Juniors Coaching Staff
Roger Huffman
Executive Director, Head Girl’s Coach
rhuffman51@gmail.com - - (714) 661-6172
Roger has been the Head Girl’s Coach at The Milwaukee Rowing Club since August of 2012. Highlights of his MRC tenure include seeing the girls make their first ever USRowing Youth National Championship appearances in the Women’s 8+ (15th in 2013), the Women’s Lwt 4+ (13th in 2014), and the Women's 4+ (15th in 2015). The girls again qualified the Youth Women’s 4+ in 2019 (15th place). Since returning from the Covid lockdown, the girls program has competed at Youth Nationals in the Youth Women’s 8+ in 2021, 2022, and 2023 (12th place), the Youth Women’s 2V8+ in 2023, and the Youth Womens U17 4+ in 2021 (4th), 2022, and 2023. He was named the Program Director in March of 2014.
Roger began his coaching career in 2010 at the University of Wisconsin. In the spring of 2011 he coached the Men's Second Freshmen Eight to a gold medal at the Eastern Sprints. In the academic year of 2011-2012, Roger served as an assistant coach for the Men's Heavyweight program at Princeton University. In Princeton, he assisted with Princeton University High Performance Camps, Carnegie Lake Rowing Association Masters team, and contributed to the success of the Men’s Varsity program. Prior to joining the MRC staff in 2012, Roger also assisted with the USRowing Men's Development Camp in Madison, WI.
Roger began his rowing career in the fall of 2006 as a freshman at Orange Coast College. In his two years at Coast, he won the Men's Varsity 8+ at the San Diego Crew Classic and won two consecutive gold medals at the WIRA (Conference) Championships. Roger then transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for his junior and senior year. In 2009 he earned a silver medal at the Eastern Sprints in the Second Varsity Eight, and in 2010 he rowed in the Varsity Eight which placed 4th at the Eastern Sprints. He also earned medals at Club Nationals and Canadian Henley in 2009, highlighted by a gold medal in the Senior 8+ at Canadian Henley.
Roger lives in Shorewood with his wife, Colleen, and dog, Tucker.
Gina Pagán
Head Boy’s Coach
gina.n.pagan@gmail.com - - (630) 297-1368
Gina joined the Milwaukee Rowing Club staff in August of 2017 as an assistant coach for the boy’s team and the middle school program. Gina has been the head boys coach since the fall of 2021. As head coach, she has led the youth men to nationals in the 1V8+ and 2V8+ in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to her time at Milwaukee Rowing Club, Gina was the Head Coach of the Women's Rowing program at Marquette University, where she coached for six years. During her tenure, she lead Marquette to their first appearance at the ACRA National Championship where they made grand finals in both the Women’s Novice 8+ (7th, 2015), Varsity Women’s 4+ (3rd, 2016), and Women’s Novice 4+ (5th, 2017). In Spring 2017, her Women’s Novice 8+ finished 6th at the Dad Vail Regatta, and became the first eight to make a Dad Vail grand final in Marquette’s history.
Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Gina’s rowing career began in Milwaukee in the fall of 2007. She rowed for four years at Marquette and consistently competed in the 1V8+, as well as the 1V4+ at the 2010 Head of the Charles. She also served on the team’s board as the Public Relations chair. In May of 2011, she graduated from Marquette with a BS in Business Administration. She holds her US Rowing Level II certification. Outside of coaching, she works as a finance professional in downtown Milwaukee.
Dan Graham
Director of STEM to Stern, Head Middle School Coach, Assistant Coach
dangraham@mkejuniors.org — (608) 320-4004
Bio coming soon!
Grace D’Souza
Assistant Boys Coach
Grace has been an Assistant Boy’s Coach at the Milwaukee Rowing Club since August 2021. Her experience in rowing ranges from the Milwaukee Rowing Club to the US National Team. As a junior athlete, Grace rowed for the Milwaukee Rowing Club from July 2013 through July 2017. During her time as an athlete at MRC, Grace competed at The Head of the Charles, the San Diego Crew Classic, and most notably, Youth National Championships in the Lightweight 4+. Additionally, Grace served as the team captain during her senior year. In addition to rowing, Grace also competed on the Whitefish Bay Varsity Tennis and Ski Racing teams.
