Juniors Rowing Coach Bios

Eric Gehrke is the Program Manager and Head Men’s Coach for OKC Riversport Juniors Rowing. Eric has always tried to challenge himself to create speed at the highest level he could – with coaching stops at Gonzaga College High School, Nashville Rowing, University of Southern California, Saratoga Rowing Association, and George Washington University. His boats have made Youth Nationals grand finals in six different boat classes across sweep and sculling, won Stotesbury and SRAA medals, won the B-final at the IRA National Championships, as well as qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Eric also has coached for USRowing since 2010 at many different levels, and lead the Men’s 8+ to a gold (2021) and bronze (2022) at WorldRowing Junior Championships, as well as being the lead coach for the entire Men’s Junior National Team.

Tempe Knopp first discovered her love of rowing at Oklahoma State University, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology and youth and family counseling.  Upon graduation, Tempe and her husband, Mike, revitalized the sport of rowing in Oklahoma City and created various youth, collegiate, and community programs.  Tempe formed and coached the first youth rowing team in Oklahoma City which grew into a nationally competitive program.  She also served as the head sculling coach at Oklahoma City University where athletes gained attention from high performance and national team coaches.  Her youth and collegiate athletes have earned top level results at regattas such as the World Rowing U19 Championships, USRowing Youth National Championships, ACRA National Championships, Head of the Charles, and Dad Vail Regatta.

Over the last two decades, Tempe has enjoyed coaching all ages and levels of rowers including middle school, high school, collegiate, masters, and high performance.  She loves utilizing rowing as a tool to enhance an athlete’s self-confidence and perseverance both on and off the water. Tempe’s greatest joy is cheering for her three children as they row down the Oklahoma River with Keaton rowing for Oklahoma City University, Cameron rowing for the Riversport Junior Rowing Team, and Carson rowing for the Riversport Junior Middle School Team!

Billy is a Northern Virginia native who started his rowing career in 2009 at Bishop Ireton High School and continued to row in college at George Mason University where he graduated in 2017. His coaching career launched at Three Rivers Rowing Association in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where his novice crews earned medals at USRowing Midwest Regional Championships among other regattas. In 2019 he moved to upstate New York to coach for Saratoga Rowing Association where he netted medals in several boat classes at USRowing Northeast Regional Championships, New York State Championships, Stotesbury Cup Regatta and SRAA National Championships. Beyond race results, Billy delights in the day-to-day process of improvement and teambuilding in the sport of rowing and is happy to be a part of the Riversport community.

Sierra Cydrus is a native of Chillicothe, Ohio and started her rowing career at The Ohio State University in the fall of 2015 as a walk-on. In 2019 Sierra earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion, Nutrition, and Exercise Science. She then served as the team’s Graduate Assistant Coach from 2019-2021 while working towards her masters in Sports Coaching.

As a student-athlete at Ohio State from 2015-19 she was part of three Big Ten Championship teams and was a top five finisher at the NCAA Rowing Championships. In 2018 she earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, a Big Ten gold medal, and the Buckeye Power Club Award. Additionally, she was a three-time academic All-Big Ten selection, a four-time Ohio State Scholar Athlete, and served as a team captain.Sierra also represented the Columbus Development Camp, winning gold at the US Rowing National Championships.

Hilton Park started rowing in Oklahoma City in 2012 with the OKC Chesapeake Junior Crew. He started rowing with the High Performance team in 2017. He decided to dedicate his life to making the 2024 Olympic rowing team. Hilton’s experience rowing with Coach Reilly and the High Performance team has taught him that adaptability sets the pace in life. Control what you can control and enjoy the experience along the way.

Keaton is an alum of OKC Riversport Juniors Rowing – earning 8^th at Youth Nationals in Spring 2022. He currently attends and rows for Oklahoma City University, and chooses to continue coaching due to his passion and love for the community and the sport.

Anya currently attends and rows for University of Central Oklahoma, originally hailing from St. Charles Rowing Club outside Chicago, IL. She has been coaching inside the Riversport community in a wide variety of ways through Corporate Rowing League, Youth Rowing League, and now with the Juniors Rowing program.