Alan Marusic '24 Recruiting Profile

Alan Marusic – Personal Statement

In the Winter 2020, in the midst of the Covid pandemic, I was a freshman, I wanted to do a sport in high school and I liked being on the water so rowing checked these boxes.   I tried out for the rowing team at Saint Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, NJ and made the team.

I quickly realized that rowing was a huge commitment and there was no option to be less than 100% invested.  I rose to the varsity rowing team (V2) by the Fall of my sophomore year.  We worked hard that Fall and Spring and our varsity boat competed well n the Nationals in Camden, NJ in late May 29th, placing 11th out of 200 teams.  

Also in Spring 2022, I was recruited to US Rowing’s U18 High Performance Camp in Jacksonville, Florida.   That summer, I worked on my knowledge, skills and technique, competing in the National Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  I returned to high school in Fall 2022 with a new level of ambition, seeing that I was solid, but also had a lot more work to do.  Collectively, we enjoyed success at a number of good races, including:

·      Head of the Charles, placed **4th Scholastic (non-club) team

·      Overpack Fall Classic, (New Jersey) placed **3rd in 8’s boat

·      Head of the Passaic, (New Jersey) earned **2nd place in 4s boat & 3rd place in 8’s boat

In January 2022, I moved to a new high school and a nationally-ranked rowing club – Row America (Rye, New York).  I quickly realized I made a right decision to move schools and teams, as after initial 8 weeks of training, I have decreased my 2K from 6:36 to 6:25 (2/27/23), good for 6th best on the team.  Since then, I rowed in coxed 4 in the Spring, trained in the double in the summer in Croatia and competed on a summer team 8th at Canada Henley (placing in the finals of U19), all this year, 2023.

I also want comment how I am working on improving my GPA, while I improve in rowing too. I’ve struggled with math and technical sciences and my grades reflect that.  Maybe that is because of dyscalculia and ADD that I was diagnosed with in second grade.  Maybe it is also virtual learning through Covid, that made it very challenging for me, and others, to tackle more challenging classes.  Regardless, I use my rowing structure and focus to help me focus in class, and I continue to tackle the challenges one day and one topic at the time.  I have raised my GPA already - it is currently 3.0 entering the senior year - and I am now attending one of the top public high schools in NY State and in all of the U.S. I also continue to focus on excelling in subjects like U.S. History and English and will be taking AP classes in those areas my senior year.  On my recent report card, my History teacher said, “I have excellent ability in this area (subject).”  This feedback motivates me as I head into my last year of high school, stronger and more confident than ever in both academics and in my sport.