Grace was recruited to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Women’s Lightweight Team where she began her collegiate career as a Division I Athlete. Her notable Collegiate racing experience includes: The Head the Charles, The Head of the Hooch, San Diego Crew Classic, The Knecht Cup, Eastern Sprints, and the IRA. While on the team, Grace set the standing Freshman and All-Time 2000m records for the lightweight team. In addition, Grace served as the Lightweight Team Captain during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons.
During her summers, Grace trained with High Performance groups around the country and competed for the US National Team in 2021 in the Lightweight Womens 4x. In 2018, Grace rowed at Vesper Rowing Club in Philadelphia, competing in US Time Trials (2nd in the LW 1x), Club Nationals, and Canadian Henley. In 2019, Grace was selected for the U23 US National Team Camp in Boston, MA, and again competed at US Time Trials (2nd in the LW 1x). In 2020, after being selected for the U23 US National Team Camp again, which was interrupted by COVID-19, she continued to train virtually with the team. Finally, in 2021, Grace trained at Mission Rowing in Santa Barbara, CA, where she qualified the U23 Lightweight 4x at US Time Trials. Later that summer, she placed 3rd in the LW 4x at U23 World Championships in Racice, Czech Republic.
Grace began Law School in Fall 2021 at Marquette University. In addition to Law school and coaching the Boy’s Team, Grace continues to train for Senior level competitions. At the 2021 Head of the Charles, Grace placed 3rd in the Lightweight Women’s Single. She hopes to continue to compete at a high level and educate the younger athletes on opportunities at a national level.
Lexie Lanphere
Assistant Girls Coach
Lexie is a returning assistant and novice coach for the Milwaukee Rowing Club junior girls’ program. She originally began coaching for the MRC in the summer of 2017, staying on for two years. After moving to Sheboygan, she is now back in the Milwaukee area and rejoined the MRC coaching staff in February of 2022.
Lexie started her rowing career with the Milwaukee Rowing Club in the winter of her sophomore year of high school. She rowed in the 1V8 for two consecutive years and was co- team captain of the junior girls’ team her senior year. She attended the Head of the Charles in both 2011 and 2012, placing 9th in the Junior Women’s 8+ in 2012. Lexie qualified for the program’s first ever USRowing Youth National Championship appearance in the Women’s 8+ in 2013. Lexie was recruited by the University of Kansas, where she rowed for four years.
Lexie has a BA in English from the University of Kansas, as well as a BS in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Outside of coaching, she works as a Controlled Substance Analyst at the Wisconsin State Crime Lab.
John Creighton
Assistant Coach/Girls Coach
John started helping coach the high school girls crews in the fall of 2019
He learned to row as a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. He was a 3 year letterman at Penn and selected to the US National team sweep camps in 1981 & 1982. While attending graduate school at Bucknell in 1983-85, he helped start their rowing club and became their first coach. John has been an active member of the MRC since 1987 and raced in numerous regattas including Henley Royal Regatta, Canadian Henley, US National team trials, US Masters Nationals and at least 30 Head of the Charles regattas.
He has 3 daughters and his middle daughter, Meredith, was in Roger’s first women’s 8+ that finished 13th at Youth Nationals in 2013. John works in corporate real estate for CBRE.
Sandy Williams
Assistant Coach/Boys Coach
Sandy has been an assistant coach with the Varsity Boys program since 2014. His rowing experience goes back nearly to the dark ages, having rowed in the 1960s at Harvard College under the watchful eye of coaching legend Harry Parker.
A lifelong resident of Milwaukee, after graduating from Harvard and then Columbia Law and Business schools, he returned to the city to practice corporate law and raise a family of four boys and numerous dogs. Retirement in 2012 led to a brief flirtation with coaching high school football and then a recommitment of his passion for coaching to the sport of rowing, which had become so important to him in college.
Sophie Wacholz
Middle School Coach
Sophie rowed at the Milwaukee Rowing Club throughout middle school and high school, and she joined the middle school staff in June 2023.