just clicked at the right time regardless of whether we were freshmen or seniors."
Rowing was not the only extracurricular activity Kannor had to balance as a freshman, in addition to her academics. A serious choir singer during high school, Kannor contacted William Payn, the director of choral studies and director of the Rooke Chapel Choir, immediately upon arriving at Bucknell last fall to set up an audition. She became immersed in the group and even got a chance to experience a 10-day sojourn to Eastern Europe. While there, the 40-person group acted like tourists, but was also fortunate to sing in countless numbers of cathedrals and churches.
Participating in a year-round Division I sport, especially one that requires daily 5 a.m. wake-up calls, singing with a critically acclaimed choir and tackling the difficult academics at an institution like Bucknell would be a daunting task for most upperclassmen, but Kannor, who plans to major in animal behavior, handled all of it with flying colors. In fact, she is hoping to add an a cappella group to her list of commitments this year.
"I learned to manage my time quickly," says Kannor of her first year at Bucknell. "I had to make sure all of my time was spent doing something. I could not just mess around and waste time."
Many members of the Bucknell community may already be familiar with how jam-packed Kannor's schedule was as a freshman. She was one of six first-year students who were chosen by the admissions office to chronicle their freshman years with an online journal called Year in the Life on www.bucknell.edu. The journal was periodically updated by Kannor throughout the year with pictures and journal entries describing the many events in her life.
The Year in the Life feature wrapped up at the end of the academic year or else people would get updates on Kannor working at her summer job at the airport or making her daily trek to the local YMCA for weight training and core strengthening that is sure to make Kish happy. The disappointing part of the summer for Kannor has been the lack of rowing available in Idaho. She's had just one opportunity to row, and that was during a trip to Connecticut to visit a former teammate.
Next summer should be easier for Kannor to find places to row as her family, which has lived in Georgia, Maine and Idaho, among other states, moves to Maryland in August. Going "home" to Maryland next summer will only continue the string of changes in Kannor's life. She can only hope one thing remains constant next year - the Bison as Patriot League Champions.
