Syracuse women’s rowing head coach Justin Moore has announced the addition of nine student-athletes to the Orange program.
The incoming group includes eight freshmen that will join the ranks for the 2012-13 season and one freshman that joined the program mid-year and rowed in the spring. Talented and diverse, Moore’s recruits come from four different states and four different countries.
In its second season under Moore, the Orange showed considerable improvement in 2012, resulting in a second-place overall finish at the BIG EAST Championship, the program’s first BIG EAST title for a varsity boat since 2005 (V4), and SU’s first national ranking in seven years (No. 20 in the final regular season CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll on May 16).
Emma Basher
Rower, Adelaide, Australia
Emma Basher
Basher enrolled at SU mid-year and sat five seat in the varsity eight that won silver at the 2012 BIG EAST Championship. The freshman rowed in the V8 for the entire spring season.
Prior to arriving in Syracuse, Basher won bronze at 2010 Junior World Championships and silver at the Youth Olympics with teammate Olympia Aldersey. In 2009, she won gold in coxless pair and eight, and silver in the coxless four at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.
“We have had so much fun coaching Emma and helping her to adapt to American university life and our team culture,” Moore said. “She is an eager trainer and a fast learner. Her competitive spirit helped to infuse our team with a great racing attitude. We are very excited watch her develop in our program over the next few years.”
Alexa Driscoll
Coxswain, Harwichport, Mass.
Alexa Driscoll
Driscoll has been in the varsity eight at Tabor Academy since her freshmen year (2009). She led the boat to a silver medal at NEIMAS in 2009 and has been in the grand finals at NEIRAS in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
“Lexi’s leadership characteristics stood out to us immediately,” Moore said. “From the moment she walked on campus, she was completely at ease with the coaches and her peers. It was almost as if she were already part of the team. She has helped to transform the Tabor Academy crew into one of the best in New England. We are looking forward to having her help us launch Syracuse into the top 10 in the nation.”
Eliza Frank
Rower, Buffalo, N.Y.
Eliza Frank
Frank was invited to the 2010 Junior National Team Selection Camp in 2010 and chosen to the USRowing High Performance Team that raced in Berlin, Germany. Last summer, she was invited to the 2011 Sculling Development Camp. She is currently training in the single at South Niagara.
“My relationship with Eliza began when I coached her at the 2010 US Junior Selection Camp,” Moore said. “She and I worked together very well. She was an eager learner and a tough competitor. She is a very powerful athlete and I believe, with proper development, she can become a top-flight collegiate athlete.”
Yasmine Hemida
Rower, Momoroneck, N.Y.
Yasmine Hemida
Hemida won back-to-back New York State titles in the Pelham 4x in her junior and senior seasons. She participated in the 2011 USRowing Junior Women’s National Team East Coast Sculling Development Camp in Lowell, Mass. and was named team captain at Pelham as a senior.
“Yasmine visited Syracuse early and it just ‘felt right’,” Moore said. We are very excited to bring this versatile rower into our program. Watching her have such great success within the Pelham program, stroking both the 4x and 8+ at times, we feel that she will come to Syracuse ready to compete for a seat in our NCAA crews. Like Eliza, I believe she is far from her ultimate potential. Syracuse, with our emphasis on long-term athlete development, will be a great place for her to continue to get fast.”
Madison Leitch
Rower, London, Ontario
Madison Leitch
Leitch won Henley Gold in 2010 in the junior 1x and in 2011 stroking the U19 2x. She was named to the Canadian Can-Am-Mex team where she raced to silver in the 4x. Madison attends Ridley College and was named the 2011 Oarsman of the Year.
“Madison rows in an intense program at Ridley where there is great coaching offered to athletes due to the coaches’ experience and the small coach-to-athlete ratio,” Moore said. “I am excited that she feels that she will continue to be developed at Syracuse with science-based, yet very personal coaching. She can row in any and all boats, but shines in the 1X, where an athlete is 100% responsible for the speed of the shell. Madison aspires to row for Canada in the future and the location of our campus in relation to the National Development Center in Welland (2.5 hours) and the National Team Center (4 hours) will be a huge advantage if she desires to have frequent contact with her Canadian coaches. We feel it’s a perfect match for her academically, as well as for her collegiate and post-collegiate rowing aspirations.”
Kelsey Thornton
Rower, Ballston Lake, N.Y.
Kelsey Thornton
Thornton rows for Shenendehowa High School, where in her sophomore year her boat won the junior women's eight at the Canadian Schoolboys and in her junior year she stroked her boat to a win in the High School Women's 4+ at the Head of the Housatonic. She just finished third at the New York State Championships in the 8+.
“Syracuse is ‘New York’s College Team’ and one my goals when I arrived was to recruit more of the great local talent that exists in this region,” Moore said. “Kelsey has had her eye on Syracuse for a while. She is a great teammate and a hard worker. It has been exciting for us to watch her develop over the course of her high school career. Every boat-class she has raced in has been very successful. We are looking forward to that trend continuing at Syracuse.”
Marta Ulbricht
Coxswain, Severna Park, Md.
Marta Ulbricht
Ulbricht has been a member of the Annapolis Junior Rowing Association since the spring of 2009. She attended the US Junior National High Performance camp in 2011 and was recently invited to the 2012 USRowing Junior National Team Selection Camp.
“Marta is a true student of the sport,” Moore said. “When speaking with the developmental coaches for the US Junior National Team they told us the Marta responds tremendously well to coaching and learns from her experiences. We love the fact that at both her high school and club she coxes any boat, at any time, in any race. Perhaps the best recommendation I received was from an old rowing friend (a masters rower at Potomac) who has experienced some great coxswains over the course of his career. After Marta took control of an extremely hard training session with a bunch of 30-40 year old men, this friend wrote to me and said ‘Keep an eye on this one. She is going places.’”
Tosca Wilson
Rower, Hamilton, New Zealand
Tosca Wilson
Wilson began rowing in 2009 and placed third at the Girls’ Under 18 Double Sculls at the 2010 New Zealand Secondary School Championships. She competed in the 2011 New Zealand Club Championships and won in the Women’s Club Double Sculls and was second in the Women’s Club Quad. She is currently training at the Waikato Regional Performance Center.
“Our recent infusion from down under has been great,” Moore said. “These women bring a wealth of experience in small-boat rowing and have done a great deal of high-quality racing. The fact that Tosca was selected to train at one of the regional developmental centers after rowing for only two years, speaks to her potential as an athlete. We are excited to help her continue her development while providing her with an outstanding education that has the potential to change her life.”
Alex Zadravec
Rower, Fairfield, Conn.
Alex Zadravec
Alex started rowing at Saugatuck Rowing Club, in Westport Conn. in 2008 and her current affiliation is with GMS Rowing Center. She qualified for three National Championships, placing second in 2010, and third in 2011 in the 4x. She competed at the 2010 World Championships in Racice, Czech Republic in the 2x and was a member of the USRowing High Performance Sculling team in the summer of 2011.
“I met Alex when I was coaching the US Junior Women’s 8+ in 2009 and she was in the US Junior Sculling group,” Moore said. “She has two characteristics that we value tremendously in this program – discipline and toughness. After a disappointing performance in the sculling selection group in 2011, Alex has dedicated herself to becoming an international-contending sculler. Her continued belief in herself in the face of adversity leads us to believe she will arrive at Syracuse ready to race for a seat in the varsity 8.”
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