Senior captain Lillian Kinder earned Pocock Racing Shells All-America First Team honors for the second straight year and 16 Bates women's rowers were recognized for their academic achievements Thursday by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association.
Kinder (Pike, N.H.) entered Bates as a novice rower and graduated as a two-time All-American and two-time NCAA Champion.
Kinder played soccer and basketball while growing up but didn't get much time in a boat until coming to Bates.
"My dad rowed a little bit when he was in college, so he thought I would love it," Kinder said. "So, when I came to tour Bates, I talked to one of the assistant coaches just to see if they allowed walk-ons and they said 'Yes, come on in you are welcome!'"
Kinder's strength and enthusiasm immediately impressed the Bates coaching staff, and she rowed for the gold-medal winning second varsity eight as a first-year at the 2019 NCAA Championships, helping Bates win the national title.
The pandemic interrupted what looked to be another national championship season for Bates in 2020, but Kinder still contributed to the college, serving as one of the tour guides for the Bates athletics virtual tour, which was used as a recruiting tool by Bobcat coaches when recruits could not visit campus.
"One of my favorite parts of being involved with the virtual tour was learning about each program's outstanding accomplishments," Kinder said. "There are too many important accomplishments to list and I loved to learn about each of them because it truly speaks to the hard work and dedication of all of the athletes and programs at Bates."
Kinder also earned First Team All-America status in 2021, rowing with the first varsity eight and helping Bates win the program's fifth NCAA Championship.
A neuroscience major and a Senior Scholar Award-winner at Bates, Kinder is now a research coordinator studying migraines at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Kinder's remarkable rise from walk-on to two-time All-American had a lot of help along the way from her coaches and teammates.
"I've done a lot of reflecting about how lucky I was to row for the Bobcats," Kinder said. "I definitely could never have done it without the support of so many people through the years. I am so fortunate to have chosen Bates."
Criteria for the All-America award include:
- The student-athlete must meet all eligibility rules as defined by their institution.
- The student-athlete must have rowed at least 75% of the season's races in the varsity boat.
- The student-athlete must be nominated by their institution.
- The head coach of the student-athlete's institution must be a member in good standing of the CRCA.
The CRCA also honored the Bates women's rowing program's achievements in the classroom. Sixteen Bobcats were named CRCA Scholar Athletes.
They are: Biochemistry & mathematics major Livia Bernhardt '24 (Leicester, Vt.), biology major Molly Connors '23 (Westwood, Mass.), sociology major Lucy Del Col '24 (Wellesley, Mass.), Kinder, biology & psychology major Darya Lee '23 (Andover, Mass.), chemistry major Sophia Marota '22 (Brookline, Mass.), geology major Maeve Mikulski '23 (Western Springs, Ill.), biological chemistry major Olivia Seline '24 (Delaware, Ohio), anthropology major Isabella Sobolewski '23 (Washington, D.C.), politics & sociology major Abigail Somosky '24 (Glastonbury, Conn.), chemistry major Hope Stamp '24 (Hermosa Beach, Calif.), environmental studies major Josephine Stevens '23 (Buffalo, N.Y.), classical and medieval studies major Mary Trafton '23 (Hopkinton, N.H.), neuroscience major Eliana Weissmann '24 (Newton, Mass.), biochemistry major Casey Winter '23 (Malvern, Pa.), and biochemistry & sociology major Ollie Young '23 (Burlington, Vt.).
Criteria for the CRCA National Scholar-Athlete award include:
- The student-athlete has met all eligibility rules as defined by their institution.
- The student-athlete was in her 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year of eligibility.
- The student-athlete rowed in their institution's NCAA or IRA eligible boat(s) for a minimum of 75% of the current spring races or racing in a regional conference event.
- The head coach of the student-athlete's institution was a member in good standing of the CRCA as of May 1, 2022.
- The student-athlete has had a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher for their career (through the fall semester/quarter for the current competition year).
Original source can be found here
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