Scott Blackmun, Founding Board Member
SCOTT BLACKMUN was appointed CEO of the US Olympic Committee (USOC) in January 2010. As such, he had to step down from In the Arena’s Board but will remain a valuable resource and an ardent supporter of the organization’s mission. Prior to assuming his position as head of the USOC, Blackmun was a partner at the Denver-based law firm Holme, Roberts & Owen. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) in Los Angeles, one of the world’s most respected presenters of sports and entertainment events. Prior to joining AEG, Blackmun had been the Acting CEO of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) as well as its Managing Director of Sport and General Counsel during his career with the organization. While at the USOC, Blackmun earned a reputation as an executive highly popular with Olympic athletes, staff, and supporters, and won accolades for his efforts in sport’s battle against drugs. He is a 1979 graduate of Dartmouth College, where he was a standout soccer player, and a 1982 Stanford Law School graduate. Blackmun has also served on the Board of the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame among other Colorado-based institutions.
Kate Butcher, Intern
KATE BUTCHER is an intern for In the Arena. She resides in New York where she is a student-athlete at Garden City High School. Entering her junior year, Kate is a goalie for the varsity soccer team and a defender for the 2009 State Champion varsity lacrosse team. In the classroom she has maintained a grade point average that has earned her the highest honors of Principal’s List throughout her entire high school career. As an active member of her community, Kate devotes much of her time outside of the classroom to coaching and mentoring physically challenged athletes. She serves as both a coach and a referee for the Garden City Centennials Challenger division where she works hand-in-hand with physically challenged elementary and middle school athletes to share her knowledge of and passion for sport. Kate has also served as a Buddy at the 2008 and 2009 Empire State Games for the Physically Challenged. Off the field, Kate is a Youth Leader at St. Joseph’s Church where she has worked to support local charities including the Holy Redeemer Food Pantry. In her free time, Kate enjoys snowboarding, swimming and spending time with her family and friends.
Grady Durham, Board Member
GRADY DURHAM is the founder and President of Monticello Associates, one of the country’s
premier asset management consulting firms. He is a graduate of the University of
Colorado (with distinction) and is a lifelong athlete. He has competed in the New
York City Marathon, the American Birkebeiner and more than thirty triathlons. Additionally,
he is an enthusiastic skier (nordic and alpine), golfer and squash player. He has
been active throughout his business career in the not-for-profit sector and currently
serves on the Investment Committee of the Atlantic Foundation (New York, NY), is
a Trustee of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (Charlottesville, VA) and the Denver
Art Museum.
Michael Horvath, Board Member
MICHAEL HORVATH is an economist, professor of management, and consulting entrepreneur
in the areas of life sciences and information technology. He has held faculty appointments
in economics and business administration at Stanford University and University of
Chicago, and currently holds the appointment of Adjunct Associate Professor of Business
Administration at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Michael co-founded
Kana Software, Inc. and served as its CFO and VP of Operations, was the CFO and
VP of Operations of GlycoFi, Inc. and co-founded the Economics Resource Group, an
economic consulting firm providing litigation support and economic consulting. He
has also been a founding investor, board member, and/or advisor to several other
successful venture-backed IT and life sciences companies. Michael has taught widely
at the undergraduate, MBA and Ph.D. levels and earned his own Ph.D. in economics
from Northwestern University and an A.B. in economics with honors from Harvard University.
After rowing as an undergraduate, Michael continues to stay fit by running, cycling,
skiing, doing yoga and trying to keep up with his four, energetic children.
Jeff Johnson, Board Member
JEFF JOHNSON, a former collegiate runner at Stanford University, was the first full-time
employee of Blue Ribbon Sports in 1965, the company that ultimately became NIKE,
Inc in 1972. From the start, Jeff contributed to all elements of the young operation
from sales and marketing to sweeping the floors. His most ubiquitous contribution
was his suggestion of the name, “NIKE,” hours before Phil Knight was set to move
forward with the moniker “Dimension 6.” Jeff played an instrumental role in the
improvement of running footwear. He is innately observant, which allowed him to
apply athletes’ feedback on races, training and injuries to develop products that
runners wanted and needed. Today, NIKE still depends on this interaction and feedback
from athletes of all levels. Johnson didn't just make his mark on the running world
in shoes, however; he has coached at the junior high, high school, collegiate and
post-collegiate levels. His coaching resume boasts three National Champions, two
Olympians, seven New Hampshire State Cross Country Team Championships, one New England
High School Championship Cross Country Team, four USATF Club National Cross Country
Team Champions and four New Hampshire High School "Coach of the Year" awards. He
is currently a Volunteer Assistant Coach for Winter and Spring Track at Hanover
High School in Hanover, NH.
