Virginia Rowing Announces Recruiting Class

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – Virginia rowing head coach Kevin Sauer announced the signing of Hemingway Benton, Maggie Bowman-Jones, Chloe Carry, Emily Crump, Katie Fanikos, Chandler Lally, Maddie Keating, Lindley Smith, Hannah Yoest and Lizzy Youngling to National Letters of Intent to row for the Cavaliers beginning in 2011.

“This is a really good class and they are proven winners,” Sauer said. “They will bring a lot of hard work and talent to our team next fall.”

Hemingway Benton (5-10, Winnetka, Ill., New Trier High School for coach Rose Marchuk) was a two-time SRAA National Champion and part of the coxed eight that finished third at 2010 Youth Nationals. She was on the CanAmMex team in 2009 and was the stroke of the sixth-place pair at the 2010 Junior World Championships.

Maggie Bowman-Jones (6-0, Moss Beach, Calif., Terra Nova High School, Pacific Rowing Club for coaches Bob Maclean and Matt Lehrer) finished second in the pair at the 2010 Youth Nationals. She was a member of the 2010 USRowing High Performance Team.

Chloe Carry (6-0, Dallas, Texas, Episcopal School of Dallas for coach Mathew Naifeh) is a 2009 and 2010 CanAmMex Junior National Team member.

Emily Crump (5-8, Darien, Conn., Darien High School and Connecticut Boat Club for Coach Liz Trond) finished third at NARF in the women’s four and won the 2010 San Diego Crew Classic with the junior varsity eight. She attended USRowing’s development camp in 2009. Crump finished third in the junior eight at the 2010 USRowing Club Nationals.

Katie Fanikos (5-10, Andover, Mass., Phillips Academy for coach Kathryn Green) has earned 11 varsity letters in five different sports (rowing, swimming, cross country, ice hockey and field hockey) during her high school career. She has been named captain of Andover girls’ rowing for 2011. Fanikos was a New England Champion in cross country (2009-10) and rowing (2010). She was a gold medalist at the 2010 US Club Nationals and Canadian Henley in the women’s junior eight. She was a participant in the 2010 US Junior National Team Selection Camp.

Chandler Lally (5-11, Bryn Mawr, Pa., Radnor High School for coach Megan Biging) is a two-time member of the US Junior National Team and stroke the four to a silver medal at the 2010 Junior World Championships. She is captain of her high school team and her Varsity Eight finished second at the 2010 Scholastic Nationals. She holds the record for the Philadelphia Indoor Rowing Championships, was an eighth-place finisher at the 2010 Head of the Charles and is also a three-year varsity basketball starter.

Maddie Keating (5-10, Annapolis, Md., Severna Park High School and Annapolis Junior Rowing for coach Todd Nix) was a member of the Varsity Four that finished first at the 2010 Head of the Occoquan. Keating’s Varsity Eight went to 2010 Youth Nationals for the first time in team history. She was a also a three-year varsity basketball starter.

Lindley Smith (5-4, Philadelphia, Pa., The Agnes Irwin School for coach Kati Sedun) coxed her varsity four to a first-place finish in the semifinals at the 2010 Bill Braxton Regatta. She was a 2009 Scholastic National Champion in the second varsity eight and Stotesbury Cup champion in the varsity four.

Hannah Yoest (5-6, Arlington, Va., Yorktown High School for coaches Carol Dinion, Kirk Shipley and Nick Johnson) was a team captain for her team and was named 2010 All-Met Honorable Mention. She was a participant at the 2010 Junior Women’s National Team Sculling Selection Camp and 2009 Junior B National Sculling Development Camp. Yoest stroked the youth eight that placed third at the 2010 Canadian Henley and seventh at the 2010 Head of the Charles. She completed both the Marine Corps and SunTrust marathons and won her age group at the 2009 OBX Triathlon.

Lizzy Youngling (6-1, Westport, Conn., Staples High School and GMS Rowing Club for coaches Guenter Buetter and Richard Klein) rowed in the sixth-place pair at the 2010 Junior World Championships. She also finished second in the quad at 2010 Youth Nationals and second in the double at the 2010 Head of the Charles.

Virginia won the 2010 NCAA Championship and starts its spring season with a scrimmage against Michigan State on March 12, 2011.