Molly Templin
The recent college graduate earned All-West Coast Conference honors this spring as a senior and helped lead the Pilots to a fourth-place finish at the WCC Championships.
She was also named a Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association National Scholar Athlete for three consecutive seasons and earned WCC All-Academic Team honors with a 3.88 GPA. She graduated with a BS in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Neuroscience.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the nomination,” Templin told me. “I poured myself into the team for four years I was at the University of Portland, so it is awesome to have that [commitment] be recognized.”
Templin, of Service High fame, was a four-year varsity rower and a two-time captain. Her team’s fourth-place finish at the WCC Championships was the best showing in program history.
“It’s very exciting, but doesn’t really feel real. Rowing is such a team sport; it’s hard for just one person to stand out, so I was surprised t be nominated out of the others from different sports in my school and my conference.”
Templin didn’t begin rowing until she got to college. In Anchorage, she grew up running cross country, playing volleyball and participating in track and field.
“My favorite part about rowing is absolutely the team aspect,” she said. “There is something beautiful about being in a boat with eight other people, moving completely in sync, and knowing that every other person that is sitting in front of or behind you is also working as hard as they can to get you across the finish line.”
The NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee will narrow the top 30 honorees down to nine finalists in September.