USRowing National High Performance Center Athlete Bios

Kevin Cardno Huntsville, AL	University of Alabama, Huntsville ’17. Kevin came to OKC right after his college graduation. At UAH, he was able to balance earning his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering while having great success on the water. Excelling most in the Men's 1x, Kevin has many first-place finishes under his belt, including at ACRA National Championship Regatta and Head of the Hooch in 2017. He was also able to spend the most recent summer training at the New York Athletic Club, where he continued to add to his collection of medals at the USRowing Club National Championships and competed in the Royal Canadian Henley. Kevin is looking forward to further developing his skills both on and off the water at USRowing National High Performance Center, with hopes of making National and Olympic teams for the United States.
Brooke Downes Boonton Township, NJ	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.
Photo to Come Karina Feitner Cummington, MA	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.
Valen Fey Denver, CO	George Washington University ‘19. Valen started sweep rowing her freshman year of college, she was instantly hooked and rowed for GW while earning her Bachelor's degree in Psychology with a minor in Nutrition. During Valen’s junior year she raced in the Varsity eight earning a Third place finish in Atlantic 10 Conference Championship and was named to the All Conference Second Team award for her performance on and off the water as well as making the GW Athletics Academic Dean’s List. Valen competed in the 2019 World University Championships in Shanghai, China with the women's eight and earned United States a bronze medal. She participated in the OKC High Performance Development Camp ‘19 camp and fell in love with sculling. Valen is looking forward to developing her skills and speed in sculling, with the hope of making National and Olympic teams for the United States.
Jack Gallagher Oklahoma City, OK	Bishop McGuinness High School ’19. Jack is currently taking a gap year training with High Performance Team before attending college in Fall 2020. He was a member of the OKC Riversport Junior program for four years and has a promising rowing career ahead of him. Most recently, Jack won the Intermediate Lightweight Men’s 4x and 2x at the 2019 USRowing National Championships. Jack is using this year to focus on getting faster on the water and erg, as well as explore different academic interests and gain job experience. He says he is grateful for the opportunity to train at such a high level before rowing in college and aspires to make the United States National and Olympic teams in the future.
Elizabeth Hinley McHenry Co., IL	University of North Texas, BA ’14, MS ’18. Liz graduated with a B.A. in Music and a M.S. in Kinesiology from the University of North Texas. After graduating with her masters, Liz attended the United States Olympic Committee’s Next Olympic Hopeful program in July 2018 where she was identified as a potential rower by USRowing. As a talent transfer athlete, Liz came into the sport of rowing with a triathlon career. During her collegiate triathlon club experience, she represented Team USA as an age group athlete in the 2015 Chicago Sprint World Championship and the 2016 Oklahoma City Long Course World Championship. In the 2017-2018 South Midwest Regional Conference Championship and Omnium, she earned first place in both events. Her most recent competitions were the 2018 NCAA Women’s Triathlon Regional Championship in Sarasota, Florida and the National Championship in Tempe, Arizona. Much of her success in learning the various aspects of rowing she dedicates to her background in triathlon and her talents as a musician. Being a percussionist afforded her a great sense of rhythm and body awareness that transfers into the necessary skills to become a competitive rower. She is very excited to represent the OKC High Performance Team and looks forward to working diligently in hopes of competing nationally and internationally.
Frank Horpel Castro Valley, CA	Oregon State University ’18. Frank majored in Sociology. Frank is a new member of the OKC HP as of January 8th, 2019. He was introduced to the sport of rowing at age 21 and never looked back. After a 13-year career as a competitive swimmer, including 7-time high school All American honors and a 2-year collegiate run, Frank decided to take up what was in his roots, rowing. Both of Frank’s parents were varsity rowers at University of California, Berkeley, his mother being a member of the first women’s team to win a National Championship for the university. While Frank is still relatively new to the sport of rowing (two years on varsity sweep team at Oregon State and one full season as a sculler), he has already had considerable success. Recently, he earned second place in the double scull at US Nationals, as well as a second place finish in the double scull at the Pan Am Games Trials. Frank is from Castro Valley, California.
Rosemary Kyne Nashville, TN	Bates College ‘18. Rosemary began rowing her senior year of high school at the Nashville Rowing Juniors Program. During her first year at Bates, she rowed in the 2V 8+ that took gold at the NCAA Championships and won the D3 Team National Title. The next three years Rosemary earned a spot in the 1V 8+ and helped her team win two more National Championship titles (‘17 and ‘18). She also raced with the Oxford University team while studying abroad. Her senior year as co-captain at Bates was capped off with a Head of the Charles win in the Collegiate 8+ and winning gold in the 1V 8+ at NCAAs for the first time in Bates history. Additionally, Rosemary earned College Rowing Coaches Association Second Team D3 All-American status in both her junior and senior years at Bates. Rosemary earned a College Rowing Coaches Association Scholar Athlete Award and a Senior Scholar Award from Bates. She is excited to see how far rowing can take her and hopes to one day earn a spot competing for the U.S. on a National Team.
LaDarren Landrum Spartanburg, SC	United States Olympic Committee’s Next Olympic Hopeful, '18. The Next Olympic Hopeful is a talent transfer program that the National Governing Bodies of the Olympic Training Committee created to scout athletes from different sport backgrounds and give them a chance to take on a new one. LaDarren competed for 8 spots in 8 different sports against 90 athletes selected from all over the country. It was filmed and aired on NBC Sports Network in November 2018. He won NBC's Scouting Camp: The Next Olympic Hopeful for the sport of rowing, a sport he had no clue existed prior to the application process for the program. However, his experience in the Marine Corps and in the fitness industry seemed to put him just where he needed to be to gain the attention of USRowing and the OKC National High Performance Center enough to join the high performance team. LaDarren is ready to take this new found sport head on and compete at the Olympic level in the near future.
Craig Oldiges Dayton, OH	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 Edmond, OK	University of Oklahoma ’21. Hilton is an up-and-coming Oklahoman who graduated high school at Edmond Memorial in 2017. Hilton was a member of the OKC Riversport Junior program for four years. He says his greatest accomplishment so far is finishing 2nd at the USRowing Youth National Championships in the Men’s 4+ in 2017. HIs goal is not only going to the World Championships and the Olympics, but to also break limits and barriers along the way because he wants to leave his mark in the sport of rowing.
Zach Petronic Pittsburgh, PA	North Allegheny High School ‘10, and University of Pittsburgh student. Zach took up rowing in 2006 as a coxswain for his high school rowing program. Winning bronze at the Stotesbury Cup regatta in the Senior Boys 2x as well as silver in the 2x at the SRAA National Championship and earning silver in the Junior A Mens 4x at the Club National Championship the same year. Zach has also spent time coaching various programs in the Pittsburgh area from high school to the college level. After Winning the Intermediate 1x in 2019 at the National Championships Zach believes that training in OKC will help push him to the next level necessary to represent the United States at the World Championships and Olympics.
John Puzz Houston, TX	University of Oklahoma ’21. John started rowing his freshmen year of high school and gradually came to love the sport with every competition. He would continue to compete throughout high school and eventually place 6th in the Men’s 1x in the USRowing Youth National Championships his senior year. He then trained in OKC for a few months before rowing for Florida Tech for a year. He eventually came back and train at the OKC High Performance Center while pursuing a degree in Environmental Engineering from OU. John wants to find out how far he can go in the sport and compete in the Olympics, and looks forward to the road ahead.