Alicea (Kochis) Strodel enters her eighth season as head coach of the University of Minnesota rowing program after joining the Maroon and Gold in the summer of 2019.

After her first season with Minnesota was cut short due to public health concerns, Strodel and the Golden Gophers returned to the water in 2021 with one of the program's best campaigns in recent history. Her squad rose to No. 14 in the Pocock/CRCA Division I Rankings for the program's highest position in the national poll since 2008, while Strodel coached a pair of All-Big Ten honorees in Lauren Burrows-Cheng (first team) and Lindsay Eliasen (second team). Burrows-Cheng also was recognized as a 2021 Division I Pocock All-America Honorable Mention and Eliasen followed by landing the same honor for Minnesota in 2021-22.

During the 2023-24 season, she guided the Gophers to their best finish at the Big Ten Championship since 2015 as the team placed fifth, highlighted by the First Novice Eight boat earning a bronze medal. Minnesota received votes in the Pocock/CRCA national polls in all but two weeks of the 10-week spring season and won duals against Kansas, Kansas State, and Gonzaga thanks to All-Big Ten selections Isabella Bejaran (first team) and Manon Field (second team). Under Strodel's guidance, the First Varsity Eight crew became the first Maroon and Gold boat to land a pair of B1G Boat of the Week honors since the 2012-13 campaign as it picked up the honor March 19 and April 23.

Strodel coached Cecilie Christensen to Pocock Racing Shells First Team All-American honors in 2022-23, the first to earn the nation's highest recognition since 2008. She also guided Christensen (first team) and Isabella Bejaran (second team) to All-Big Ten recognition for the Maroon and Gold.

Under Strodel's leadership, Minnesota has excelled in the classroom and had double-digit CRCA Scholar Athlete honorees in each of the last six seasons, totaling 93 since she took over the program, along with three College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans. The Gophers also have had 231 student-athletes named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team along with 109 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.

Prior to being named the head coach at Minnesota, Strodel, a three-time NCAA Rowing Championship competitor at Syracuse from 1998-2002, returned to her alma mater in 2007 as an assistant coach and was promoted to associate head coach in 2016.

The primary coach of Syracuse's varsity four boats, Strodel worked closely with head coach Luke McGee and was responsible for recruiting in North America, bringing four U.S. Junior National Team World Medalists to the Orange. Similar to her time as a collegiate rower, Syracuse competed in three-consecutive NCAA Championships including a 16th-place finish in 2018, while her varsity four crew also earned a 16th-place result.

In 2016 and 2017, the Orange finished 13th at the NCAA Championship with the varsity four earning its best finish under Strodel's tenure in 2017 (11th). In 2016, Strodel guided the varsity four to a second-place finish at the world-famous Head of the Charles Regatta. In 2014, the varsity four crew was ranked as high as No. 10 nationally and was ranked No. 13 in the country in 2015. During Syracuse's days in the BIG EAST the varsity four earned a gold medal in 2012 and silver the year prior. Strodel was named 2009 CRCA Mid-Atlantic Assistant Coach of the Year and coached the Novice 8 to a BIG EAST Championship.

Strodel has served on the All-American Awards committee since 2015 where she is responsible for selecting the All-Region and All-America honorees. From 2009-2016, she was a national pollster for CRCA Region 3.

Strodel started her rowing career at Syracuse as a walk-on and earned a seat in the varsity eight in just her second season. In both 2001 and 2002, she was named to the CRCA Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team, and she was SU's Most Improved Rower as a sophomore.

In 2001, she rowed in the six seat of the varsity eight that earned the first bid for Syracuse in the grand final of the NCAA Championship. She also helped the team achieve a perfect 8-0 season. That same year, the Orange's varsity eight won the inaugural BIG EAST Challenge and recorded a third-place finish at the Eastern Sprints. Overall, Strodel helped SU to three NCAA appearances, victories in two BIG EAST Challenges and a win at the Georgetown Invitational for BIG EAST schools in 2000. She and her teammates that made up the 2001 Women's V8 crew were inducted into the Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association Hall of Fame in October 2026.

After completing her rowing career, she spent the summer of 2002 at the U.S. Pre-Elite Development Camp. From 2002-2004, she worked as a graduate assistant at the University of Connecticut. She also worked as a non-profit fundraiser at the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and at Outward Bound.

The former Alicea Kochis graduated from Syracuse in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in computer science. She went on to earn a master's degree in sport management from Connecticut in 2004.

Title	Name
Head Coach	Alicea Strodel
Assistant Coach / Recruiting Coordinator	Chris Rechen
Assistant Coach	Andrew Hess
Assistant Coach	Maddie Perrett
Assistant Coach / Boathouse Manager	Dane Underwood

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