Division 1 athletic scholarships are very rare, but not so in the Syverson family. All three kids received athletic scholarships to D1 universities. All three went on to standout athletic and academic careers: Britta to UCLA for rowing, Alex to Stanford for rowing and Abby to George Washington for volleyball.
Abby was a force for the SW Laker Volleyball team. She was named All-City four times, team MVP three times and All-State honorable mention her senior year.
She went on to an outstanding Volleyball career at George Washington University where she was a four year starter and a captain her junior and senior year. She made the Atlantic-10 All-Rookie Team in 2006. Abby was George Washington’s nomination for NCAA Woman of the Year her senior year. She was also chosen by her teammates and coaches as the Most Inspirational Player in 2010 and awarded the George Washington Excellence in Leadership award in 2010.
Abby has recently returned to live in Minneapolis with her husband and volleyball coach, Kevin, and daughter, Anneli. She works as an orthodontist in St. Paul, MN.
While at Southwest, Alex was a key member of both the cross country and Nordic skiing teams. He also was a standout performer for the ultimate frisbee team, where he was team captain and MVP his senior year. He joined the Minneapolis Rowing Club before his junior year, which led to his rowing scholarship to Stanford. Some of Alex’s highlights at Stanford include being part of the varsity rowing team all four years, and team captain, Pac-10 All Conference and Pac-10 Scholar Athlete of the Year his senior year. Alex was also selected to the Under 23 National Team, ultimately placing 7th at the 2010 U23 World Championships.
Alex now lives in San Francisco, working for Apple as a software engineer.
Britta was an outstanding basketball player at Southwest — she played four years of varsity basketball and was named captain twice, as well as team MVP and All-City her senior year. She also was a varsity volleyball player. She developed a passion for rowing when she joined the Minneapolis Rowing Club prior to her junior year, where she was named team MVP.
She caught the eye of D1 rowing coaches around the country and accepted a scholarship to UCLA. There, she was twice named a team captain, helped her team make the NCAA championships multiple times, including the school’s first ever appearance in 2008. Britta was named All Pac-12 Conference three years in a row, and All-American her junior and senior years. Britta was selected to the U23 National Team three times and after college she trained with the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team from 2013-2014.
Britta now lives in Bloomington working as a product manager. She’s married to her college sweetheart, Nikolas, and they have two kids Remi (1) and Lincoln (3).