Hillary VanDuyne
Michigan - Crew - 2001-2005

I never expected to become a Varsity athlete when I entered college. I spent most of high school out of the United States, and I never excelled at any particular sport. I gave rowing a shot when I arrived at Michigan as a freshman, and I held on for dear life. At 5-5 I was not the star on the team. In fact, I was usually at the bottom of the pack. But somehow I made it on the training trips and I made it into a Varsity boat my senior year, earning my first Varsity letter.

By the time the season was ending, I was no longer in a NCAA boat. My last competitive race was going to be our Regional Championships. I stroked our open-4 as my last college race. We were in last place off the starting line- not the way I wanted to end my Big Ten career. Still lagging with half the race over, we managed to pull into 4th place. With the race about to slip out of our hands we pulled into medal position. We finished two seconds out of first place. I went to NCAAs with my team as a spare, but I will remember my final moments as a rower as that race in Tennessee. The Big Ten finished 1-2-3 in that race and I still remember the boats ahead of us cheering "Go Big Ten" as we passed Notre Dame to take the Bronze. My experience as a Big Ten athlete gave me the guts, the confidence, the stamina, and the passion to excel in everything I do. Nothing could replace the four years I had as a college athlete. As any Big Ten athlete knows, you give up plenty to stay a successful student athlete. I know those years will always be with me.

Go Blue!