Staff Directory
Katana Yu
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
Katana Yu, a 2025 graduate of George Washington University and a member of the Revolutionaries’ women’s rowing team, joined first-year head coach Katy Ruderman’s staff at Bucknell as an assistant coach in November 2025.
Yu graduated cum laude in May 2025 with a degree in psychological and brain sciences with a criminal justice minor. She served as a research assistant in the Department of Psychology and completed a Senior Capstone researching potential relationships between depression, gender, and empathy.
As a member of the George Washington rowing team, Yu was a two-time CRCA Scholar-Athlete and was part of the 2023 team that won the Atlantic 10 championship and earned an NCAA Championship berth for the first time in program history. She stroked GW’s gold medal-winning Second Varsity 8+ at the A10 Championships and then led the 2V8+ to an 18th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Championships.
Yu has also served as an assistant coach with the Potomac Boat Club, where she worked with high school rowers in training, race preparation, and logistics. She coached two athletes who were selected to represent the United States at the 2025 Junior World Rowing Championships in Lithuania.
“I am excited to welcome Katana to Bucknell,” said Ruderman. “She brings significant experience to the Bison, having coached high-performance juniors and been a part of a conference championship-winning team. Katana’s background and hands-on experience of what it takes to buy in and work toward achieving an NCAA bid will be invaluable. I’m excited for the athletes to gain from her experience as they continue to progress toward both personal and team goals.”
A native of Rockville, Md., Yu has also worked as a rehab aide with Athletico Physical Therapy and volunteered with Grassroots Health. As a student at George Washington, she was involved with It’s on Us sexual violence prevention group, the Asian American Student Association, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Yu graduated cum laude in May 2025 with a degree in psychological and brain sciences with a criminal justice minor. She served as a research assistant in the Department of Psychology and completed a Senior Capstone researching potential relationships between depression, gender, and empathy.
As a member of the George Washington rowing team, Yu was a two-time CRCA Scholar-Athlete and was part of the 2023 team that won the Atlantic 10 championship and earned an NCAA Championship berth for the first time in program history. She stroked GW’s gold medal-winning Second Varsity 8+ at the A10 Championships and then led the 2V8+ to an 18th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Championships.
Yu has also served as an assistant coach with the Potomac Boat Club, where she worked with high school rowers in training, race preparation, and logistics. She coached two athletes who were selected to represent the United States at the 2025 Junior World Rowing Championships in Lithuania.
“I am excited to welcome Katana to Bucknell,” said Ruderman. “She brings significant experience to the Bison, having coached high-performance juniors and been a part of a conference championship-winning team. Katana’s background and hands-on experience of what it takes to buy in and work toward achieving an NCAA bid will be invaluable. I’m excited for the athletes to gain from her experience as they continue to progress toward both personal and team goals.”
A native of Rockville, Md., Yu has also worked as a rehab aide with Athletico Physical Therapy and volunteered with Grassroots Health. As a student at George Washington, she was involved with It’s on Us sexual violence prevention group, the Asian American Student Association, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
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