Alexandra Junko '22 Recruiting Profile

Spring of 2019, I was with the other novice girls, in the 8+; I rowed on Starboard. For the entirety of the practice, I focused on getting the oar in and out of the water as seamlessly as possible. Feeling the power that my team was able to generate and sensing the start of something new, I looked forward to practice everyday from that point on.

Freshmen year was more of an exploratory experience. I learned the basics of technique and how to hone in on specific parts of the stroke to maximize both power and efficiency. For the majority of the season, I spent my time in the 4+ as 2 seat. We took second place at Pittsburgh Scholastic Sprints. Following the spring season, I spent the entire summer on the water with my 2x partner. Before practice, I volunteered to teach other new rowers the basics just as I had done a few months prior. The summer of 2019 instilled within me the notion that a regimented schedule and practice is more important than constantly winning; the more time I put into rowing,  the more my technique improved.

My sophomore year brought a heightened sense of competition and my ability to compete dramatically improved. I switched between two and 3 seat in the 4x and was stroke seat in my 2x. We went to six scholastic head races: Head of the Cuyahoga, the Frogtown Regatta, the Hoover Regatta, Head of the Ohio, the Haxton Invitational, and the Speakmon Regatta. In the 4x, we placed first at the Head of the Cuyahoga and at the Hoover. The 4x placed second at the Head of the Ohio, Frogtown, Haxton, and Speakmon. In my 2x, we placed second at Frogtown and at the Head of the Ohio. Going into the 2019-2020 winter season, my goals were to improve my anaerobic capacity and improve my 2k time. I worked to drop my 2k time from 9:18 my freshmen year down to 8:05 at Erg in the 'Burgh Indoor Scholastic Sprints in February of 2020.

Upon the last week of winter season, quarantine started and my hope for a spring season was diminished, but this period gave me a new avenue for growth. I was able to branch out from strictly erging and lifting. I started supplementing new running, biking, and HIIT workouts. This varied training regime was difficult at first because I did not have the encouragement from my team that I had maintained in a typical season. This is when I learned to become my own advocate. As the lockdown increased, I adopted a new sense of discipline once I realized that I could only change the course of events in my life. I set new goals, worked towards them, and broke.  I carried this mentality into my summer season of 2020 as I spent a majority of my time working in the 1x. The fall brought new challenges, but it only solidified the work I had put in and made me realize there is always something that I can do to improve. I look to continue this growth into the rest of my Junior and Senior year and hopefully on a collegiate level.