Newark Athletics

New Brunswick Athletics

James "Jamie" Stack

Jamie Stack has worked wonders with the Rutgers University-Camden women's crew program.

Stack joined the Rutgers-Camden coaching staff in May, 2002, with the charge to start and develop a collegiate crew program. He started the program on the club level in 2002 and his efforts culminated during the fall of 2004 when the women's crew team attained varsity status. The Lady Raptors competed in three regattas, making their varsity debut Oct. 2 in Pittsburgh, PA, at the Head of the Ohio Regatta.

Now, two years later, the crew team is the beneficiary of the palatial new Camden County Boathouse, which opens July 29 along the banks of the Cooper River in Pennsauken. Not only does Rutgers-Camden row out of that venue, sharing the boathouse with local high school programs, but Stack serves as the manager of that facility, doing everything from everything from coordinating activity on the Cooper River, working with Camden County Special Events on all regattas held on the river and coordinating with booking events in the banquet facility, to serving on the Cooper Rowing Club masters rowing team as both a board member and a coach.

During the 2005-2006 school year, the Lady Raptors competed in a pair of regattas during the fall part of their schedule. They participated in six spring competitions, racing from Virginia and Maryland to Pennsylvania and their home course on the Cooper River. The Women's Varsity Four finished second at the Murphy Cup (March 25) and the Women's Varsity Eight was third at both the Johns Hopkins Invitational (April 15) and the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Crew Championships (May 7). The Lady Raptors capped their season at the Dad Vail Regatta (May 13) by finishing second in the Women's Varsity Heavyweight 8 Repechage Division II and III Second Final.

During the 2004-2005 school year, the Rutgers-Camden women's crew program competed in its first year on the varsity level. The Lady Raptors also collected the first victory in their program's history, winning the Women's Frosh/Novice Eight Division III finals at the Knecht Cup Regatta, April 17, 2005.

A 1997 graduate of La Salle University, Stack has coached throughout the United States, from the Delaware Valley to Alaska. Prior to accepting the Rutgers-Camden position, Stack served as the men's head crew coach at the University of Florida.

Stack, who grew up in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, was introduced to rowing when he was a freshman at La Salle College High School in Philadelphia. As a freshman, his cousins got him to try out for the team. He has been rowing ever since that day.

During his freshman and sophomore years, Stack participated as a coxswain in the Novice 8. He moved up to the junior varsity and varsity boats as a junior and a senior, then attended La Salle University in Philadelphia. In his first year, he rowed the stroke seat of the freshman/novice lightweight eight, earning a silver medal in the 1994 Dad Vail Regatta. A year later, he rowed the stroke seat of the varsity lightweight eight and placed sixth in the 1995 Dad Vail Regatta.

Stack served as the assistant captain of the La Salle varsity men during the 1995-96 school year, and was the Explorers' team captain in 1996-97.

Stack graduated from La Salle in May, 1997 with a B.S. in Business Administration, and immediately started his coaching career. He served as the Freshman/Novice men's coach at La Salle during the 1997-98 season, coaching two heavyweight eight boats. His crew won two medals in the Philadelphia City Championships and qualified one boat to compete in the Dad Vail Regatta.

Stack became the head coach of the varsity men at Northwestern University in 1998. In his two seasons with the Wildcats, Stack qualified the first freshman Northwestern crew in 10 years to participate in the 1999 Dad Vail Regatta. His Varsity 8 placed 19th out of 76 crews in the 1999 Head of the Charles Regatta Club Eight Event, earning an automatic bid for the 2000 regatta. He also led the varsity heavyweight and lightweight men's eight boats to the 2000 Dad Vail Regatta semifinals.

During his summers in Illinois, Stack served as the head coach of the Chicago River Rowing Club in 1999 and 2000. In the summer of 2001, he served in a dual coaching role with the Kenai Crewsers and the Anchorage Rowing Association in Alaska. He worked with every level from a Learn to Row program to rowers of Juniors and Masters abilities.

Stack was the men's head crew coach at the University of Florida in Gainesville during the 2001-02 school year. He served in a similar situation to the one he started at Rutgers-Camden, working with a club program. When Stack had a chance to return to the Philadelphia region in charge of a new program, he jumped at the opportunity.

Stack resides in Barrington, NJ, with his wife Tawnya, daughter Madison and son Keegan.