NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University rower Victoria Dettinger has been named the second All-American in the history of NSU’s rowing program. Dettinger, a junior psychology major from Rochester, Minnesota, is the first NSU rower named first team All-American. Jami LeBlanc was a second team All-American in 2016.
Eight women were chosen as first team All-American by the American Collegiate Rowing Association Board of Directors Criteria used were: 2,000 meter testing scores, performance of their crew, career racing results, individual performances and recommendation of coaches.
“It is a huge honor to be selected for All American among this group of talented athletes,” said Dettinger. “We’ve seen many of their teams at regattas throughout the season and the competition this year was very tough.”
Dettinger was part of NSU’s Women’s Varsity +4 team that finished in fifth in the nation this season. The team of Dettinger, Madison Szekely of Baton Rouge, Julia Laperouse of Lafayette, Kirsten Knobloch of Kenner and Emmett Nobles of Natchitoches (coxswain) won the Louisiana State Championships and the Texas-Kansas-LSU Tri Meet, finished second at the Head of the Colorado and the Percy Priest Sprints and fourth at the Frostbite Regatta and the SIRA Conference Championships. The fourth-place finish at the conference championship was the best since 2016.
In the spring semester, Dettinger also won a gold medal in the Women’s Open Competition at the New Orleans Indoor Rowing Championships. Last fall, she was part of an Mx4x team that won Gold at the Music City Head Race in Nashville. She was an ACRA Second Team Academic All American in 2021-22.
Dettinger credited rowing coach Dr. Jason Stelly with her success as well as the team’s accomplishments.
“He set goals for me that were challenging but attainable and he pushed me to be my best every day,” said Dettinger. “On the days I was struggling or didn’t believe in myself he encouraged me and never stopped believing in me. I also was more structured this year than I have been in the past. I focused more on being consistent with my workouts and training and less on being perfect every day.”
Dettinger began training at the U.S. Rowing High Performance Camp in Jacksonville, Florida, this week.
“The camp is designed to focus a lot on technique and creating stronger rowers to hopefully make the national team someday,” said Dettinger. “This camp is an incredible opportunity and I think it’s going to help my rowing a lot. I’m excited to get different coaching perspectives and row with new people. I think it will expand my knowledge of rowing as well as improve my skills.”
