BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana Rowing program announced the signing of 22 students to join the novice program for the 2017-18 academic year. The signing class includes signees from seven different states spanning from Texas to Connecticut and represents students from a wide range of backgrounds both competitively and athletically. Many of the members of the class have played in multiple sports in high school and have tremendous academic credentials as well. A couple of the accolades that signees in this class hold are school records in volleyball, basketball, track and field, cross country and water polo and multiple members of the National Honor Society.

The novice rowing program at Indiana has been an integral part of the Hoosiers advancing to each of the last four NCAA Championships - the first four appearances in program history. This past season, over three-quarters of the team - 77 percent to be exact - began their involvement with the novice program. Perhaps the best novice rower that joined the program was Meradith Dickensheets, who came to IU with no rowing background but worked her way through the program and was named a First Team All-American on two occasions in her career - the only IU rower to ever accomplish that.

At the last four Big Ten Championships, the IU First Novice Eight has finished fifth or better in three of the four years while competing against many of the top novice rowing programs in the country. The novice finishes have also helped the team finish fourth in each of the last four years and earn at-large bids to the NCAA Championship.

To find out more about each signee, read below: