MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Barry University rowing added nine signees for the 2017-18 season, announced by assistant coach Nick Johnson.

"With five seniors graduating this spring, we have signed six rowers and three coxswains to help fill those seats, which gives us one of the largest and strongest recruiting classes in recent memory," Johnson said. "The quality of the seniors that we are losing made it challenging to find the same sort of speed and talent to replace them, but we are feeling very good about this incoming class, and we are not even finished yet. We are hoping to sign another three or four rowers in the coming weeks, which will give us as many new faces this fall as we will have old faces coming back. It is going to be an exciting time in Miami Shores."

The first signee is Sarah Thurson, an incoming freshman from Stanton College prep in Jacksonville, Fla. She currently rows for the Stanton River Bank rowing program. Last year she qualified for Youth Nationals in the double, and this year she is rowing in both the single and 4+ for SRB.

"Sarah was our first verbal commitment from the class of 2017, and should be a contributor from her first day on campus. She is tall and long and athletic, and a tremendous student; everything we look for in a recruit."

Tara Marinkovic, coming from Patrijarh Pavle Gymnasium in Belgrade, Serbia, is the second signee for the Bucs. She currently rows for the rowing club Graficar, located in Serbia. She is a proficient sculler, meaning that she rows with two oars and not just one.

"Tara is a strong individual and fantastic student, and is following what is now a lone line of Serbian rowers to compete for Barry University," Johnson said. "The experience and skill that she is bringing to our program is very exciting.

The next signee is Emily Hoogerheyde, an incoming freshman from Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Fla. Emily rows for an outstanding program here in Florida known as Capital City Rowing.

"Emily is a great athlete," Johnson said. "Everyone thoroughly enjoyed her during her visit to campus, and she perfectly fits the mold for what we look for in a Barry University athlete."

The Bucs also signed Ani Katcher, an incoming freshman from McLean High School in McLean, Va. Ani is a very confident coxswain who has had a big impact on the program at McLean.

"She made a big impact on us when she came to visit campus," Johnson said. "She is very intelligent in the classroom, and very intelligent on the water, which are two traits we look for in all of our coxswains."

Up next on the signee list is Madyson Melendez, an incoming freshman from Tampa Catholic High School in Tampa, Fla. Melendez just recently started rowing in the past couple years, but she is already turning heads as a competitive sculler in Florida.

"We are very optimistic about her potential, as she is a new rower to the sport," Johnson said. "However, she is a very hard worker, with a tremendous attitude and work ethic, and we are excited to get her on campus this fall."

Kotryna Lasaite joins the Buccaneer squad from Washington State University, where she finished her undergraduate degree. She will be pursuing her master's degree at Barry University, and using her final year of eligibility with the team. The 6-3 graduate student is from Radviliskis, Lithuania. Lasaite finished second in the first European Ergometer Championships at Rome in 2009.

"She only has one more year of eligibility, but we are thrilled to have a talent like her join us," Johnson said. "With so many leaders graduating this year, we are looking forward to having her experience and leadership in the boathouse every day."

Another incoming freshman is Lauren Roman, who currently attends Avon High School in Avon, Ohio. She rows for the Cleveland Youth Rowing Association, and has been the captain of CYRA since her sophomore year. She is a great lightweight rower, but has recently started working towards being a coxswain.

"While her primary role will be coxing for us, we know that she is a talented enough athlete to fill a seat for us if we need her to," Johnson said. "We are excited about her options and flexibility that she is bringing to Barry."

Mia Ball, an incoming freshman from Shaker High School in Loudonville, N.J., joins the Barry squad for the 2017-18 season. She currently rows for the Albany Rowing Center in Albany, NY. Mia has been mostly coxing for the boy's team at ARC, but also has experience coxing girls within her program.

"She is eager to make the permanent change to coxing girls when she joins us this fall," Johnson said. "When she came to watch one of our practices this spring, we were all very impressed with her rowing IQ and the questions she asked about the rowers, the boats, and the waterway that we row on."

Last of the signee list so far for the upcoming rowing season is Sarolta Adonyi. The incoming freshman joins Barry from the Deak Ference Bilingual School, located in Újszentiván, Hungary, where she rows for Szegedi VE. Sarolta competed for Hungary in the Junior World Championships and European Junior Championships.

"Saci brings a wealth of talent and experience to Barry," Johnson said. "She could be a difference maker for us as soon as she steps on campus, and we are excited about having her with us for four years."