If the 10-year old women's rowing program at Georgetown was just coming of age in 1985, then the development of then-novice rower Kelley Jones played a large role in that growth process. As a Hoya freshman, Kelley slipped through the crew recruiting net, as she continued her field hockey career with the Hoyas. A year later, eager to try something new, the talented athlete from Houston, Texas traded in her stick for an oar.
The rest is Hoya history. Under the guidance of coaches of Jack Nihill and John Devlin, Kelley and her teammates earned a gold medal in the Open-8 event at the 1987 Dad Vail Regatta, the small college national championships. In her senior year, she was named the team MVP, as she helped power her Open-4 crew to a gold medal at the U.S. national rowing championships.
At Georgetown, Kelley felt quite at home off the river as well. She interned at the Phillips Collection, received the Kreeger Prize for sculpture, and graduated with a 3.9 grade point average in her major of Fine Arts. She was awarded the Thomas Graham medal, presented to the senior who, during their college career, best demonstrates concern for others, academic achievement, sportsmanship as a member of a varsity team, and dedication to the educational and spiritual goals of Georgetown.
Upon leaving the Hilltop, Kelley continued to push her limits as a rower and earned a coveted spot on the U.S. National team from 1989-1992. She rowed on the Women's 8 crews in the 1989 and 1991 World Championships, held in Yugoslavia and Austria respectively. In 1990, Kelley competed on both the Women's 4 and Women's 8 teams in the Goodwill Games in Seattle and World Championships in Tasmania. The highlight of her rowing career came during the 1992 Olympic Games. In her rowing finale, Kelley rowed for the United States in Banyoles, Spain, where her Women's 8 squad finished sixth.
In 1994, she sought another challenge, trying out as a grinder for the America3 women's sailing entry in the America's Cup. Though that sailing venture and her rowing days are behind her, a briefly-held position of San Francisco bike messenger and her passion for ultimate Frisbee over the past decade make her one of the most active inductees of this year's Hall of Fame class.
Kelley received her graduate degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997, and then moved to San Francisco. She initially worked for the Port of Oakland before accepting a job in March of 1999 with the Planning Department of the City and County of San Francisco, where she still works today.
Kelley married Jon Amdur in 2002. Two children -- Alice, 3 and Abigail, 2 -- have since joined stepdaughter, Sylvia, 15.
