Rowing Welcomes Dinah Harjo As Assistant Coach

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Carolina rowing family continues to grow as head coach Erin Neppel announced Dinah Harjo as an assistant coach on Thursday afternoon.

"We are thrilled to welcome Dinah to Carolina Rowing. She comes to us from Oklahoma, where she has done great work at the junior and DI level, and will complement our staff beautifully," said Neppel. "In addition to being a patient and knowledgeable coach, she will bring a high level of detail and organization to our office and will be critical to our day-to-day operations."

Harjo comes to Chapel Hill following three seasons as an assistant coach and external coordinator at Oklahoma. She helped Oklahoma to three top 5 finishes in the Big 12 Conference from 2021-2024. At Oklahoma, she coached the Varsity Fours and helped develop Oklahoma's first two rowers to be named to the Under-23 United States National Team. As external coordinator, Harjo played a pivotal role in coordinating team social media.

While at Oklahoma, Harjo was selected to be a Lead Coach for USRowing's Olympic Development Camp during the summer of 2023. Additionally, she has previously served on USRowing's Junior National Team High Performance Committee from 2020-2022.

Prior to Oklahoma, Harjo was the Head Coach and Program Manager from 2019-2021 for OKC Riversport, a competitive U19 and Masters rowing club. In 2021, she coached the Varsity Women to three top-20 finishes at the USRowing Youth National Championships and coached one athlete to win the U17 CRASH-B's Indoor Championship. In 2020, Harjo had one athlete win the 2020 Virtual Youth National Women's Lightweight Single National Championship. In 2019, Harjo coached the OKC Women's team to sweep the USRowing Central Region Team Championship, claiming the overall team points trophy, and qualifying all women's events to the USRowing Youth National Championships. Two of Harjo's athletes eventually made the Under-23 United States National Team. One athlete won Gold in the Women's Eight at the 2023 Under-23 World Rowing Championships.

Harjo rowed for Oklahoma City University from 2007-2011, graduating with a degree in kinesiology. She also holds a graduate certificate in project management from OCU's Meiders School of Business. According to the NCAA (2024), Harjo is the only Native American college rowing coach. She is a proud citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation, with Navajo and Seminole tribal heritage as well.

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