Horizons Fall 2013

39 HORIZONS NSU freshman rower Amanda Hudon is only five-feet tall, but there is nothing small about her towering voice. “Pain is nothing—victory is everything,” she shouted at her NSU teammates in a motivational tone that could give anyone goose pimples. “You don’t want to be remembered as the group who almost won the national title.”Thanks in part to Hudon, who served as the coxswain of NSU’s varsity-8, that’s not going to happen. The NSU Sharks won the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship in women’s rowing, taking the title this past June at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the sixth national title in NSU sports history—and the first in rowing. Head coach Stephen Frazier-Wong praised his entire team, including assistant coaches Rachel Sanders and Samantha Sarff. “Winning the national title was our goal from the begin- ning,” Frazier-Wong said. Athletic director Michael Mominey said the victory was a “culmination of all the hard work put in since the program started in 2003.” NSU won both the varsity-8 and varsity-4 grand finals, beating second-place Barry University in each event. Aside from Amanda Hudon, the varsity-8 included Lauren Boudreau , Amanda Craig , Camille Evans , Stephanie Hauck , Sarah Patterson , Kelly Scott , Tori Torrisi , and Taylor Van Horn . The four boat, with junior Courtney Berger as the coxswain, included Emily Harrington , Caitlin Mooney , Amber Morrell , and Megan O’Donnell . Of those 14 student-athletes, only Boudreau, Patterson, and Morrell were seniors, meaning that 11 of them can return this season to try and repeat as national champions. BY WALTER VILLA Rowing Team Takes First National Title “My dad would bring me out to the course as a kid, and I just stayed quiet and watched, but that’s how I learned,” Collins said. “If you see my swing, you see Bob’s. I’m like a replica of him.” Toski, who has written several golf books, said Collins has “unbelievable” competitive instincts. “She’s only 5' 1", 115 pounds, but hits it long (about 250 yards),” Toski said. Collins said that while she was growing up, she played all kinds of sports, including street hockey, with her older brother, Ryan, 25. She also played point guard for St. Thomas Aquinas High School’s basketball team. But while Ryan only played golf through high school, Collins took it further during her stellar Division II career at NSU. “She could have gone to Purdue or another Division I power,” Keyron Collins said. “But she’s a common-sense girl. She knows it’s snowy up there, and here she could play golf year-round.” Marsh, Collins’ coach at NSU, said the university was a great fit for Collins. “She just liked the environ- ment and education at NSU,” he said. “And she liked that we practiced at Grande Oaks, her home course.” Collins, who turned pro in 2011, estimates she spends 15 hours a day on the sport. That includes working out, practicing, reading about golf, and watching it on television. “I’m obsessed with golf,” Collins said. Her love of the game was put to the test on The Big Break because contestants got little sleep. They got up each day at 4:30 a.m. to be filmed having breakfast. From there, it was a full day on the golf course and then recap-type interviews that often lasted until midnight. Winning made it all worthwhile for Collins, who supplements her income with work as a substitute teacher at St. David Catholic School in Davie. But her main focus now is preparing for her LPGA debut in November. “Playing an LPGA event,” Collins said, “is a dream come true.” n “Playing an LPGA event is a dream come true.” —Taylor Collins