Tulsa Rowers Sign Seven For 2011
Tulsa, Oklahoma – The University of Tulsa women’s rowing team signed seven student-athletes to a national letter-of-intent for the 2011-12 academic year, including Amanda Ames, Danielle (Ellie) Bertossa, Anna Proffitt, Amy Richardson, Jamie Roloff, Melissa (Missy) Urquhart and Colleen Wohlrab, as announced today by Head Coach Kevin Harris.
“We have had a great fall in recruiting and I am pleased to see that these talented women will be coming to Tulsa next year,” Harris said.
Amanda Ames is from Wildwood, Mo. and attends St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Louis. She has competed in volleyball and track for St. Joseph’s, and rows for the St. Louis Rowing Club under Coach Tim Franck. Ames has proven to be a strong part of their program making their Varsity 8+ this fall, and racing at the Head of the Hooch and Head of the Rock among others. Ames is interested in pursuing exercise sports science as a course of study at Tulsa.
“Amanda is a wonderful athlete who fits our team well,” Harris said. “She has been working very hard to become an accomplished rower. She will be a strong contributor to our team over the next four years.”
Ellie Bertossa is a lightweight rower for Winter Park High School in Winter Park, Fla. She has rowed in Winter Park’s Lightweight 8+ for the past two seasons and has continually helped her boats compete in the finals at the Florida State Championships, Stotesbury Cup and Scholastic Nationals. Most recently, Bertossa’s boat finished second at the Head of the Hooch and third at the Scholastic Nationals in the Lightweight 8. Bertossa is coached by Mike Vertullo and is the daughter of Dan Bertossa, who just retired as a very successful boy’s rowing coach at . She desires to study elementary education at Tulsa.
“Ellie is a great athlete who we have been following since she was a freshman,” Harris said. “Not only does she come from one of the best high school teams in Florida and has had a really successful career, but she is the daughter of a great coach. Ellie will be a big asset to the team and I am excited she made the decision to come to TU.”
Anna Proffitt is from Sterling, Kan. where she is a middle hitter in volleyball and throws shot and discus for Sterling High School. She was a Division 3A Kansas State Track and Field Championships qualifier in the shot put. Although Proffitt has never taken a stroke in rowing, she takes an interest in it because her father, Jeff, rowed for the Kansas State Men’s Rowing Team and competed at the in the late 80’s. Proffitt plans to study history at Tulsa.
“We are really pleased about Anna’s potential to contribute at Tulsa,” Harris said. “She is very athletic and could play a crucial role in our 2011 class.”
Amy Richardson is a lightweight rower for the Tulsa Rowing Club. She is only in her first year of rowing at , but has made steady strides and raced in varsity races at the Head of the Hooch in 2010. Richardson is also captain of the cross country team at Bishop Kelley High Scholl, where she helped her team to a sixth place finish at the Oklahoma 5A State Championships. Richardson is coached by Neil Bergenroth at and will study biology at Tulsa.
“Amy is a natural athlete and leader,” Harris said. “We could not be more pleased that she is choosing to row for Tulsa and she will do the city proud. We are really looking forward to having her at the Championships one day soon.”
Jamie Roloff is an accomplished lightweight sculler who rows for the Bachelor’s Barge Club on Boathouse Row in Philadelphia. Pa. She also rows scholastically for her high school, Council Rock, which is located in Holland, Pa. Roloff is the 2010 reigning Philly City Champion in the Varsity Single and has competed in the finals at the Stotesbury Cup and the Nationals in the same event. This past year, Roloff qualified for the Youth Nationals in Cincinnati finishing 12th overall. She is coached by Margaret Gordon and is undecided on her course of study.
“Jamie is a motivated young woman who has really been aggressive in learning the art of sculling,” Harris said. “I have been impressed with her intelligence and fortitude. She has been able to compete at high level nationally and she will help our team get faster.”
Missy Urquhart is a very gifted rower from Shaker High School and the Albany Rowing Club in upstate New York. She has rowed for four years and is the current New York State Champion in the Women’s Double. Urquhart has also won medals at major regattas including the Stotesbury Cup and Scholastic Nationals, and has competed at the Canadian Henley where the Eight she stroked finished third earlier this year. She also participated in the Junior B National Team Development Camps in 2007 and 2008, and qualified for the Junior A Camp in 2009. Urquhart is the younger sister of TU junior rower Amanda Urquhart. This will mark the fifth pair of sisters to compete for Tulsa, while both sisters are present on the same team, in the past five years. Urquhart is coached at Shaker by Burt Apfelbaum, and at Albany Rowing Club by Mike McMinn. She is interested in pursuing a biological sciences degree while at Tulsa.
“It’s always tricky recruiting talented sisters because sometimes they don’t want to go to the same school,” Harris said. “We were lucky because Missy really saw in Tulsa a place where she could excel and make a difference. She is quite talented and could be a very good leader here.”
Colleen Wohlrab is a lightweight rower who attends Pine View School in Osprey, Fla. She has rowed for the past five years at the Sarasota Scullers under her coach Dragos Alexandru. Wohlrab has competed nationally in many major regattas including US Rowing Club Nationals, Florida State Championships, Head of the Schuylkill and Head of the Hooch. In spring of 2010 she made her second appearance at Youth Nationals finishing eighth in the Junior Women’s Quad. She will study psychology while at Tulsa.
“When I saw Colleen rowing at Club Nationals last summer, I knew we had made a good choice in recruiting her,” Harris said. “She was one of the smaller rowers in the Southeast Development Camp boats, but she made the “A” Eight and finished third. Colleen is an excellent student, which carries over to her rowing. She’s going to do really well here at Tulsa.”
Updated 11-20-2010
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