After a year where everything was so uncertain, everything came together in late May as the 乐播传媒 College women’s rowing team won its .

It’s the 30th national championship won by 乐播传媒 individuals or teams. 

“Until I was sitting at the start line at that first heat, it was unreal that we were here,” team captain Saylor Strugar ’21 of Boulder, Colo., said. “And I honestly still can鈥檛 really believe it. But I鈥檓 just so happy to be here with my teammates.”

We traveled to Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla., to capture the joy of yet another national title, and the rewards of sticking together.

This year’s NCAAs were “nostalgic bookends,” said team captain Hannah Beams ’21 of Mattapoisett, Mass., recalling her first year when 乐播传媒 also captured an NCAA championship 鈥� in the same location.

“I was just thinking today that this is my fourth race down this course and I just couldn鈥檛 be happier to be back here,” said Beams.

The 乐播传媒 women’s rowers didn’t get a chance to compete at the 2020 NCAA Championships because there were no 2020 championships. In fact, there was no 2020 season whatsoever for women’s rowing. But a strong senior class, 10 of whom traveled to NCAAs, kept the Bobcats afloat.

“We just all held each other through it even in this past year,” Beams said. “It had a lot of moments where we weren鈥檛 sure if we were going to race again, let alone row or practice together.

“Just knowing that we were doing it alongside each other, together, was really just the biggest part of it all.”

This year’s senior class won a national championship every year they got a chance to, joining the Class of 2020 as the only classes to do so.

From 2009 to 2013, the Bobcat women finished second to Williams at NCAAs each year before 乐播传媒 broke through with the program’s first national championship in 2015. The Bobcats have now won five of the last six NCAA titles, finishing second in 2016 to Wellesley. 

The women’s rowing team is seeking its third straight national title at this weekend’s NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, and it’s a veteran squad:聽 The only first-year in either varsity boat is Lily Kinder 鈥�22 of聽Pike, N.H.

Not only is she new to 乐播传媒, she’s new to the sport.

“When I came to tour 乐播传媒, I talked to one of the assistant coaches just out of fun to see if they allowed walk-ons,” Kinder said. “And they were like 鈥榊eah, come on in, you鈥檙e welcome!鈥�”

In fact, a key to 乐播传媒’ rowing success is how the program embraces novices.

“We look for people who just come to us on their own and they鈥檙e interested in excelling at something, and trying something new,” NESCAC Coach of the Year Peter Steenstra said. “Once you realize that this sport is similar to stacking wood, it鈥檚 just a matter of repetition.”

Kinder embraced her opportunity, and her teammates love having her on the team.

Lily Kinder 鈥�22 of聽Pike, N.H., is the sole first-year competing for 乐播传媒 at this weekend’s NCAA Rowing Championships. (Brewster Burns for 乐播传媒 College)

“A lot of practices, right when we finish, she鈥檒l turn around and smile at me, or I鈥檒l tap her back or give her a high five, and it just makes me smile, and makes me really happy,” said co-captain Claudia Glickman ’19 of Bellaire, Texas.

“And she鈥檚 always smiling, always in a good mood, so excited to be here.鈥�

Glickman and another 乐播传媒 co-captain, Sophie Claus ’19 of聽Beverly, Mass., were both rowing novices when they first stepped on campus in 2015.

“Rowing is amazing in that you can try it for the first time as a freshman in college, so I decided to give it a shot and found the team to be absolutely incredible and the most welcoming toward novices, which you don鈥檛 always find,” said Claus.

It was a year to remember for the 乐播传媒 rowing program.

The women won the NCAA championship for the third time in the last four years and the men qualified for the IRA National Championship for the first time in school history.

The Bobcats traveled to Mercer Lake, N.J., to take on the likes of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Washington, and CAL, the true giants of collegiate rowing.

“I shook hands with one guy and I swear his hand was bigger than my head,” said senior bow Joshua Bilchik of聽Brookline, Mass.

But after sizing up the competition, it was time to race.

With the greatest season in program history wrapped up, the nine men’s rowing seniors reflected on their time at 乐播传媒.

“Some of my teammates I’ve known for a year, some of them I’ve known for four,” said senior Roddy Pratt ’18 of Arlington, Mass. “And along with being great teammates, they’ve been incredible friends.”

“I’ve learned a lot from them in many different ways and I hope I’ve taught them something too. But yeah, I’ll miss them all.”

