| THE MIKE ALTON ERA |
| |
Liberty League
Champions |
| 2006 |
| 2007 |
| 2008 |
| 2009 |
| 2010 |
| 2011 |
| |
Liberty League
Coaching Staff of the Year
|
| 2006 |
| 2007 |
| 2008 |
| 2009 |
| 2010 |
| |
Liberty League
Crew of the Year |
| 2006 |
| 2007 |
| 2008 |
| 2009 |
| 2010 |
| |
Liberty League
Novice Crew of the Year |
| 2006 |
| 2007 |
| 2008 |
| 2010 |
Mike Alton began his tenure as as the head coach of the Hobart crew team in January of 2006. Highly successful from Day 1, he and his assistants have been named the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year five consecutive times.
In each of his first five seasons, Alton led Hobart to the Liberty League Championship. The Statesmen won all four events they entered at the 2006 conference championships, and three of four in 2007 and 2008. The 2009 conference championship was awarded to the top finishing varsity eight at the New York State Championships after weather conditions forced regatta organizers to cancel the league championships. In 2010, the Statesmen returned to their dominating ways, winning all four events they entered.
Alton has helped Hobart to 13 medals at the New York State Championships, the varsity eight to back-to-back-to-back appearances in the ECAC grand final, and also coached the varsity four without coxswain to a silver medal at the 2007 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships.
Alton’s squad has claimed 46 of the 53 Liberty League Boat of Week awards presented since the start of the 2006 spring racing season. The Statesmen also swept the Liberty League Crew and Novice Crew of the Year awards in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010.
Alton came to Hobart following five very successful seasons as the head coach of the Vassar College men's and women's crew teams. The Brewer women finished two of his final three seasons ranked in the College Rowing Coaches Association Division III top-10, climbing as high as No. 7 in 2003. That year, Vassar earned a spot in the grand finals of the New York State Championships for the first time and later qualified three boats for the ECAC Championships, also a first. A year later, the Brewers made their first appearance in the grand finals of the ECAC Championship. In 2001, Alton guided the men's varsity four to a silver medal in the New York State Championships and a bronze medal in the ECAC Championships.
Alton was also an assistant professor of physical education at Vassar.
Prior to his time in Poughkeepsie, Alton spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Drexel University men's and women's crew teams, working primarily with the varsity women. Under Alton's guidance, the Dragons took first place at the Occoquan Sprints, the Marietta Invitational and the Mid-Atlantic Championship. In 1999, his women's varsity eight made the grand final of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championship regatta.
Alton's coaching career began as a graduate student at Wichita State University in 1993. He served one year as the Shockers' assistant women's rowing coach before he was promoted to head coach the following year. While completing his master's degree in exercise physiology, he led the varsity eight to a win at the Kansas state championships and back-to-back appearances in the grand finals of the Dad Vail regatta, earning a bronze medal in 1994 with the second varsity eight and a fifth place finish in 1995 with the varsity eight.
As a scholarship rower at Temple University, Alton's boat won three Dad Vail titles and competed in the Henley Royal Regatta in England. He was the Owls' Rookie of the Year in 1989 and later earned the team's Coaches Award. Alton graduated from the Philadelphia institution with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1992.
Alton earned Level III coaching certification from the U.S. Rowing Association in 2000. He and his wife, Stephanie, are the parents of two daughters, Danielle and Alexandria.
