Crystal Reed, a member of the Kansas rowing team, graduated last May with a degree in Business Administration and Marketing. Her job was already lined up in Mission for a company called Maxim Health Care Services, working as a recruiter. Reed was all set to move on from college life and college sports.

But she didn’t. Her reason for returning to the University if Kansas: rowing.

“I felt I had unfinished business here,” she said.

Completing her unfinished business for the team was a huge decision for her. She went back and forth. She wanted to stay, and time was closing in on her to make the decision.

She was supposed to start her job two weeks after her decision to stay. She gave her two-weeks notice without ever setting foot in the office.

She said she was surprised that Maxim commended her on her decision and extended the offer for her. She then started grad school and is currently working on her Masters degree in sports studies. And of course, she is back on the rowing team, loving every minute of it.

“I haven’t regretted it,” Reed said. “I love still being a part of the team.”

She wasn’t part of the team until her junior year. When she first arrived at the University as a freshman, she wanted to try the sport, but was reluctant. As a recipient of the Dan Drake Scholarship, she wanted to put academics first. She said she didn’t want to take on too much in her first year.

As a sophomore, she considered transferring to Southern Mississippi University to be with her boyfriend, and therefore decided to wait on her interest in rowing. Reed continued at Kansas, and soon her junior year was here.

“My junior year was my one and only chance to do this,” she said. “I just decided to try it.”

When she went in to talk to the coaches, she was surprised at their comments on her height. Reed is 5-foot-3.

“Since I obviously had never been a rower, I didn’t know much about the sport,” she said. “I went in there wanting to row, but they recommended me being a coxswain. I kept thinking, they just don’t know what I can do.”

Reed had been involved in multiple sports growing up, such as basketball, volleyball and track, where she set the 4x800 record at her school. But soon she found out what the coaches were talking about when she saw the varsity team.

“Everyone was so much taller than me,” she said. “It was an aspect of rowing I didn’t know about. They were definitely tall.”

She now enjoys her job as the first-boat coxswain.

“When describing my job, I always tell people I’m a coach and cheerleader at the same time,” Reed said. “When we’re out on the water, it’s not like a coach is right there to call a timeout. I have to re-iterate what the coaches tell us. On the technical side, I need to help the team, but then I need to be there to cheer them on and keep them going.”

Reed said she commended the coaches when they were around. She said assistant coach Jennifer Myers set a good example of how to lead.

“Jen is a fabulous coach. She is always encouraging people. She is definitely one of those coaches that makes you want to do well for her. And she does a great job of establishing that relationship every year with every new team that comes in.”

Coach Rob Catloth has made her experience great as well.

“Being a head coach, it’s typical that he demands more of us,” Reed said. “You always want to prove yourself to him. And he definitely knows how to push us. He knows all the technical things that we need to learn. He knows it’s the things that will better our team.”

Catloth said he was as excited as Reed about her return.

“She did a really good job last year,” Catloth said. “She was right on stride, being a competitive coxswain. It’s good that she’s using her eligibility.”

Catloth said Reed enjoyed the sport, and he liked what she brought to the team.

“You can tell she has a love of the sport,” he said. “She is a very competitive person. And she tries to be better all the time. Crystal is one of those people that brings something of her herself to the program.”

Rower Kristy Hainer and Reed’s relationship goes back to when Reed started on the novice team. The rowing team has a “big sis-little sis” system set up to make the novice team feel more welcome. Hainer was Reed’s big sis.

“It’s like a support system for the team,” Hainer said. “It’s nice to have someone there for them when they first start out.”

Hainer remembers one of the gifts that Reed gave to her before a race day. Since Hainer is from Ontario, Reed made a cake for her that was decorated half-Canadian and half-Kansas.

“It was such a nice surprise,” she said. “She has always been so cute like that.”

Jennifer Voldness