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May 13, 2008

LMU women's rowing will add seven newcomers to its 2008-09 squad, Coordinator of Rowing Patrick Kelly announced Monday. The diverse group has had considerable success on the national stage already and includes only two Californians with the others hailing from Arizona, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and New York.

Shannon Craig, a native of Saratoga Springs, NY, arrives at LMU an accomplished rower in multiple disciplines, having attended the USRowing National Team Development and Selection Camp in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, she competed in the girls senior eight that won the New York State Scholastic Championships. Craig also has had success at the USRowing National Championships, winning the junior B double in 2006 and registering a pair of third place finishes in the junior A eight in 2006 and junior A quad in 2007. A member of the Saratoga Rowing Association, Craig served as the team captain in 2006.

LMU will welcome two teammates from Xavier College Prep in Tempe, AZ, and members of the Tempe Junior Crew. Christine Erhart and Sydney Sutton-Liswith were partners in the junior double that won the 2008 Southwest Regional Championship and placed sixth at the 2007 USRowing National Championships. Individually, Erhart also won the 2008 Southwest Regional Championship in the junior single while coming in sixth this year in the junior lightweight women's event at the World Indoor Rowing Championships. In 2007, she occupied the stroke seat of the winning quad at the Junior National Team Trials. Erhart is a member of the Tempe Junior Crew, winning the club's Lightweight Rower of the Year award in 2006. As a classmate of Erhart's at Xavier College Prep, Sutton-Liswith medaled in 12 of her 15 races as a junior and senior.

The two signees from California each bring quality resumes to the Lion program. Mary-Sophia Motlow is a varsity team captain at Piedmont High School in Piedmont, CA, and a member of the Oakland Strokes club. She sat in the stroke seat of the lightweight eight that won gold at the 2008 San Diego Crew Classic. In 2007, she was stroke seat of the JV eight that placed third at the Southwest Regional Championships and also participated in the Long Beach Invitational. Kaitlin Kovacich, a graduate of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, has only been rowing one year at the Newport Aquatic Center but is already competing with the varsity eight, having helped them to a second place finish at the San Diego Crew Classic.

Two more student-athletes from the East Coast round out the LMU incoming class. Alex Gilmartin was a four-year rower at Blair Academy in Blairtown, NJ, helping her team win Mid-Atlantic Prep League championships in 2006 and 2008. In 2006, she sat in the stroke seat of the lightweight four as it won bronze at the Stotesbury Regatta. Gilmartin also competed for the Blair swim team. At Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH, Katrina Regan was a three-sport athlete, competing in rowing, track, and alpine skiing. On the water, she traveled to England in 2007, winning the junior women's eight at the Reading Amateur Regatta and reaching the semi-finals of the junior eights at women's Henley. She also helped her varsity eight to the gold medal at the 2007 New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Championships after leading the second varsity eight to a runners-up place the year before.

"This is a tremendous group. They are very accomplished both athletically and academically," Kelly said. "It is exciting to have them join our strong core of young returning rowers. These athletes exemplify the student-athletes we are looking to attract here at LMU. They will certainly help move the program forward while also maintaining the team's high standards in the classroom."

Loyola Marymount University Crew