A sophomore-year diagnosis forced Mare Rambo to step back from crew, leading her to discover a new academic interest and continue supporting her team.

Senior Mare Rambo persevered through an athletic injury to inspire peers with her academic and personal strength.

Maddie Dudley ’26 said, “She’s really like a role model in this school to the younger girls because she leads by example in her academics and her personality.”

Rambo was a crew team member for three years until this past winter to pursue her academic goals and explore new interests.

Ryan Salvitti ’27 said, “Mare is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. When she was on crew, I looked up to her; she was my role model.”

In the fall of her sophomore year, Rambo developed sciatica, a painful condition in which the sciatic nerve in the lower back is irritated and causes sharp, shooting pain throughout the lower back.

“It felt like a shooting pain up the side of my leg, foot, hip, back, and neck.”

The condition affected her performance, preventing her from rowing the best she could. “It prevented me from being as powerful as I could, rowing with the best technique, and it affected my placement,” Rambo said. “It just left me in really bad seats.”

Rambo continued to attend practice, ignoring her clear and present pain. “I didn’t want to stop because I was scared of what would happen to my position on the team because your spot is never safe.”

Eventually, Rambo’s condition got so bad, she was unable to compete in Philadelphia’s Center City Slams, a competition for high school crew teams to compete in an erging competition. The erg is a key training tool that mimics the motions required when in the boat, while measuring the progress with metric split times.

Despite the setback, Rambo showed up to every practice and performed to the best of her abilities. Oftentimes she was left to complete workouts in the boathouse instead of joining the team on the water due to her physical condition.

Rambo felt she was missing out on what it meant to be part of the team, the excitement of going out on the water, the unity felt by being able to quickly cut the blade into the river and move as one.

Rambo faced uncertainty and didn’t know what the rest of her season would look like. But, she continued to put on a smile and attend every practice to contribute what she could to the team.

“Mare is the type of relatable teammate who will never make you feel bad about anything,” Amelia McElroy ’27 said.

Rambo attended numerous sessions with Mount athletic trainer Jamie Smith and private physical therapy sessions to limit the pain. During a one-on-one conversation with her physical therapist at NovaCare Rehabilitation, she developed a passion for diagnosing, managing, and treating injured athletes.

She continued to learn through her junior year biology class, which gave her a foundation in understanding the human body.

From what could be the darkest time for a student-athlete, Rambo found a light. She persevered and continued to inspire teammates through her tireless work ethic and determination.

Now, she is set to continue her passion in college. Although she is still undecided about where she plans to attend in the fall, there is no doubt she will thrive.