Go Wildcats!! Senior Ella Carrerio has committed to Villanova College for rowing and will be studying in their prestigious business program.
Ella, who has only been rowing since the fall of her sophomore year, made the final decision to attend Villanova after considering other schools, such as Boston College or Holy Cross. She said, “What made me choose Villanova was opportunities that came with it such as the amazing business school that I would be directly admitted into.”
Only 400 students are admitted into this program per year. The small school, plus the powerful alumni network appealed to Ella. Villanova is a Catholic university located just 12 miles outside Philadelphia and has a 98.9% undergraduate placement rate.
Ella’s interest in rowing started when she was a sophomore. She said “My friend’s mom who rowed at Notre Dame always wanted to get me into rowing because of my build (5 ’11 and slim)” “I saw it as an opportunity to use it to get into college.”
Ella rows at the Port Jefferson Rowing Club. She described a typical day on the water. They arrive around 3:45 and do 4×20 seatblocks. They prepare the boats and bring the oars down to the water. They do a workout and arrive back to shore, when they finish cleaning off the boats, they leave around 6:30. For indoor practices, they do team lifting or erging. (a Rowing machine)
Ella’s advice for future college athletes/students is to put yourself out there and make sure you email the coach directly, instead of waiting for them on a recruiting site.
We wish Ella the best of luck next year!
