Rutgers University-New Brunswick Women's Rowing

Justin Price, the 2025 Big Ten Coach of the Year and two-time CRCA Regional Coach of the Year, begins his ninth season as the head coach of the Rutgers women’s rowing program, with the Scarlet Knights having reached new historic highs during his tenure. Since arriving “On The Banks” in 2018, Price has continued to build upon one of the most successful turnaround stories in NCAA rowing, transforming an 18-year drought of NCAA Championships into six consecutive appearances, including RU’s most recent appearance, an eighth-place finish in 2025. Price and his CRCA Regional Staff of the Year saw the Scarlet Knights produce perhaps the most successful season to date last year as the program celebrated its 50th varsity season. Not only did Rutgers’ eighth-place NCAA performance see the Varsity 4 finish fifth, the Varsity 8 take eighth and the 2nd Varsity 8 claim 13th, the Scarlet Knights had their best-ever Big Ten showing as conference runner-up while winning a program-record six medals. By the 2025 season’s end, four Scarlet Knights were named CRCA All-Americans and five earned All-Big Ten honors and two landed Big Ten All-Freshman accolades, including Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Beatrice Colclough. The excitement of the 2025 season continued well beyond NCAAs with Rutgers winning the Island Challenge Cup in their first-ever appearance at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta and four Scarlet Knights competing for their home countries at the U23 World Championships. On the world

Carey Loch is in her fifth season with Rutgers Athletics and currently serves as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development and Success. She joined Rutgers Athletics in July 2021 after more than two decades of leadership experience across alumni relations and student affairs, bringing deep institutional knowledge, a student-centered approach, strong cross-campus relationships, and extensive experience planning and leading complex event initiatives. In her role, Loch leads life skills and leadership development programming designed to support the holistic growth of student-athletes on and off the field. She oversees the design and delivery of comprehensive education initiatives that emphasize personal enrichment, career readiness, and community engagement. A cornerstone of Loch's work in Athletics has been the creation of Scarlet Knights For Life™, a comprehensive, student-athlete–centered initiative designed to support lifelong connection, personal development, and career readiness. Prior to joining Athletics, Loch served in the Rutgers University Division of Student Affairs as Director of Major Events and Programs. Loch began her Rutgers career in 1999 in the Department of Alumni Relations, where she progressed from alumni relations officer to coordinator of special events and later associate director of special events. During her tenure, she planned and led alumni engagement programs for Rutgers' five bowl game appearances from 2005–09 and oversaw th

Two-time Big Ten champion Emma Luniewicz begins her second season “On The Banks” as an assistant coach and international recruiter with Rutgers women’s rowin...

Margaret Dail begins her first season as an assistant coach with the Rutgers women's rowing program after spending the last two seasons at George Washington ...

Michaela Pillion joined the Rutgers Sports Medicine staff in 2022 as an assistant athletic trainer, working with the women's rowing team. Pillion, a Hollis, ...

Michelle Pifer joined Rutgers Athletics as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach in September 2021. In her role, Pifer designs and implements year-round strength, speed, and conditioning programs for Field Hockey and Women's Rowing. Prior to Rutgers, Pifer was an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at University of Pennsylvania where she coached Women's Soccer, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's Women's Track and Field, Men's and Women's Fencing, Women's Squash, Men's and Women's Tennis, Softball, and Cheerleading. Prior to becoming a full-time coach, Pifer aided Penn Athletics as a strength & conditioning intern for nearly three years from 2015-18, working with 17 varsity programs across that time. In between her Penn stints, Pifer spent the 2018-19 academic year at Swarthmore College as an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach. In that position, she designed and implemented training programs for Women's Soccer, Women's Basketball, Softball, Men's and Women's Tennis, and the Cross Country/Track & Field programs. Born and raised in Lansdale, Pa., Pifer received her bachelor's (2014) and master's (2018) degrees in Exercise Science from Bloomsburg (Pa.) University. While a graduate student, she did a strength & conditioning internship at Bucknell University in addition to her internship at Penn. A champion bodybuilding and powerlifting competitor, Pifer is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Associat

Scarlet Knight alumna and a two-time CRCA Regional Staff of the Year honoree, Olivia Betz, has served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Rutgers women’s rowing since 2022. As a member of Justin Price’s CRCA Regional Staff of the Year in 2025, a region that includes the entire Big Ten Conference, along with independent institutions, Rutgers produced the most successful season in the 50 years of the varsity program. RU placed eighth at the 2025 NCAA Championships, which included a fifth-place finish for the Varsity 4 in the grand final, the Scarlet Knights' highest-ever finish for the boat at the national regatta. Additionally, the Scarlet Knights had their best-ever Big Ten showing as conference runner-up while winning a program-record six medals, including silver medals by the Varsity 4 and 2nd Varsity 4 coached by Betz. Altogether, the 2025 campaign saw Rutgers have four student-athletes named CRCA All-Americans and five earn All-Big Ten honors.. Rutgers’ 2024-25 season also included winning the Island Challenge Cup in the first-ever appearance at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta and four Scarlet Knights competing for their home countries at the U23 World Championships. Betz was the lead on all three fours in 2024 as the 3rd Varsity 4 won their second consecutive gold medal at the Big Ten Championships. Nationally, she helped to guide the Varsity 4 to a 10th-place showing at the NCAA Championships. During the 2022-23 campaign, Betz coached RU's Varsity

Scarlet Knight alumna Shannon Haines, a member of Justin Price’s 2025 CRCA Regional Staff of the Year, has served as an assistant coach for Rutgers women’s r...

William Rafferty begins his first season as an assistant coach with the Rutgers women's rowing program in 2025-26. Rafferty arrives on “On The Banks” after s...