Weston Cole is the Junior Rowing Program Director and Women’s Head Coach at the Newport Aquatic Center. Since taking over the women’s program in 2022, Weston has guided NAC to sustained national and international success. The Varsity Women’s 8 has earned silver medals at the US Rowing Youth National Championships in both 2024 and 2025, while the Junior Varsity 8 has also medaled at Nationals in each of the last three years. Under his leadership, NAC has also represented the United States on the international stage, competing at the Henley Royal Regatta in England for the past two years.
In addition to his work at NAC, Weston has coached with the UCLA Men’s Rowing program, guiding the Freshman 8s to medals at the ACRA National Championships, and has worked with US Rowing's Olympic Development Program in Sarasota, FL.
As Junior Program Director, Weston oversees all aspects of NAC’s junior rowing programs including the boys, girls, and middle school teams, managing staff development, budgeting, fundraising, equipment, and long-term program strategy. His leadership centers on building a culture defined by teamwork, integrity, perseverance, and a positive athlete experience.

Coach Mijo Rudelj brings elite international and collegiate rowing experience to the Newport Aquatic Center, where he is leading the Varsity Boys program for the 2025-26 Season. Originally from Split, Croatia, Mijo rowed for the University of Washington from 2010 to 2013, helping the Huskies dominate collegiate rowing with multiple National and Pac‑12 championships.

As a freshman, he was part of an undefeated eight that won the IRA National Championship and Temple Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. He later rowed in the Varsity eight and made the final of The Grand Challenge at Henley his senior year, losing to the Great Britain National Team by a length. He holds 4 National Championships with UW and earned All-PAC 12 honors along the way. Internationally, he represented Croatia at the 2011 Under-23 World Championships in Amsterdam, placing seventh in the men’s double.

Mijo first joined NAC as a coach from 2014 to 2019, working across the middle school, novice boys, and varsity girls programs. Now back at NAC, he brings a technical, disciplined coaching style focused on fundamentals, efficiency, and teamwork. His goal is to bring a championship approach to training and boathouse culture that he learned at UW and develop athletes who not only succeed on the water but carry those lessons beyond it.

Cierra started rowing competitively in 2015 and joined the varsity girls team at NAC in 2017. She competed at a national level in 2017 and 2019 and was recruited to Washington State University in 2019 where she competed at NCAA in 2021. She acquired her Bachelor's degree studying kinesiology and psychology while rowing for their D1 collegiate rowing program.
Cierra started her coaching career in 2023 and is going into her second season of coaching the women's team. She looks forward to taking the women's team to the highest level of performance.

Marcel Stiffey began coaching the Boy’s Novice Squad in 2013. Marcel began his rowing career at Orange Coast College with Pat Gleason as his novice coach. While at Orange Coast College, Marcel won the WIRA championships, and then went on to compete at the IRA National Championships where his crew finished 9th. Post Orange Coast College, Marcel began training with friends and would compete in a club crew called the Little Knights. From there, he was invited to row for the famous Leander Club in the UK. While training at Leander, he was coached by the GB Olympic Coach Mark Banks and Chris Collerton, while training alongside members of the Olympic squad. As an added bonus, he was offered a position to begin coaching at the University of Oxford. While coaching there, he led his lightweights to an early season victory at the head of the Thames Regatta. Marcel brings coaching experience from an international perspective as well as having experience coaching at Orange Coast College and with the Long Beach Junior Crew. His enthusiasm and passion for the sport of rowing is what motivates him to give back to the juniors as they reach for their potential. Marcel is happy to help all who come through the program and looks forward to another successful season with your children.

A native from Indiana. Madison played indoor and beach volleyball in high school. She quickly changed paths when she arrived on campus at the University of Michigan and tried out for the Women’s Rowing Team. After competing in her first collegiate rowing season, she realized there was something else tall girls could be good at and never turned back.
While at Michigan, Madison was a two-time captain, back-to-back BigTen Champion, finished 3rd in the 1V8 at the 2019 NCAA Championships, 4th in the 1V8 at the 2021 NCAA Championships, and was a 3-time All-American. She is the biggest Michigan fan you will ever meet!

Erich has been a coach for the boys team at Newport Aquatic Center for the past 8 years. He is stoked to help the program for his 9th season!

Janet comes to the NAC by way of UCI Rowing. From 2014 to 2018, she coached Novice and Lightweight Men’s crews. Her involvement directly contributed to the increased retention of high-caliber participants with the most entries, most grand final contestants and most medals awarded to-date at regionals (WIRA) and nationals (ACRA) by UCI in its 50+ year history.