Kait Perrelle, Intern
KAIT PERRELLE is an intern for In the Arena. She resides in New York, and is a current
student-athlete at Princeton University. A rising junior, Kait is studying Architecture
and is a member of both the varsity field hockey and lacrosse teams. During her
first two years of field hockey at Princeton, she was named the Ivy League Rookie
of the Year, was selected to both the Second-team All-Ivy and the Second-team All
Mid-Atlantic, and started every game. In her lacrosse career, she played in goal
in each of the 17 games her freshman year, and started 15 of the 16 games in the
regular season her sophomore year. Kait is also a current member of the US Under-21
Field Hockey team and is in position to qualify for the Junior World Cup, which
takes place in Boston this fall. An active member of the Princeton community, Kait
has coached at many Princeton sports camps during the summers and holds training
sessions for local student-athletes on the weekends during the school year. Kait
is a graduate of the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT, where she twice won the
State Prize for German, won the school’s Architecture Prize, was a five-time New
England Champion, earned First Team All-American and Team MVP Awards and captained
the field hockey and lacrosse teams. In her free time, Kait enjoys hiking, surfing,
snowboarding, bike riding and spending time with her family and friends.
Amory Rowe, Founder
AMORY ROWE is the founder of In the Arena. Having witnessed first-hand the way in
which athletes magnetize the attention of this country’s youngest and most impressionable
citizens, and dismayed by the dearth of high-caliber role models in many communities,
Amory established In the Arena in the fall of 2006 with the aim of effecting positive
and meaningful change at the youth level. Her belief in the uplifting power of sport
and the value of civic engagement were born of her own experience as an athlete,
a teacher and a coach.
As an undergraduate at Princeton, from which she received a BA in English in 1995,
Amory played on the varsity field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse teams, co-captaining
the field hockey and lacrosse teams her senior year. Amory’s teams won five Ivy
League Championships and one National Championship (in lacrosse). In addition, Amory
was awarded individual Ivy League honors six times, All-American honors four times,
Academic All-American honors her senior year and holds the distinction of being
Princeton’s first athlete, male or female, in any sport to be named a First Team
All-American three years in a row. At graduation Amory received the C. Otto von
Kienbush Prize as one of the school’s best female scholar-athletes. As a member
of the U.S. Women’s Lacrosse Team in 1997, Amory traveled to the World Championships
in Tokyo, Japan, where her team defended its world title by defeating Australia
in the Championship game. After lacrosse Amory made a transition to individual sports,
competing for Reebok Boston in cross country, indoor and outdoor track. Her running
paved the road to a career in triathlon; she entered the world of multi-sport in
2001, turning professional in 2003. In 2004 Amory was the U.S. Pro Duathlon National
Champion and the top-ranked U.S. duathlete, achieving a #4 world ranking.
Amory’s athletic pursuits were balanced by her service as a teacher and coach. Her
first post-collegiate job was as a Teaching Fellow at the Dunn School in Los Olivos,
CA. From there she took a post as assistant coach of the Harvard women’s lacrosse
team and, subsequently, served as an English teacher and coach (field hockey and
lacrosse) at Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, MA. Prior to founding
In the Arena, Amory served as Executive Director of the U.S. Athletic Trust, a not-for-profit
that provides logistical and financial support for college-graduated aspiring Olympians.
Amory joined the Board of Directors of the USA Track and Field Foundation in the fall of 2009.
Read Amory's Blog
Lizzie Torkelson, Research Analyst
LIZZIE TORKELSON is a research analyst for In the Arena. She is a native Vermonter
and a 2007 graduate of Middlebury College where she majored in Environmental Studies
with a focus in Conservation Biology and also completed the pre-medical requirements.
At Middlebury, Lizzie was a four-year member and two-year captain of the nordic
ski team, was an active member of the Student Athlete Advisory Board, worked in
the residential life program as a Junior Counselor, volunteered as a ski instructor
for local elementary schools at the college’s Bread Loaf campus, and enjoyed working
as a Teaching Assistant in the Biology Department. After graduation, Lizzie returned
to her alma mater to work in the Dean of the College’s office as Atwater Commons’
Residential Advisor. In this role, she supervised the student residential life staff,
acted as a mentor to first- and second-year students, developed a variety of programs,
and worked with college administrators regarding the health and safety of the student
body. Although this was her first year in fifteen not to don a racing bib, she got
a taste of ski coaching while working with the North Branch School in Ripton, VT.
Lizzie enjoys horseback riding, backcountry skiing, road and mountain biking, hiking,
reading, and spending time Torkel-touring with friends to various agri-tainment
sights in Vermont.