Iowa women’s rowing head coach Andrew Carter announced two additions to his coaching staff on Monday. Alison Whitty and Abby Ernst are the newest Hawkeyes on the staff.

Whitty served as a graduate assistant the past two seasons at Louisville. At Iowa, she will serve as an assistant with the varsity crews and manage the program’s recruiting efforts by coordinating outreach and communications with prospective students.

Prior to her time at Louisville, Whitty spent time rowing at the elite level in Canada, training as a member of the Senior Women’s Lightweight Squad at the National Training Center in Victoria, British Columbia. She rowed as an undergrad at Miami, where she was named all-ACC, an all-region honoree, and a team captain in 2016.

Ernst will coordinate the coaching of the talent transfer division and serve as the team’s Director of Operations. She comes to Iowa from Wisconsin, where she was a graduate assistant from 2018-20, helping the 2019 crew to a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships.

In addition, Ernst was an assistant coach for the 2019 USRowing U23 Development Camp staged at Wisconsin and a resident advisor and coach for the 2018 USRowing Junior National Team.

As an athlete, Ernst was a two-time bronze medalist at the NCAA Championships (2015; 2V8, 2017;1V4) and a 2017 Henley Royal Regatta qualifier while competing for Washington (2013-2016) and Ohio State (2016-2017). She was a member of the Buckeye’s Leadership Team and a Big Ten sportsmanship honoree in 2017.