Rowing Announces 2016 Signees
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas rowing announced the signing of four high school seniors for the 2016-17 season on Monday, including Reese Arnold (Centreville, Va.), Leyton Bruegman (Lincoln, Neb.), Kaitlyn Finger (Larned, Kan.), and Madison Ruffalo (Olathe, Kan.). The group of four will join the Jayhawks’ rowing team this fall.
Reese Arnold comes to Lawrence already with two years of rowing experience at Westfield High School in Virginia. The 5-foot-8 rower won the Iron Woman Award in 2015 and placed second in the Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints – a 500-meter mixed gender relay. Her best 2,000-meter time in high school clocked in at 7:32.8. Arnold also lettered in soccer and served as the wrestling team manager for six years. Her career ambitions currently include being a physical therapist or orthodontist.
Leyton Bruegman will begin her first year of rowing experience after lettering in softball, basketball, and soccer at Lincoln North Star High School. The 5-foot-8 Lincoln, Nebraska native set basketball records for most rebounds in a season and highest free throw percentage at Lincoln North Star, while leading the softball team to back-to-back district titles in 2014 and 2015. Bruegman was an academic all-conference selection in all three high school sports she competed in, and aims to study architecture at KU.
Central Kansas native Kaitlyn Finger brings a wealth of athletic and extracurricular experiences to the table as valedictorian of her class at Larned High School, where she also was named the school’s 2016 Senior Female Athlete of the Year. Finger was involved with volleyball, basketball, track, cheer, scholars bowl, and band at Larned High School. She was a two-time competitor in discus at the annual KSHSAA track meet in 2014 and 2016. Finger plans to study nursing with ambitions to become a pediatric oncologist after graduation.
Madison Ruffalo comes to KU as a four-time state swimming champion at Blue Valley Southwest High School. Ruffalo served as the captain of the Timberwolves’ swimming team that won its fourth consecutive Kansas High School Athletic Association Class 1-5A state swimming title on May 20, 2016. The dynamic athlete holds Blue Valley Southwest school records for the 200-meter freestyle relay in the pool, and the pole vault for track & field. In the classroom, Ruffalo was listed on the Principal’s Honor Roll all four years of high school and was a member of the National Honor Society.
Kansas Rowing 2016 Signees
Reese Arnold (Centreville, Va.; Westfield HS)
Leyton Bruegman (Lincoln, Neb.; Lincoln North Star HS)
Kaitlyn Finger (Larned, Kan.; Larned HS)
Madison Ruffalo (Olathe, Kan.; Blue Valley Southwest HS)
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