2017-18 — Appeared in 12 races on the 1V4+ crew… defeated Southern California (7:29.1) at the Pac-12 Invitational on April 1… conquered Michigan State (7:25.27) on April 7… finished third (8:05.200) at the Longhorn Invitational on April 28… placed seventh (7:33.848) at the Big Ten Championships on May 13 to help Iowa to fourth-place finish overall… finished sixth (7:33.20) in the petite final of the NCAA Championship on May 27 to help the Hawkeyes to an 11th-place national standing… earned Academic All-Big Ten… named Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.
2016-17 — Appeared in six competitions on the 2V8+ crew… placed 15th overall at the NCAA Championship on May 28 with a third-place finish (6:50.97) in the C Final… placed third in the C/D semifinal (6:39.00) at the NCAA Championship on May 27… placed fourth (6:38.72) in the fourth heat and sixth (6:33.29) in the repechage at the NCAA Championship on May 26… finished fourth (6:23.43) at the Big Ten Championship on May 14… placed second (6:26.80) against Princeton, Syracuse, and Penn on April 28… defeated Rutgers (7:57.40) in the morning session and placed runner-up (8:02.00) to Ohio State in the afternoon session of the Big Ten Double Dual on April 8… defeated Michigan State (6:40.68) in the morning session and Louisville (6:53.50) in the afternoon session of the Double Dual on April 1… finished runner-up to Duke (6:16.67) in the first heat and runner-up to Texas (6:24.77) in the A Final at the Longhorn Invitational on March 25… helped Iowa to a fifth-place finish (13:34.59) on the V8 “A” crew and finished fifth (13:34.59) on the V4 “A” crew at the Jayhawk Jamboree on Oct. 23… earned Academic All-Big Ten.
2015-2016… Competed in six races with the 2V8+ crew… helped the 2V8+ crew finish second (6:45.73) at the Lake Natoma Invitational… helped the 2V8+ crew to first place finishes at the Big Ten/Big 12 Double Dual (7:00.743), and the Tennessee Invitational Conference Challenge (6:42.4)… helped 2V8+ crew finish fifth at the Big Ten Championships (6:40.558)… placed first (7:38.4) in the 1V4+ boat at the Big Ten/ ACC Double Dual… competed in both sessions of the Big Ten Double Dual with the 1V4+ crew, placing second (7:23.80) and first (7:42.30)… helped Hawkeyes to a fifth place finish at the Big Ten Championships… Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
2014-15… Competed with the 1N8+ crew at the Big Ten Double Dual, B1G/Big 12 Challenge, Tennessee, and the Big Ten Championships… helped beat 1N8+ beat Michigan by 6.4 seconds at the Big Ten Double Dual… helped the team to a sixth place finish, the second highest scoring performance at the Big Ten Championships in program history, and the highest since 2003.
Before Iowa… Member of high school’s volleyball team all four years years… all-district and all-conference for volleyball all three years… member of high school’s basketball team for all four years… and first team all-state for basketball her senior year… and member of high school’s softball team for all four years.
Personal… Born Dec. 28, 1994… daughter of Marta and Randy Bender, two sisters (Megan and Rachel) and one brother (Jake) … elementary education major.
Why Iowa… I chose Iowa because of the campus and selection of extracurricular activities.
My favorite aspect of rowing is… The teamwork that it requires.
What made you want to become a rower… I love the competitive drive that it requires to excel at the sport. I started by attending a orientation meeting my senior year of high school.