PBC Athlete Bio – Maria Bokulich

Maria Bokulich
2012 Olympic Team Hopeful

Maria at Gonzaga University in 2004

Born: 9/1/1982
Hometown: Santa Cruz, California
Resides: Washington, D.C.
College: Gonzaga University (2004)
Event: Women’s Open Weight Sculling
Experience: 7 years

Maria online

• Maria’s Blog – Maria2Olympics
• Maria on Facebook

About Maria
Maria stepped onto the Gonzaga University campus as a freshman in 2000 with the intention of continuing her basketball dream. That dream changed when she was introduced to the sport of rowing. This new sport that involved an immense amount of work with little to no glory captivated her and initiated a challenging yet great focus. Her goal from those first few months was to make the U.S. National team. This is still her driving force today.

Maria works it out in the ballroom at PBC.

Her first year at Gonzaga, Maria made the Varsity Eight and would remain there her entire collegiate career. She set the freshmen record times for the 2k and 6k ergometer race then over the next four years went on to become the fastest female in the history of the team setting the programs overall 2k and 6k records. All four records still stand today.

She was selected as a member of the All American team her junior and senior year. In addition, she was also a member of the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association team all four years as well as a member of the WCC and WIRA All Conference teams her sophomore, junior and senior years. Her final honor was to be selected as the Gonzaga Senior Women’s Athlete of the year.

Maria spent her college summers on the East Coast training out of the prestigious Vesper Boat Club as well as a variety of national team development camps in Princeton, NJ. With the familiarity of the East, she moved to Westport, CT after graduation to begin her sculling career at Saugatuck Rowing Club. In the single person shell, she began to learn the skills of finesse and balance that would take years of experience to perfect. In the Spring of 2005, she was invited to train out of the national team training center, however four months into training suffered a severe back injury. After taking some time off to heal and coach in Sydney AUS, she eventually took a job coaching at The George Washington University in Washington DC. Two and a half years later she resigned to begin training at Potomac Boat Club and to follow her original true passion and dream that was never fulfilled, to become a member of U.S. National sculling team.

Maria is the seventh of eight children to Paul and Pat Bokulich. She grew up playing basketball and helped lead Soquel High School to the Central Coast Championship game her sophomore year. At Gonzaga University, she earned a degree in Exercise Science while rowing all four years. During her break from training Maria spent a year coaching in Sydney, Australia, before she moved to Washington, D.C., to coach at George Washington University. She will eventually coach at the college level again.

National Results
1st Place – Scullers Head of the Potomac – Women’s 1x 2010
1st Place – Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints (Indoor ergometer race) 2010
1st Place – WCC Champion 2000, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04
3rd Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2004 WIRA
2nd Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2003 WIRA
1st Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2002 WIRA
2nd Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2001 WIRA
3rd Place – Vesper Women’s Senior 8+ – 2003 National Championships
1st Place – Vesper Women’s Senior 4+ – 2003 National Championships
1st Place – Vesper Women’s Senior 8+ – 2002 National Championships
1st Place – Vesper Women’s Senior 8+ – 2002 Schuylkill Navy Regatta
1st Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2003 ECAC (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference)
2nd Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2002 ECAC (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference)
3rd Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2001 ECAC (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference)

International Results
12th Place – Women’s Champ 1x – 2010 Head of the Charles
1st Place – Senior Women’s A 8+ – 2003 Royal Canadian Henley
1st Place – Senior Women’s B 8+ – 2003 Royal Canadian Henley
1st Place – Champ Women’s 8+ – 2003 Royal Canadian Henley
1st Place – Senior Women’s B 8+ – 2004 Royal Canadian Henley