The UW women’s crew team welcomes its first official “Hometown Husky” Hallie Jensen as a walk-on to the program. Having never rowed before coming to Washington, Jensen is a standout in several other sports including basketball, volleyball, tennis, track and cross country from Lakeside High School outside of Spokane.
Last year, the UW women’s coaching staff hatched the idea of awarding a tuition scholarship to one, in-state high school senior with no prior experience in rowing. The UW coaching staff put the word out to high school athletic directors across the state and invited a number of candidates to campus. Out of a pool of several very strong candidates, Jensen was named the inaugural winner of the scholarship.
“We wanted to put a carrot out there to try and attract a lot of people,” explained UW assistant women’s rowing coach Josh Gautreau, who headed up the program in its first year. “We want to put our money where our mouth is. We say that we want to prioritize in-state kids and walk-ons and we want to keep that tradition alive in rowing. We want to invest in this, and not just with words, but with actions and funds.”
