Jesuit Dallas crew has emerged as one of the most popular and competitive athletic programs at Jesuit Dallas since the arrival of head coach John Fife in 2011. Since taking the reins of the team, the Rangers have qualified four times for the US National Youth Championship (2011-14), while the roster has grown exponentially.
In 2012 and 2014, Jesuit travelled to Oklahoma and came away with the Central District Regional Championship. In each of the last two years (2013-14), the Rangers have bagged silver medals in the lightweight 8 and second 8, respectively, at the Stotesbury Cup, which is the largest scholastic regatta in the world. At the 2014 Stotesbury Cup Regatta, the Jesuit program was a first-time finalist in the Boy’s Senior 8.
Prior to arriving in Dallas, Fife was the assistant head coach at St. Joseph’s Prep (Pa.). During his tenure with the Philadelphia-based school, St. Joseph’s won several Stotesbury Cups, finished a close second at the 2008 USRowing National Championships, and were quarterfinalists at the Henley Royal Regatta in England.
After graduating in 2002 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the crew program, Fife served from 2002-05 as the Penn’s freshman lightweight coach. He also had a one-year stint as the men’s head lightweight rowing coach at Georgetown University before leaving to attend law school at Rutgers University. As a prep athlete, Fife was a standout rower at St. Joseph’s and was a two-time National Scholastic champion in the Boy’s Varsity 8.Â
