The Indiana University athletic department announced that Karlijn Keijzer, a doctoral student and former member of the Hoosiers' rowing team, was one of the passengers aboard the Malaysian Airlines jet that was shot down and crashed in Ukraine on Thursday.
Keijzer, a native of the Netherlands who competed for the Hoosiers in 2011, was 25 years old.
"The Indiana Rowing family is deeply saddened by the news of Karlijn's sudden passing," said Indiana head rowing coach Steve Peterson. "She came to us for one year as a graduate student and truly wanted to pursue rowing. That year was the first year we really started to make a mark with the First Varsity 8 boat and she was a huge reason for it. She was a phenomenal student and loved IU so much that she stayed here after she earned her master's degree. Our condolences go out to her family and friends in this very tough time."
Keijzer helped Indiana's Varsity 8 boat to a 14-5 record in 2011 and was named to the All-Big Ten academic team as well as a Collegiate Rowing Association Scholar-Athlete. She was pursuing a doctorate degree in IU's chemistry department.
There were no reported survivors among the 283 passengers and 15 crew members aboard Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, which was believed to have been struck by a surface-to-air missile en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
[SportsNetwork.com]
