PITTSBURGH — Olympic gold medalist Amanda Polk was honored Thursday at her alma mater, Oakland Catholic High School.
She was presented with a county proclamation declaring September 8th "Amanda Polk Day" in Allegheny County. Council president John DeFazio and Council member DeWitt Walton presented Polk with the proclamation.
Polk won a gold medal at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as part of the Women's Eight Coxed rowing team. It was the 11th consecutive victory by the Women's Eight rowing team in either the world championships or Olympics.
The complete text of the proclamation follows:
WHEREAS, Oakland Catholic graduate, and Allegheny County native, Amanda Polk won a gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics as part of the U.S. women’s eight rowing team, completing the 2,000-kilometer course in 6:01.49, almost a boat length ahead of second-place Great Britain, rowing in the third position; and
WHEREAS, the gold medal win was a historic 11th consecutive victory by the eight in either the world championships or the Olympics; this was Amanda’s second time at the Olympics, but her first time on the water having been selected as an alternate in the 2012 London Olympics. In the four years following London, she won three more world championships with the team; and
WHEREAS, born in August 1986 in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood, Amanda is the daughter of Kenneth and JoAnn Polk and has four siblings - Jarrod, Jessica, Justin and Natalie; she credits her family and teammates for supporting her and acknowledges that her career has been done because of the people who push and encourage her every day; and
WHEREAS, Amanda began rowing in 2002 at Oakland Catholic and only selected the sport as a way to keep in shape during the summer while she waited for basketball season to begin; at OC, she also started for the Eagles’ basketball team and earned three letters during her high school career (one in basketball and two in rowing); and
WHEREAS, while at Oakland Catholic, Amanda also earned national rankings in rowing three times during her career and was undefeated her senior season; she also set an all-time record of 7:08 at OC; a phenomenal student and athlete, Amanda graduated in 2004 and went on to pursue a degree in biochemistry at Notre Dame;
WHEREAS, a four-time All-American at Notre Dame, Amanda finished her career as the most decorated rower in program history; she earned first-team All-America honors by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) following her sophomore, junior and senior seasons and was a second team honoree as a freshman;
WHEREAS, Amanda served as a team captain in 2008 and was a key member of the 2006 varsity eight that earned Notre Dame’s first berth in the NCAA rowing championships, finishing seventh overall; she also led Notre Dame to BIG EAST Conference rowing championships in each of her final three seasons;
WHEREAS, starting as a junior rower, Amanda has been on various national teams since 2004; most recently, she won a gold medal at the 2015 World Rowing Championships in France, the fifth time she took first at that regatta since 2010;
WHEREAS, Amanda is a nine-time U.S. Rowing national team member, and was part of the gold medal-winning women’s eight at the World Rowing Cup III, where the team set a world record of 5 minutes, 54.16 seconds; she is also ranked third among the top 10 female rowers by the World Rowing Federation, behind competitors from Great Britain and the U.S.;
WHEREAS, Allegheny County is thrilled to have Amanda Polk as a member of our community (even if her residence is Princeton, New Jersey these days); we are thankful for her contributions in athletics and rowing through her time at Oakland Catholic and beyond, and we are proud that she calls Pittsburgh “home.”
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, County Council President John DeFazio, Council Member Paul Klein and Council Member DeWitt Walton, by virtue of the authority vested in us, do hereby congratulate Amanda Polk on her Olympic gold in the Women’s Coxed Eight in Rio de Janiero, and declare today, September 8, 2016, as “Amanda Polk Day” in Allegheny County.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our hand and caused the Seal of the County of Allegheny to be affixed this 8th day of September, 2016.
Signed, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, County Council President John DeFazio, Council Member DeWitt Walton (District 10) and Council Member Paul Klein, District 11.
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