In the fall, senior rower Quinn Hayward of Weston, Conn., helped the men’s first varsity eight achieve a program-record third-place finish at the famed Head of the Charles Regatta.

He was looking forward to the spring, but an injury is preventing him from rowing this season.

Hayward could be on campus relaxing, but that’s not who he is.

“Being injured, senior spring, I really didn’t want to take the opportunity to go sit on a couch and do nothing for the rest of the year,” Hayward said. “So I tried to look for ways that I could give back to the program and continue to help the guys the way they’ve all helped me.”

His dedication does not go unnoticed.

“He wakes up at 5 a.m. every day and comes to practice every morning,” said senior Quinn Gardner ’18 of聽Tucson, Ariz. “He doesn’t have to do that. He brings down oars, helps rig our boats, and just helps with the guys, it’s great.”

Hayward’s passion for the sport is such that he plans to move to Philadelphia upon graduation and move into the world of club rowing. His injury is treatable, it just takes time.

For now he’s helping the Bobcats achieve their best times, even if he has to watch the races from shore.

Good things happen in threes. So do great things, especially for Bobcat sports this past week. Take a look:

1. Women’s rowing captures Head of the Charles title

Guided by senior coxswain Hanna De Bruyn of Old Lyme, Conn., the 乐播传媒 women’s varsity eight set a course record on Oct. 22 to win the women’s collegiate eights at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta.

De Bruyn and her crew navigated the serpentine 4,800-meter course on the Charles River in 16:01.182, outpacing last year’s Head of the Charles winner Wesleyan by 16.863 seconds.

乐播传媒 women’s rowing captured the women’s collegiate eights at the Head of the Charles on Oct. 22. (Photograph by Daniel D’Ottavio)

2. Men’s soccer qualifies for NESCACs with amazing goal vs. Colby

The 乐播传媒 men’s soccer team heads to the NESCAC championship tournament thanks to a miraculous goal scored in the final minute of the Bobcats’ regular-season finale at Colby on Wednesday afternoon.

Sophomore Beaufils Kimpolo-Pene of the Bronx, N.Y., knocked in the rebound of his initial saved shot聽with 24 seconds left in the second overtime period.

乐播传媒 plays at top-seeded Tufts Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the NESCAC quarterfinals.

3. Field hockey also beats Colby, in final seconds, to earn NESCAC bid

For the third straight year, the 乐播传媒 field hockey team beat Colby in the final game of the season to earn a spot in the NESCAC tournament. Here’s what it looked like:

With the win, 乐播传媒 earns the eighth seed in the NESCAC tournament and visits top seed and No. 2 nationally ranked Middlebury on Saturday. The NESCAC quarterfinal match is set for 12:00 p.m.

For the 11th straight year, the 乐播传媒 women rowed in the NCAA Championships. For the second time in three years, they returned to campus as national champions.

We went behind the scenes at the championships, held May 26 and 27 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., to capture emotion and excitement from student athletes and fans alike.

Even after it was all over, the 乐播传媒 seniors didn’t want to leave.

“This is my team. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye,” said Abbey Bierman ’17, coxswain of the second varsity eight boat.

The championship came thanks to gutsy performances by both 乐播传媒 boats. “It was really the epitome of what I love about this sport,” Julia Mason ’17 said.

“This is setting the team up really well for the next four years,” Molly Pritz ’17 said. “I’ll be on shore, screaming my heart out.”

The 乐播传媒 women’s rowing team defeated Williams by one point to win the 2017 NCAA Championship in dramatic fashion the morning of May 27 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

Competing first at the regatta, the Bobcats’ second varsity eight won its race (their fourth consecutive gold medal), earning 乐播传媒 12 points. Williams’ boat finished third, and that would be critical.

乐播传媒’ first varsity eight then took to the water. Though they would finish second to Williams (earning 27 points), 乐播传媒’ 39 points overall were enough for the championship, just one point better than Williams’ 38, the Ephs falling short because of their third place finish earlier in the 2V8 race.

Watch this clip of the team being introduced as national champions, plus comments from senior Molly Pritz:

乐播传媒’ 2V8 rowers watched nervously from the shore as the first varsity eight battled its way to second. Captain Abigail Bierman ’17, second varsity coxswain, describes the scene.

“We’re watching, we’re watching, and Wellesley puts up this fight in the last 500 meters that almost gets them,” she recalls. But 乐播传媒 “put up an even bigger fight. My bow seat聽Alex Salazar聽turns around and is like ‘I can’t watch any more!'”

