Mary Connelly is in her second season with the rowing program and first as the director of operations after serving as a volunteer assistant coach during the historic 2018-19 season.
In her first season on staff at Rutgers, Connelly helped guide the Scarlet Knights to the NCAA Championships, snapping an 18-year drought. RU finished 11th at the 2019 NCAA Championships, placing ahead of five other ranked squads and three Big Ten schools. Rutgers claimed its first Big Ten medals in 2019, capturing silver and bronze in two events.
The Scarlet Knights earned victories over four ranked opponents in 2019 and recorded their first-ever team rankings in the USRowing/CRCA Coaches Poll. Meanwhile, Connelly coached a pair of rowers to international competition as Sarah Johanek (USA) and Ella Toa (Great Britain) rowed for their respective U23 National Teams. Three Rutgers rowers –
Sarah Johanek,
Ella Toa and
Elizabeth Kogan – were named 2019 Pocock All-America award winners. Eleven Scarlet Knights were named CRCA Scholar Athletes during the historic 2019 season for maintaining a 3.5 or higher cumulative GPA, while fifty Rutgers rowers were named to the 2019 Academic All-Big Team for GPA's of 3.0 or higher.
A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, Connelly rowed three seasons for the Scarlet Knights. A native of Somerset, N.J., Connelly was the recipient of the Sportsmanship Award at the 2018 Big Ten Championships.
