Ruby Daily Rows Into Seattle University

Ruby Daily will test new waters at Seattle University in Washington, where she will begin her rowing career. She is joining the Redhawks, an NCAA Division I team that competes in the West Coast Conference. 

They approached Daily with her history and background in athletics at Sullivan High School. She wrestled for the Lady Eagles all four years, qualifying for state three times and finishing as a district runner-up twice.

Daily also participated in track and field, representing her high school in the shot put, discus and 100-meter hurdles. She received the Most Outstanding Thrower award from her fellow teammates, alongside Robert York II.

Daily graduated from Sullivan as a member of the National Honor Society (NHS) and Future Farmers of America (FFA).

In the next wave of her life at Seattle University, she plans to major in forensic science and give rowing a try. The opportunity for Daily was one she could not paddle by. “I found out that [with] women’s rowers, a lot of the walk-ons are wrestlers already because they already have the strength and endurance built up for it,” she shared. “I just figured it’d be, you know, a new, fun, exciting challenge. So, I was like, you know, why not?... I have the option, so I’m going to take it.”

Daily believes the same strengths she pinned from the mat will help keep her head above water in Washington. “Being able to get through long practices, hard practices is definitely going to help,” she explained. “Some of the stuff that I dealt with mentally during wrestling, I feel like I’m going to be able to say, ‘Okay, I’ve done wrestling. That was really difficult. Here’s this: now I kind of know how to handle myself and what mental state I need to be in to perform my best.’”

Her favorite high school memory was when she, Reya Bristow, Jade Studdard and Dorie Richardson became the first-ever Lady Eagles to wrestle at the state level. Daily described the experience as “just really special,” saying, “Being able to make history with those other girls is crazy.”

Daily thanked her friends, family and mother, Hattie, for their support over the years in helping her become the athlete she is today. She also shouted out coaches Heidi Blankenship, Brad Landwehr, Carl Lawrence, Jacob Dixon, Terry Wood, Bartley and all the other mentors who helped her row her way to success.