The race ends, and “we whip our heads around to the coaching staff, and ask, ‘Did we?’ and they nodded 鈥� We did!”

The weekly 乐播传媒 Bobcast features the national champs:

This marks the 11th consecutive year the 乐播传媒 women have rowed聽in the NCAA Championships. They have finished first twice (2015 and 2017), second six times, third twice and fifth once.

乐播传媒 College will build a new boathouse at the varsity rowing team鈥檚 facility on the Androscoggin River, President Clayton Spencer has announced.

At an estimated cost of $2.5 million, the boathouse project will be 100 percent funded by contributions from 乐播传媒 alumni and parents.

Subject to revision, this preliminary conceptual study shows the new 乐播传媒 College boathouse to be built at the team鈥檚 practice facility on the Androscoggin River in Greene. (Courtesy of Peterson Architects)

鈥淭he goal at 乐播传媒 is to deliver the best possible liberal arts experience for our students,鈥� Spencer says, 鈥渁nd athletics is integral to this experience. Our student athletes train and compete at an elite level, so it is important that they have access to facilities that support a high standard of quality and competitiveness.鈥�

“Appropriate for the level of athlete who wants to attend 乐播传媒 College and compete as a 乐播传媒 rower on the national stage.”

鈥淚t is hard to fully express what this does for our rowing teams,鈥� says head coach Peter Steenstra.

“It is hard to fully express what this does for our rowing teams,鈥� says head coach Peter Steenstra, seen here with 乐播传媒 rowers at the NCAA Rowing Championships on May 30, 2014. (Sarah Crosby/乐播传媒 College)

Head coach since 2009, Steenstra guides a rowing program that has achieved national prominence in recent years, including a victory by the 乐播传媒 women on Oct. 19 at the Head of the Charles, the world’s largest fall regatta.

鈥淭his new facility will be appropriate for the level of athlete who wants to attend 乐播传媒 College and compete as a 乐播传媒 rower on the national stage,鈥� he says.

Construction at the 乐播传媒 rowing facility, about 7 miles north of campus in Greene, will begin in summer 2015, with the new boathouse scheduled to be ready for use by fall 2016.

Oriented for optimal solar exposure, the 7,500-square-foot, one-story building will have boat storage space, locker and shower facilities, a team room with ergometers, and office space.

乐播传媒 has selected Peterson Architects, a Cambridge, Mass.-based firm specializing in boathouse design, as project architect. Henry Gillert of 乐播传媒 Facility Services will be project manager for the college.

That the project is donor-funded sends an impressive message, Steenstra says. 鈥淲hen a group of people sees the value of this program and literally invests in it in order to ensure that it鈥檚 here for the future 鈥� that鈥檚 powerful.鈥�

The decision to move forward with a new boathouse also acknowledges that the college鈥檚 existing facility has reached a tipping point, he adds.

The women’s varsity eight basks in the glow of victory following its win in the Women’s Collegiate Eights at the Head of the Charles Regatta on Oct. 19, 2014. (Photograph by Andriel Doolittle)

The new boathouse will replace a pole-barn structure built in 1988 with dirt floors and no electricity. Despite the rustic facility, 乐播传媒 rowing has achieved national prominence in recent years, and while the spartan aesthetic has fostered camaraderie and a healthy work ethic among 乐播传媒 rowers, its deficiencies now outweigh its charms, Steenstra says.

Today鈥檚 乐播传媒 College rowers 鈥渙perate above the level of what we have provided,鈥� he says.

Often ranked among the best college teams in the country, the 乐播传媒 women rowers have been a major force at the NCAA Championships, posting runner-up finishes five straight years, 2009 to 2013. The team鈥檚 victory in the Women’s Collegiate Eights race at the Head of the Charles was equivalent to a fall national championship, Steestra says.

The men鈥檚 team has finished in the top three in NESCAC four years running, and earned a silver medal at the ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships in 2012. (The NCAA does not offer a championship regatta for Division III men.)

Following the team’s top-three finish at the 2009 New England Rowing Championships, the 乐播传媒 men’s eight headed to England to compete at the Henley Royal Regatta. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Other markers of success include competing at the 2009 Henley Royal Regatta in England and having two alumni compete as Olympians: Andrew Byrnes 鈥�05, who won gold as member of the Canadian men鈥檚 eight team in 2008 and silver in 2012, and Mike Ferry 鈥�97, a U.S. Olympian in 2000.

