Jorja off to California
Jorja Johnston has gone from California dreaming to reality.
The Grade 12 student at Blessed Trinity recently signed a scholarship offer to row at California State University in Sacramento.
“I’ve always wanted to be out on the West Coast and before rowing even came into the picture I was already looking at schools out there,” the 18-year-old Smithville resident said. “As soon as I started the recruiting process, I looked at schools on the West Coast and Sac State came across my page. It was really appealing to me and I went on a visit. Their program, their coaching and their crew dynamic made me feel like I belonged there.”
The St. Catharines Rowing Club member also made official visits to Monmouth University in New Jersey and University of Albany in New York.
“The other schools I loved them and they were great too but Sac (Sacramento) really had the academic program and rowing program I was looking for. It all meshed together and at the other schools there were a few things missing here and there. Sacramento felt like a welcoming place where I could strive and reach my goals too.”
The future interior architecture major isn’t sure yet what her goals are for her freshman year.
“It’s definitely to get my (ergometer) scores down, get more technical on the water and to be more adaptable in the boat because it’s a different crew and there is going to be a whole bunch of different bodies around,” she said. “Ultimately it’s to win with them because everyone likes winning.”
Johnston’s shorter frame does not conform with the prototypical rower profile but that has not slowed her down.
“I am pretty vertically challenged in the rowing realm but I am helped by my sports background. I was an all-star cheerleader for 14 years and a gymnast for a few of those years too. Honestly where I have reached so far is because of my work ethic and my determination to be better,” she said. “I’ve never gotten complacent and I am always the person that goes in and thinks they will be better than yesterday. That has always given me a little bit of an edge and I am a very adaptable athlete. I had to learn to row with people almost six feet tall.”
As a competitive cheerleader, Johnston won 10 Canadian championships and world championships in 2022 and 2023 with the Cheer Sports Great White Sharks based out of Kitchener.
Much of her power on the water was aided by her cheerleading background.
“Especially with my endurance and my strength because I was base and I was lifting people up all the time. The team work and work ethic also helped me become the athlete I am today transferred into a different sport.”
Johnston started rowing in the summer after Grade 7 with a learn to row program at the St. Catharines Rowing Club but saw her on-water exploits derailed by the COVID 19 pandemic. She returned to the sport in Grade 10 at Blessed Trinity.
“I had a good group of girls to row with, including two (Maggie MacPherson and Danika Rogers) who also signed today, and I have been rowing in the summer and fall rowing program at the St. Catharines Rowing Club ever since then.”
This September, she started training at the Ontario NextGen Performance Centre in Welland.
Her top career performance was a second-place result in an eight at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. This past season, her and MacPherson were fourth, a few seconds off a podium finish, in the senior women’s pair at the Schoolboy regatta.
“It was a heartbreaker because we were so close with the other boat and it was a last-second thing.”
Up until Grade 11, she trained in both cheerleading and rowing.
“It was a hefty task, considering I was doing all-academic sciences and university-level courses on top of training in the morning for rowing and until 11:30 p.m. at cheer. It was strenuous but it helped me learn time management and other skills which I value a lot today. It’s a lot easier now to get a lot of stuff done.”
