Tulsa Rowing Inks Five Lightweight Rowers and Three Coxswains for 2016 Class

Tulsa Head Rowing Coach Kevin Harris announced that eight new student-athletes signed to The University of Tulsa during the November early signing period. Nichole Backus, Jasmine Leheta, Sydney Pirkle, Amy Pitzel and Emily Truss will be joining TU's lightweight squad, while Madison Bickle, Sarah Fazel and Lindsey Smith will all be coxswains for the Golden Hurricane in Fall of 2016.

"Our lightweight and coxswain recruiting continues to get better and better under the leadership of Coaches Mott and Hassall," Harris said. "The quality of our lightweight rowers and coxswains have been pivotal in our team's successes over the last few years and these student-athletes will only continue that trend. I think our staff did an excellent job of recruiting the athletes we needed. I am excited to see them wearing blue and gold."

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Nichole Backus (Girl's Preparatory School, Chattanooga, Tenn.) is a rower for GPS and is coached by Megan McCourt. As a lightweight, Backus has competed in the GPS Varsity 4+ and Varsity 8+ at various regattas including the 2015 Head of the Charles and USRA Southeast Championships. Recently, Backus finished first in the Lightweight 4+ event at the Secret City Head Race. She will study engineering at Tulsa.

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Madison Bickle (Lincoln Christian School, Tulsa, Okla.) is a lightweight rower and coxswain for the Tulsa Youth Rowing Association. She is a first year rower for TYRA where she is coached by Tamara Clayton and Neil Bergenroth. In her short career, she has already earned solid finishes at the Head of the Oklahoma, Head of the Hooch and Wichita Frostbite Regatta. Bickle will join TYRA alumna Micah Gibbons at TU and will work to earn a degree in biology with a pre-medical emphasis.

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Sarah Fazel (Ursuline Academy Dallas, Dallas, Texas) is currently a rower at her high school and is coached by Erin Sullivan. Fazel has been a lightweight sculler for Ursuline, but decided to make a position change to coxswain for college. She has competed at the Central Youth Championships, Head of the Oklahoma and the Heart of Texas Regatta. She intends on studying engineering and computer science at TU.

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Jasmine Leheta (Ecole Secondaire Catholique Jean Vanier, Welland, Ontario, Canada) rows for both her high school and for the South Niagara Rowing Association where she is coached by Ron "Swede" Burak. Leheta is a lightweight sculler who has had major successes at the Canadian Scholastic Championships, Stotesbury Cup, Row Ontario Championships and the Canadian Henley Regatta. She has also competed in national team trials for Rowing Canada. Most recently Leheta finished first in the Youth 1x at the Head of the Genesee. She will join SNRC alumnae Nicole Johnstone, Skylar Luttjehuizen and Maria Gearing on the team in 2016.

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Sydney Pirkle (Waubonsie Valley High School, Aurora, Ill.) competes for Row America St. Charles in St. Charles, Ill., where she is coached by Libby Scarlatos. Pirkle has a background in basketball, volleyball and soccer, but found her niche as a lightweight sculler when she started the sport two years ago. She has participated in the 2015 USRA Club Nationals where she raced up a division, finishing 10th in the Lightweight Intermediate 1x and eighth in the Lightweight Intermediate 2x. Most recently Pirkle garnered first-place finishes in the Youth 1x, 2x and 4x at the Head of the Fox, and the Youth 1x at Head of the Rock. Pirkle will study exercise sports science at Tulsa.

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Amy Pitzel (Chattahoochie High School, John's Creek, Ga.) is an accomplished rower for the Atlanta Junior Rowing Association. She has been coached by Skye Elliott and Jordan Smith. Pitzel is a very successful rower at AJRA, participating in significant finishes at the USRA Southeast Youth Championships, Head of the Charles and Head of the Hooch. In 2015, she earned a bronze medal at Southeast Youth Championships and helped her Varsity 8+ qualify for the Youth National Championships. Recently Pitzel helped AJRA finish eighth out of 60 Youth 8+ entries at the Head of Charles and won the Lightweight 4+ event at the Head of the Hooch. She will study chemistry at TU.

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Lindsey Smith (Poughkeepsie High School, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) is a rower and coxswain who competes for her high school and with the Hudson River Rowing Association. She also previously competed for FDR High School. Smith has a solid history of making finals at the New York State Championships, Scholastic Rowing Association Championships and the Canadian Henley. She also serves as an assistant the HRRA adaptive rowing program. Smith is coached by her father, Mike Smith, and by Andy Mauer (HRRA) and Warren Buhler (PHS). She was also coached as a very young rower by current TU coaches Rodney Mott and Arielle Tillou. She will study business at TU.

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Emily Truss (Grosse Pointe High School North, Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) is a lightweight rower with the Detroit Boat Club. She has competed in many regattas for DBC including Midwest Regional Championships, USRA Youth Nationals and USRA Club Nationals. Most recently Truss raced the DBC Youth 8+ to an 18^th-place finish among the 85 entries at the Head of the Charles, as well as to a win at the Head of the Grand. She will study biology at Tulsa.

Tulsa Rowing Inks Five Lightweight Rowers and Three Coxswains for 2016 Class

Players Mentioned

Maria Gearing

Micah Gibbons

Skylar Luttjehuizen

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