鈥淎nother example of our increased momentum in fundraising.”

鈥淭he new boathouse is made possible through a number of generous pledges,鈥� says Sarah R. Pearson 鈥�75, vice president for college advancement. 鈥淲e fully expect to complete the final phase of fundraising by Dec. 31, well before the start of construction.鈥�

Donor response to the boathouse project 鈥渋s another example of our increased momentum in fundraising,鈥� Pearson adds, following 鈥渓ast year鈥檚 total of $16 million in gifts to the college,鈥� a 33 percent increase over 2013 and the college鈥檚 most successful fundraising result since 2006.

Funding secured in 2013-14 included the Catalyst Fund, a multiyear gift from current and past members of the Board of Trustees.

Catalyst Fund resources are now supporting institutional priorities within the Division of Natural Sciences and recent curricular innovations, including new Practitioner Taught Courses and Course (Re)Design projects, in which faculty and students collaborate to design new courses or rework existing ones. Catalyst Fund resources will also allow 乐播传媒 to pursue new initiatives in the Engaged Liberal Arts over the next three years.

Additionally, the Catalyst Fund is supporting the design and early implementation of the Purposeful Work Initiative as well as financial aid and programming support for diversity and inclusion under the leadership of Associate Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Crystal Williams.

乐播传媒 College graduate Andrew Byrnes and the Canada men’s eight captured the gold medal on Sunday at the Shunyi Rowing鈥揅anoeing Park, Canada’s first medal in the event since 1992.

Byrnes, a Toronto native and resident who graduated from 乐播传媒 in 2005, becomes the first former 乐播传媒 athlete to earn an Olympic medal. He and his crewmates become the first world champion crew to follow up with Olympic gold in 35 years.

鈥淚 am extremely lucky to have been able to win gold in my first Olympics,鈥� Byrnes said via e-mail. 鈥淲e were confident going into the regatta, and winning was justification for the long hours of work we had put in over the last four years.鈥�

A second-year veteran of the Canadian men’s eight, Byrnes is also the newest member of the boat. Byrnes’ ascendance to the country’s top eight has coincided with an impressive run of success, including a gold medal in the 2007 FISA World Championships and three World Cup gold medals since 2007.

Canada led wire-to-wire and finished in 5:23.89. Taking the silver was Great Britain, while the United States, winners of the gold in 2004, took the bronze.

鈥淏efore the race, I was calm,鈥� said Byrnes. 鈥淭his was our 10th 2K race together, so we knew we needed to just execute one more top performance. The one thought that did flash into my mind while we were in the blocks was, 鈥榃ell, this next 2000m is the point. This is the point of everything we have done up to now.鈥欌��

For Byrnes, there was little mystery as to what made Canada, the odds-on favorite to win gold, the superior boat in the Olympic final.

鈥淲e work harder in practice than any other crew out there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just that our coach writes a hard training program, but guys commit to it.鈥�

The Canadian eight hasn’t lost a race over the past two years, and it dominated its opening heat Monday, defeating second-place Poland by seven seconds. Canada’s semifinal time of five minutes, 27.69 seconds in that race advanced it straight to Sunday’s final.

Byrnes, who was a standout rower at 乐播传媒, joins the list of former Bobcat athletes who have competed in the Olympics, and the second rower, after Mike Ferry ’97, who competed in the double sculls at Sydney in 2000.

鈥淎lthough 乐播传媒 is a Division III school, it has a very strong athletics program, and the rowing team has the attitude and rigor that is characteristic of the top rowing programs in the country,鈥� said Byrnes.

The 乐播传媒 Olympians list includes Justin Freeman ’98, a Nordic skier for the U.S. at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and Nordic skier Nancy Ingersoll Fiddler ’78, who competed at Calgary in 1988. Harlan Holden, a member of the Class of 1913 who attended 乐播传媒 for two years, competed in the half mile at the 1912 Summer Games in Stockholm (Read the article about him in the August 10, 2008 Worcester Telegram & Gazette), while his 乐播传媒 teammate Vaughn Blanchard ’12 competed in the 110-meter hurdles at Stockholm. Runner Arnold Adams ’33 was a member of the U.S. team at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics but did not compete due to a foot injury.

Material from the Canadian Broadcasting Company and The Associated Press was used in this story.