Kristina Leyva Class: Freshman Hometown: La Jolla, Calif. High School: La Jolla HS Height / Weight: 6-0 / 175

California: 2012 (Freshman): Rowed on Cal's freshman eight that beat Stanford.

Personal: Rowed for San Diego Rowing Club, and was named the MVP in 2007 ... competed in Junior Nationals in pairs in 2009 and the four in 2010 ... parents are Marco Leyva and Sherry Ryan ... mother rowed at Princeton ... has one brother ... undeclared but intends on majoring in psychology.

The best part about being on Cal crew is: The team attitude. Everyone wants to be as fast as possible and is willing ot put in the work to do so.

I chose Cal because: I felt that it would give me the opportunity to bring the best out of myself, both academically and athletically.