Ruthie Lacy

Ruthie received the Jim Wade Award for Oklahoma City University athletics in 2021 and the Tempe Knopp award for OKC Riversport athletics in 2020 for outstanding proficiency, loyalty, and spirit. She earned the Most Improved Athlete Award for OKC Riversport in 2018. Ruthie enjoys pottery, cooking, baking, hiking, and rock climbing. Her favorite cuisine of all time is Ethiopian food. She became friends with a transfer student in middle school who rowed. The sport intrigued her because she would hold annual arm wrestling tournaments in class and her friend would easily win every time. Her strength and tenacity gained from a sport Ruthie had never heard of inspired her to try it out. Ruthie is the youngest of four children. She lists Coach Reilly Dampeer as one of her personal heroes because she guided and shaped Ruthie as an athlete. She taught her how to reach new levels of rowing by changing her approach to the sport to be holistic. Additionally, Ruthies parents are personal heroes because they are both the ideal role models. They taught her the importance of life balance and how to achieve it even when you are completely focused on accomplishing a major goal.