Willamette Rower Selected by U.S. Rowing to Attend Two National Camps

Jones was one of 22 rowers and two coxswains invited to attend the Women’s National Team Freshman Camp.

Laura Jones Photo: Willamette Athletics

SALEM - Willamette University rowing team member Laura Jones has been selected by U.S. Rowing to attend two National Team camps this summer.

She will participate in the month-long National Team Development Camp at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., and will gain additional experience at the Women’s National Team Freshman Camp at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisc.

Jones competed on Willamette’s varsity four and varsity eight crews this season.

The National Team Development Camp is scheduled to run from June 16th through July 22nd.

The Women’s National Team Freshman Camp will be held from June 18th-24th.

Jones was one of 22 rowers and two coxswains invited to attend the Women’s National Team Freshman Camp.

She was one of just two NCAA Division III athletes selected for the event. The other was Abigail DiPalma, a coxswain from William Smith College.

Jones, DiPalma and Grand Valley State University athletes Meryl Chaffee and Sarah Zelenka from NCAA Division II, were the only athletes chosen from outside of NCAA Division I.

The Freshman Camp is for rowers who have the potential to join the U.S. National Team program. University of Wisconsin Women’s Head Coach Bebe Bryans will be directing the camp.

“Laura is a natural leader by her actions,” Willamette Head Rowing Coach Susan Parkman said. “She is able to row either port or starboard side. She is open to row in any seat from the stroke seat to bow. Laura’s focus is on doing her best to prepare for competition. She has set the stage and raised the bar allowing the incoming freshman class to see a role model of a well-balanced athletically and academically strong young woman.”

Jones has helped Willamette’s women’s varsity eight achieve a #25 ranking in the cMax rankings for NCAA Division III released on May 1st.

She also helped the Bearcats win the women’s varsity eight race at the Governor’s Cup Regatta on the Willamette River in Salem, Ore., on April 7th.

Jones is the seven seat on the Bearcats’ varsity eight and is in the stroke seat on WU’s varsity four.

“The experiences that Laura will have with these two camps (through U.S. Rowing) will impact our team in the fall,” Parkman said. “Through her actions, she will share what she has learned with the other girls on our team. I am so excited .. for Laura. I know she loves rowing and is curious to see how far she can take the sport.”

Jones was voted Most Valuable Player on the Willamette women’s rowing team this year.

She showed her commitment to the team and to training when she logged more than 200,000 meters between Thanksgiving and Christmas on an ergometer (rowing machine).

In the spring, she recorded a time of 7:14.4 on a 2,000-meter ergometer test for the second fastest time in Willamette history.

Jones has been chosen by her fellow Bearcat rowers as the team captain for the 2007-08 season.

2007 Women’s National Team Freshman Camp Selections

Rowers

Meryl Chaffee, Grand Valley State University

Renee Cornwell, UCLA

Katie Feckler, Indiana University

Laura Gardner, Dartmouth College

Erin Gray, University of Tennessee

Laura Jones, Willamette University

Erika Jorgensen, Washington State University

Emily Kasavana, Indiana University

Diane Lindsley, Oregon State University

Adrienne Martelli, University of Washington

Elizabeth Moore, Gonzaga University

Jennie Peterson, Harvard University

Tara Rogers, University of Central Florida

Hannah Rothstrom, Washington State University

Samantha Sarff, University of Central Florida

Lauren Schmetterling, Colgate University

Jenna Schuder, University of Minnesota

Charlotte Shannon, Santa Clara University

Destinie Slavich, UCLA

Kate Snider, University of Tennessee

Mary Stinson, Boston College

Sarah Zelenka, Grand Valley State University

Coxswains

Abigail DiPalma, William Smith College

Aviva Lillian, Dartmouth College

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