FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  – Nova Southeastern rowing head coach Devin Fay has announced the first recruitment class for the 2018-19 season. The signees include Ava Hunt-Carollo, Molly Bowron, Madison Mello and Katerina Verbraeken.
 
Molly Bowron | Niagara on the Lake, Ontario | Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School
 
Bowron was a multi-sport athlete at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School playing basketball, volleyball and baseball, all while competing with the rowing team. Bowron spent all four years rowing for the Raiders, contributing to an undefeated season for the U17 division and placed third overall at the Royal Canadian Henley.
 
Coach Fay on Molly: "Molly is a determined and motivated athlete. She is a committed, young woman who understands and is excited about the standards and goals of our program. We recruited her because of her ability to row a range of boats from the 8+ to the 1x and her belief in our program direction."
 
Ava Hunt-Carollo | Saratoga Springs, N.Y. | Saratoga Springs HS
 
Hunt-Carollo spent four years as the coxswain for Bradley Maxwell at Saratoga Springs HS, helping her boat place 11th in the Head of the Charles Regatta during her senior season.
 
Coach Fay on Ava: "We are lucky to have such a talented coxswain coming to join us next year.  Ava's views on improvement, competition, and her openness to learn are both huge reasons why we wanted her on the squad. We are excited for her to come in and make an impact on day one and will rely on her to help keep our team competitive in the future."
 
 
Madison Mello | Huntington Beach, Calif. | Marina HS
 
Along with competing for the Marina HS rowing team, Mello was a dual-sport athlete, swimming for the Vikings for two years. In 2016, she was the first stroke seat for the varsity four that took home a first-place finish at the LRBA Regatta.
 
Coach Fay on Madison: "Madison is excited about the adventure of coming to Florida and a young woman who likes to test her limits in training and in life. The second I met Madison, I knew we wanted her on our team. She is a bright, young woman who is an incredibly powerful rower and I hope can continue to develop her to be even better in the future."
 
Katerina Verbraeken | Niagara Falls, Ontario | Saint Michael Catholic HS
 
Verbraeken spent all four years with the rowing team for Saint Michael Catholic HS, contributing to four first-place finishes in the CSSRA, SNRC Invitational, Mother's Day and Early Bird regattas. She also earned gold medals at the Head of the Genesee and CORA Championships in 2016 and 2017. In the 2017 Head of the Charles, she placed ninth in the youth women's single.
 
Coach Fay on Katerina: "Katerina is a phenomenal rower who can do it all. With all her success, she remains humble and positive and incredibly tough. She is determined and focused to see how far she can progress in the sport of rowing, and we hope to help develop her on that path of competing at the highest levels in the sport."