LEWISTON, Maine -- Bates women's rowing senior stroke Grace Bake, senior coxswain Elizabeth Folsom and junior Lillian Kinder were all named Division III first team All-Americans by the College Rowing Coaches Association on Thursday.

It's the first All-America honor for all three student-athletes.

Bake (London, England) rowed in the stroke seat for Bates' gold-medal winning first varsity eight as the Bobcats captured the 2021 NCAA Division III Rowing Championship, their fifth national title in the last six seasons. She was also a first team All-NESCAC selection this year. Bake helped the Bobcats win the collegiate eights race at the Head of the Charles in the fall of 2019 before the pandemic struck in the spring. She won a gold medal as a member of the first varsity eight at the 2019 NCAA Championships and as a member of the second varsity eight as a first-year at the 2018 NCAA Championships. 

Folsom (San Mateo, Calif.) was a three-time first team All-NESCAC selection as a coxswain, leading the 1V to three gold medals at the NCAA Championships during her career. Like Bake, she graduates as a three-time NCAA champion. The first varsity eight's gold medal at the 2018 NCAA Championships marked the first gold medal won by the 1V at NCAAs in program history. A geology major, Folsom was a Senior Scholar award-winner, maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or better during her time at Bates. 

Kinder (Pike, N.H.) came to Bates as a novice rower but jumped in the second varsity eight as a first-year in 2019, helping the Bobcats win the NCAA championship. She has since moved up to the 1V and rowed in the third seat this year at NCAAs. She was a second team All-NESCAC selection in 2021 and helped the 1V win a gold medal at the Head of the Charles regatta in the fall of 2019. She also served as a virtual tour guide when no one could visit the Bates campus during the pandemic. A neuroscience major, Kinder was a NESCAC All-Academic selection this year. 

Each year the College Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) recognizes the outstanding student-athletes in each Division. Criteria for the All-America award include:

• The student-athlete must meet all eligibility rules as defined by her 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 her institution.
• The head coach of the student-athlete's institution must be a member in good standing of the CRCA.

All-American athletes are selected from those athletes already named First-Team All Region. Criteria considered for selection include: boat performance, nomination rank, coach's comments, individual achievements, and 2k erg score.

This marks the first time in program history the Bates women's rowing team has had three All-Americans in one season. No All-Americans were named in 2020 due to the pandemic but Bates did have three nominees. The Bobcats had two All-Americans each of the previous three seasons. Bake, Folsom and Kinder give the Bates rowing program 22 different All-Americans and 32 total honors in its history.

The CRCA also honored the Bates women's rowing program's achievements in the classroom. Fifteen Bobcats were named CRCA National Scholar-Athletes.

They are: Molly Connors '23 (Westwood, Mass.), Rosie Crawford '22 (Winchester, Mass.), Elizabeth Fairman '21 (Lathrup Village, Mich.), Elizabeth Fischer '21 (Chicago, Ill.), Folsom, coxswain Elise Grossfeld '21 (Bethesda, Md.), Margaret Horvat '23 (Philadelphia, Pa.), Kinder, Kathleen King '23 (Montclair, N.J.), Maeve Mikulski '23 (Western Springs, Ill.), Sally Harris Porter '21 (Washington, D.C.), coxswain Isabella Sobolewski '23 (Washington, D.C.), Saylor Strugar '21 (Boulder, Colo.), Casey Winter '23 (Malvern, Pa.) and Emma York '21 (Santa Barbara, Calif.).

Criteria for the CRCA National Scholar-Athlete award include:

• The student-athlete has met all eligibility rules as defined by her institution.
• The student-athlete was in her 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year of eligibility.
• The student-athlete rowed in her 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, 2021.
• The student-athlete has had a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher for her career (through the fall semester/quarter for the current competition year).