2023-24 Women's Rowing Roster
Roster
Kendall Gonya
- Position:
- Coxswain
- Height:
- 5-2
- Class:
- Junior
- High School:
- St. Francis DeSales
- Hometown:
- Galena, Ohio
2025 (Senior): CRCA National Scholar-Athlete Award recipient … Academic All-Big Ten … As the coxswain of the 2V8, finished second in its semifinal heat (7:02.44) to advance to the A Final, where it finished sixth (6:48.24) at the at the Sunshine State Invitational (3/28-29) … At Eastern Michigan (4/5), earned an open-water victory over the hosts (6:36.6) in the second varsity eight …Coxed the second varsity eight at the Big Ten Invitational (4/18-19), finishing fourth by four-tenths of a second in the first race, ( 6:39.374) – ahead of Ohio State and SMU; MSU tied for fifth in a dead heat in its second race with Clemson ( 6:43.569) and rebounded with a third-place heat finish on Saturday morning in a time of 6:46.077 behind Oklahoma and SMU … Clocked in a time of 7:47.47, raced in the second varsity eight and finished third to Indiana and a length back on Notre Dame at the Dale England Cup (4/26) … In the second varsity eight at IRA sprints (5/4), took the victory in the petite final (7:16.653, open water over second-place Drexel) after narrowly missing the grand final in the morning heats … In the 2V8, won the Petite Final at the Big Ten Championships (5/17-18), finishing seventh overall in a time of 6:33.436, a full second ahead of UCLA (6:34.420).
2024 (Junior): Coxswain … Big Ten Distinguished Scholar … Academic All-Big Ten … In MSU’s A entry into the second varsity four, earned a third-place finish (8:08.25) at the Sunshine State Invitational (3/29-30), and followed that with a second-place finish in the Grand Final (7:25.85) ... Finished second to host Michigan (4/6) in the second varsity four (7:47.3) ... In the second varsity four, finished third to Alabama and Wisconsin (7:45.91), third behind Indiana and Notre Dame (7:50.27), and won Sunday’s final race over Minnesota, Oklahoma, Clemson, and UCLA (7:44.23) at the Big Ten Invitational (4/19-20) ... At Indiana for the Dale England Cup (4/27), finished third to host Indiana’s two entries in the second varsity four ... In the second varsity four at Sprints (5/5), finished fourth in both the morning preliminary (8:17.81) ahead of Temple, and the petite final (8:41.01), ahead of Cornell and Boston College ... In the second varsity four, finished eighth at the Big Ten Championships (5/19), clocked in a time of 7:41.010 ...
2022 (Freshman): Debuted as the coxswain with the third varsity eight crew at Eastern Michigan (4/2) … Coxed the crew to a win over EMU with a time of 7:43.82 in open water … Coxed the second varsity four boat at the Ohio State Regatta (4/9), helping the crew to a win over Indiana in 7:48.10 in the afternoon session … Sat coxswain for the third varsity four crew at the Big Ten Invitational (4/15), earning a fourth-place finish in Session II’s race with a time of 8:06.076 … Guided the third varsity four crew at the Big Ten Championships (5/15) to a seventh-place finish in 7:52.579.
Prior to MSU: Turned to rowing as a senior in high school after a prep career as a four-year varsity starter in softball … Trained by Team USA Coxswain Mary Whipple's 9th Seat program … Under Armour Softball Factory All-Great Lakes Player for the Class of 2021 and pre-season All-America for her summer travel team … Triple Crown Academic All- American Showcase game selection in 2019 … Ohio High School Fastpitch Coaches' Association Scholar Athlete Award.
Personal: Daughter of Kenneth and Jennifer Gonya … Has a younger sister, Averie … National Honor Society ... Spanish National Honor Society; National Seal of Biliteracy (Spanish) ... National Merit Quarterfinalist ... Honor Roll status for all quarters of her high school career ... State, district and local Science Fair Finalist ... First Place recipient of 2017 State STEM/Oxycon Award ... Power of the Pen (creative writing team) State Qualifier ... Earned the Juror's Choice Award Ohio State Fair Youth Arts Exhibition ... Selected for first and third place honors in painting division of St. Francis DeSales art show ... School representative and finalist for District,Governor's Choice, and Scholastic Art Awards … Plans on majoring in Materials Science and Engineering.
