US Rowing National High Performance Center Athlete Bios

California State University East Bay ‘16. After a long career in track and field, Kelli had the chance to experience the USOPC Olympic Hopeful program in 2019. After competing for 6 different spots in 6 different sports against 48 athletes from across the country, she was picked for rowing. She had been a personal trainer when she first heard about the Next Olympic Hopeful, and saw it as a chance to finally chase her Olympic dreams. After years and years of competitive sports, including dance and heptathlon, Kelli is ready to train in hopes to be on a national or Olympic team representing the United States.

Ithaca College 18′. Karina grew up playing sports in high school, and went into college expecting to play lacrosse. When that didn’t work out, Karina joined the crew team and has never looked back. At Ithaca, Karina had three NCAA Championship appearances, coming in second place her senior year, and Karina served as team captain her senior year. Shortly after graduating with a B.A. in Psychology, Karina was awarded First Boat All-American and chose to postpone any further education to pursue elite rowing. She spent the summer of 2018 training with ARION in Saratoga Springs NY, then returned to Ithaca to train on her own for 6 months before being invited to join the OKC High Performance Program. Karina is here to hone her skills, build up her training base, and get the opportunity to represent the United States at the World Championships and Olympics.

Oklahoma City University ’19. Craig was invited to stay in OKC after finishing his education to train with the High Performance Program. While at OCU, he earned his B.A. in Criminology while rowing for the OCU men’s rowing team. While at OCU he and his teammates had many first-place finishes, including both the 2018 Dad Vail regatta winning the Men’s Pair event and again at the 2019 Dad Vail regatta winning the Men’s Heavy Four event. In his senior year, he was able to help his team take a Four to the 2019 Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships, and achieve the best finish the team has ever had at that regatta, placing 13th in the nation. Craig spent some time during the summers at the New York Athletic Club where he began to get back into sculling and wanting to train in the single once again. He is now a permanent athlete with the OKC High Performance Program, trying to get to the next stage of his rowing career.

Hilton Park started rowing in Oklahoma City in 2012 with the OKC Chesapeake Junior Crew. He started rowing with the High Performance team in 2017. He decided to dedicate his life to making the 2024 Olympic rowing team. Hilton’s experience rowing with Coach Reilly and the High Performance team has taught him that adaptability sets the pace in life. Control what you can control and enjoy the experience along the way.

University of Southern California ’19. Brooke graduated with a major in Political Science and a minor in Communication and Law Policy. She began rowing in high school for Row New Jersey (formerly Mountain Lakes Rowing Club). Brooke rowed four years for USC, making most appearances in the 2V8+ since freshman year. The summer before senior year, Brooke trained with the OKC High Performance Development Camp in preparation for her last year as a D1 Student-Athlete. That year, she was elected captain of the USC Women’s Rowing Team, and had several races in the V8+. She was also awarded the Trojan Award, voted on by her team. Brooke came back to OKC shortly after graduation to train full time and continue her rowing career. Brooke’s goal is to represent the United States at World Championships and the Olympics with the honor of competing among the best rowers in the world.

The Ohio State University, BS ’19, MS ’21. Sierra is a native of Chillicothe, Ohio and started her rowing career at The Ohio State University in the fall of 2015 as a walk-on. In 2019 Sierra earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion, Nutrition, and Exercise Science. She then served as Ohio State’s Graduate Assistant Coach from 2019-2021 while working towards her masters in Sports Coaching. As a student-athlete at Ohio State from 2015-19 she was part of three Big Ten Championship teams and was a top five finisher at the NCAA Rowing Championships. She was a three-time academic All-Big Ten selection, a four-time Ohio State Scholar Athlete, and served as a team captain. Sierra also represented the Columbus Development Camp, winning gold at the USRowing championships in the senior 4+. Sierra is excited to develop her technical skills and continue to build her fitness with the hopes of representing the United States at future World Championships and Olympics.