Her experience in club varsity rowing first began at the University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA) where she joined the fledgling team as a walk-on coxswain. During her five years with Pacific Rowing and its community program, Deep Water Rowing Association, she wore many hats as an Assistant Coach for middle school, junior and master rowing, as well as Regatta Director and Recruitment Coordinator.

Fostering a passion for the sport of rowing has always been the focus of her coaching philosophy, including applying the skills and lessons learned to face any of life’s obstacles. Alongside the talented coaching staff, she hopes to continue to build and grow NAC Women’s Rowing.

Joe Morken walked on to the Orange Coast College rowing team in the fall of 2023 and quickly rose through the ranks. Starting in the second freshman boat, he advanced to the novice 1 lineup by spring, where his crew defeated IRA-level competition and earned a 2nd-place finish at the ACRA National Championship. Serving as captain during his first year, Joe continued to develop in his second season, earning a seat in the varsity boat that went on to place 6th in the grand final at ACRA.

Alongside his collegiate rowing career, Joe gained coaching experience at the Newport Aquatic Center as an assistant middle school coach while balancing his own training and competition. He is now returning to NAC as the Novice Assistant Coach, bringing both his competitive background and leadership experience to the team. Joe is currently studying Sociology at Orange Coast College with plans to transfer to a four-year university.

Connor holds a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from California State University Long Beach and multiple credentials in the field. He boasts a distinguished career as both a competitive rower and coach. As an athlete, he rowed at the Newport Aquatic Center and Orange Coast College. After college, he continued to train at an elite level, furthering his knowledge of the sport and testing different training methods on himself with great success.
He has applied his extensive knowledge and experience to guide and inspire the next generation of rowers. In each of his seasons coaching, he has had at least one boat make the Grand Final at Youth Nationals, collecting multiple medals and a National Championship.
His coaching philosophy is rooted in positivity, combined with his deep understanding of biomechanics and physiology. His background in kinesiology provides a solid foundation for mitigating injury, as well as building the athlete’s fundamentals for a healthy, active life.
When he’s not on the water or in the gym, Connor enjoys staying active, being outdoors, and keeping up to date with the latest developments in exercise science.
He’s happy to be home.

Luke Holscher joins Newport Aquatic Center as an assistant coach for the Varsity Men, he is excited to work under the guidance of head coach Mijo Rudelj. He brings a passionate focus on hard work and technical prowess and uses those principles to build fast boats and develop athletes holistically.

From 2020 to 2022 Luke coached at his alma mater club, California Yacht Club, under the tutelage of his mentor and former coach, Craig Leeds. Luke helped keep the program open and expanding during the pandemic. It is one of his proudest accomplishments making sure young rowers had an opportunity to continue training and new rowers could have a physical activity during the pandemic.

From 2023 to 2024, he served as a private coach, helping athletes reach their goals and navigate college recruitment.

Luke's competitive background includes a silver medal in the lightweight double at Southwest Regionals as a sophomore (A-finalist at Nationals), stroking a CYC quad to a silver medal at the 2019 Youth Nationals in Sarasota, FL, in 2020 he had a canceled spring season due to COVID. In 2024, he walked on to the Orange Coast College (OCC) men’s team, earning a seat in the undefeated freshman 8, which swept victories at Crew Classic, WIRA, and ACRA.

Currently pursuing a Communications degree at Orange Coast College, Luke is passionate about watching rowers grow and carry the lessons of grit and hard work into any discipline or work environment. He is grateful for the lessons rowing has taught him and finds his calling in passing them on to the next group of motivated athletes.

Haley MacKay returns to NAC with a fresh perspective and deep enthusiasm for rowing. They began as a walk-on for UC Irvine, quickly making an impact as coxswain of a nearly undefeatable N8+ and later helping to revitalize the women’s program, growing it from three returning athletes to over five boats’ worth. That effort culminated in major milestones, including the Women’s Team Points Trophy at WIRA 2024.

Since 2020, Haley has built a strong coaching foundation through youth programs and now leads NAC’s Competitive Middle School team, guiding it to new levels of success. They also serve as Assistant Coach for the Women’s Rowing Team at UCI, bringing the same passion and dedication to athletes of all ages and experience levels.

With a genuine enthusiasm for coaching, Haley looks forward to fostering a supportive, dynamic rowing community at NAC and inspiring the next generation of athletes.