College commitment: LaGrange resident and Magnificat senior Alexis Moore on a roll thanks to rowing

There isn't a day that goes by that Alexis Moore isn't talking about rowing. That's mostly because the LaGrange resident and Magnificat High School senior is grateful for the opportunities the sport has provided her. A three-year letterwinner for Magnificat's crew team, Moore recently signed a letter of intent to row at the University of Rhode Island, where she plans to major in animal sciences. "There are a lot of people I've met in the rowing world, and I wouldn't be where I am today without them," Moore said. "I love it because you're plopped into a boat and you just go." She took four official visits to URI and visited the campus with her family. She received a scholarship offer after one of those visits in early November while on her way to the airport. "I visited campus a couple times with my family before I met the team, but as soon as I met the team I knew this was the place for me," Moore said. Moore is one of four incoming freshmen for the 2020-21 season, and Rhode Island coach Shelagh Donohoe is "confident this group will have an immediate impact on our speed." "(Alexis) is a student of the sport and has worked hard to become a standout in her program. She exudes positive energy and a competitive spirit," Donahue said. "I look forward to working with her." Moore was a newcomer to the sport as a high school freshman. "The only experience I had with rowing was seeing it in the Olympics," she said. But her freshman year was also the first season Magnificat had a crew program. After graduating from St. Mary School in Elyria, she was deciding where to attend high school and was considering Magnificat, Elyria Catholic and Saint Joseph Academy in Cleveland. She was virtually set on Magnificat, even though the school hadn't yet announced the formation of a crew team, and her mother encouraged her to try out for volleyball. "When I found out Magnificat had a team, I said to my mom, 'I want to go to a camp,' because I didn't think I would make the volleyball team," Moore said. "I went to a practice, learned to row and loved it." Magnificat's rowing team practices in downtown Cleveland on the Cuyahoga River and on Lake Erie, and has competed in Columbus, Cincinnati, Marietta and Zanesville, and in races in Tennessee and New Jersey. "We put in a lot of time," Moore said. "Mags doesn't let us practice in the morning but we'll lift before school. Most rowing programs will have a morning practice." Rowing seasons at the high school and college level are typically split with competitions in the fall and spring. In the fall, Magnificat's team will race against club teams in longer-distance competitions between 5,000 to 6,000 meters. In the spring season, Magnificat will race against other regional high school programs, including Laurel Academy, St. Joseph Academy, Notre Dame Aacademy in Toledo, Upper Arlington, Oakland Catholic (Pittsburgh) and schools from Michigan and Illinois. Those competitions are around 1,500 meters in distance and more spectator-friendly. "It's more entertaining for others to watch," Moore said. Crew teams compete in events with one, two, four or eight rowers in a boat. While rowing for Magnificat, Moore helped her boat win first place at the Lindemood Cup (Marietta) and Dillon Lake Regatta (Zanesville), and third-place finishes at the Head of the Ohio (Pittsburgh) in 2018 and '19, and at the Speakmon Memorial Regatta (Columbus). Moore also credits her development as a rower to the Foundry, a rowing and sailing community center near downtown Cleveland. "They do a lot to help the community," she said. "They'll have field trips and will bring in students to see the physics behind rowing and see what it's like. When I started there, the floors were dusty, but now it's a gorgeous facility and boathouse. It's state-of-the-art rowing tanks with oars and we're lucky to practice out of there." With just four seasons of crew to her credit, Moore believes her best years are ahead of her. "Rowing is one of those special sports where you peak around your seventh or eighth year of being competitive," Moore said. "You tend to peak in competitive racing at college." Contact Anthony Moujaes at ctsports@chroniclet.com.