CLEMSON, S.C. – First-year Head Rowing Coach Adrienne Martelli announced on August 23 the addition of Zoe Adamson, Alana Holt and Kelly Kraiss as assistant coaches and Sheila Rinozzi as the director of operations for her inaugural staff at Clemson.
“We are very excited to welcome Kelly, Zoe, Alana and Sheila to Clemson,” Martelli said about her new staff on Friday, “The championship experience of this staff is vital for competing in the ACC, and our coaches know how to get the most out of our girls on the water and in the classroom. We could not be more excited for the future of Clemson Rowing and can’t wait to prove ourselves.”
Adamson joins the Tiger rowing program after a two-year stint at Old Dominion as an assistant coach. During her time with the Monarchs, Adamson led the program to a fifth-place finish in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship, developed freshman Nicole Knight into the AAC Newcomer of the Year and a Second Team All-AAC recipient and had six CRCA Scholar Athletes under her tutelage.
Before joining Old Dominion, Adamson was a four-year letter winner at Oregon State and earned two top-five finishes at the Pac-12 Championships each year the regatta occurred. She was also a part of the Beavers’ Varsity Eight crew that achieved a 14th-place finish in the NCAA Division I Rowing Championships. Prior to her arrival in Corvallis, Adamson rowed for Hartpury College in Hartpury, England, where she was a recipient of many awards, including being team captain, a Junior World Champion and a U-23 Bronze World Medalist. Adamson also is a two-time champion of the Henley Royal Regatta.
Holt joins the Clemson rowing coaching staff after a stint in Pittsburgh with Duquesne as an assistant coach. During her time with the Dukes, Holt coached the 1V8 during the fall where she helped lead the boat to a first-place finish at Head of Ohio. The Folsom native also developed 14 CRCA Scholar-Athletes and a pair of College Sports Communicators (CSC) All-District At-Large members.
In the summer of 2024, Holt coached for RSR Elite in Tuscaloosa where she led the U23 8+ boat to first, second and third place finishes. She also led the Youth 4- to a gold and U23 4+ to a silver at the US Rowing Rowfest National Championships in Oklahoma City.
Before her time at Duquesne, Holt rowed and coached at Sacramento State. Her contributions helped the Hornets’ Varsity Eight earn bronze, Novice Eight take silver and the second Varsity Eight take home the gold at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. Holt also coached for Capital Crew, where she led several youth crews that won the San Diego Crew Classic and qualified crews for the US Rowing Youth National Championships, including the winning youth pair and a fifth-place finish in the U17 Eights.
Kraiss heads to Clemson after two seasons with the Crimson Tide. While in Tuscaloosa, Kraiss helped lead Alabama to consecutive third-place finishes at the Big 12 Championships and developed seven All-Big 12 recipients, 23 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Scholar-Athletes, a CRCA/Pocock All-American, three CSC Academic All-District recipients and one CSC Academic All-American.
Prior to coaching at Alabama, Kraiss spent time at Rutgers, where she helped the Scarlet Knights earn their first Big 10 conference title in the school’s history by leading the Second Novice 8+ crew to a Big 10 Championship win. The Floridian also coached for US Rowing, where she had roles as an assistant coach and head coach of the U19 Southeast Development Program and the U19 High Performance and Selection Development Program. During the 2023 Summer National Championships, her crews won gold in the Open 8+, U17 8+, and U17 4+ and grabbed silver in the U17 4x.
Kraiss was a four-year letter-winner for the Tennessee Volunteers, a four-time Academic All-SEC honoree, and a CRCA National Scholar-Athlete. She was also integral to Tennessee earning their first-ever national ranking and NCAA Championships berth.
Rinozzi enters her first season with the Orange and Regalia after three seasons in the same role for the Ohio State Buckeyes. In 2022 and 2023, respectively, she oversaw a Buckeyes first and second-place finish in the Big 10 Championships, an eighth and 12th-place finish in the NCAA Division I Rowing Championships, and the 2022 Varsity 4 boat earning a silver medal nationally.
Prior to her tenure as Director of Operations for Ohio State, Rinozzi had a decorated career as an assistant coach in the ACC and Big 10 and as a rower for Iowa. In her two-year assistant coach and recruiting coordinator stint at Indiana, she oversaw the Hoosiers earning their first two NCAA Rowing Championship berths in program history. At Louisville, the Illinois native split her four years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator and as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. Rinozzi was also a part of Syracuse’s historic 2021 season, where they earned 10th place in the NCAA Rowing Championships, the highest in program history. Additionally, she spent four years working for the CRCA, most recently serving as the Assistant Director.
Rinozzi earned her Master’s in Education in Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership from the University of Washington in 2012. As a student-athlete, Rinozzi was a coxswain and a four-year letter winner with the Iowa Hawkeyes. She was twice named to First Team All-Big Ten during her career, received the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award, and earned captaincy during her junior and senior seasons.
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