June 28, 2005

Head Coach Robyn Horner is pleased to announce what promises to be the strongest recruiting class in Duke Rowing history. Eight athletes have committed to joining the Blue Devil squad in the fall of 2005: Jacquelyn Burmeister (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow HS), Rachel Dickenson (Washington, DC/Holton-Arms School), Laura Dopson (Atlanta, GA/The Westminster Schools), Virginia Kane (London, ON/South Secondary), Michelle Lancto (Ballston Spa, NY/Saratoga Springs HS), Sarah Opper (Blue Bell, PA/Mt. St. Joseph's Academy), Alison Sagar (Vancouver, BC/Crofton House School) and Katrina Weschler (Wilmette, IL/Loyola Academy).

"This is another fantastic class for Duke. Not only are these extraordinarily talented rowers, they also have the competitive fire to ignite this program," said Horner. "They will be a great complement to the squad we have been building."

Burmeister is an accomplished sculler for the Saugatuck Rowing Club. This past spring, she brought home bronze medals from the USRowing Youth Invitation in both the 2x and the 4x. In 2004, she took first in the Jr 2x at both the Youth Invitational and the USRowing Club Nationals. Her Jr 4x also won Club Nationals. For the past 3 years she has also competed at the US Junior National Team trials in the 2x. In 2003, her Jr 4x took second at the Youth Invitational.

Dickenson is a team captain and 2-time varsity stroke for the Holton-Arms School in Washington, DC. She led H-A to an undefeated regular season in 2005. She is also a three-year member of the Thompsons Boat Center/Water Street Rowing junior program. In the top boat for the past two years, this fall she stroked the Water Street Youth 8+ to a 10th place finish at the Head of the Charles.

Dopson is a founding member and captain of the rowing team at Westminster High School. One of the strongest of the class of 2009, she was a part of the 2004 Junior National Team Selection Camp. In just the second year of the program, she led her boat to a win in the JV8+ race at the 2004 Southwest Regionals.

Kane comes from a small program in London and has spent most of her career in the 1x. She began the 2005 season with a silver medal at the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships and capped it off with a fourth place finish in the 1x at the Canadian Secondary Schools Championships (Schoolboys). She is currently competing for a spot on the Canadian Women's Junior National Team that will compete in Germany this summer.

Lancto has been a pivotal member of the Saratoga Rowing Association since her first year when her boat won the Scholastic Nationals in the Freshman 8+. She won the Nationals again the next year in the Junior 8+, and finished second in the Senior 8+ in 2004. At the 2003 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, Lancto won gold in the Jr 4+, the first boat from Saratoga to do so at this prestigious regatta. For the 2005 season, she changed her focus to sculling, winning the Stotesbury Cup Regatta in the 2x. She also race the 1x at Scholastic Nationals and the USRowing Youth Invitational, coming 5th in both races. She also attended the 2003 Jr. National Team Development Camp and was invited to the 2004 Jr National Team Selection Camp.

Opper is the top coxswain at Mount St. Joseph's Academy. In 2004, she led her LWT 8+ to an undefeated regular season and a Stotesbury Cup Championship. Not to be outdone, in 2005 she coxed Senior Varsity 8+ to another Stotesbury Championship. The Blue Devils will rely on Opper's race intensity to guide her crews at Duke.

Sagar comes from one of the most prominent programs in western Canada. Splitting her time between Burnaby Lake Rowing Club, Thunderbird Rowing Club and the Crofton House School team, she is a triple threat: in sweep, sculling and on the erg. In a shift in focus to sweep rowing this spring season, she was a part of the Thunderbird Jr. 8+ that came in second at the 2005 San Diego Crew Classic. She has tested at the top of the Rowing Canada Junior trials for the past two years, and was a part of the 2004 CanAmMex Champion Canadian team.

Weschler is a team captain for Loyola Academy of Chicago, the 2004 Midwest Champions in the Varsity 8+. In 2004, she was invited to the US Junior National Team Selection Camp. That summer she raced for the Development Camp, winning both the CanAmMex Championships and US Club Nationals in the Jr 8+. Katrina is currently at the US Junior National Team Selection Camp, trying out for a spot at the 2005 Junior World Championships.