Casey Mapes will graduate from Western Washington University in June without any debt.
Without any debt, that is, except for what she owes to crew, a sport she had never imagined competing in just four years ago.
Mapes, the captain and stroke of Western's women's crew team, will be bidding for her fourth NCAA Division II team title along with coxswain Samantha Oberholzer this weekend at Gold River, Calif.
The Vikings, who have held the No. 1 national ranking all season, will be rowing for their seventh consecutive title under coach John Fuchs - an unprecedented accomplishment for any crew team at any level.
Mapes loves crew so much, in fact, that she's thrilled her parents, Jon and Laurie Mapes of Anchorage, Alaska, have chosen to pay for the expense of attending the nationals instead of her college graduation.
"I would much rather have them at nationals," said Mapes, a nearly straight A student who has combined academic excellence with athletic ability to earn scholarship funding, and was recently named a National Scholar-Athlete for the third time by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association. "I'll have surrogate parents of my teammates at graduation."
Mapes, though, eventually plans to enable her parents to attend a special college graduation, too: She'll enter the University of Washington's medical school in the fall and plans to become a physician.
She still can't believe this has all happened to her.
"I had always played soccer through high school," she said in a phone interview on the way to the nationals. "If anyone had told me all this would happen to me in crew, I would have said, 'What the heck are you talking about?' I never would have thought it would all be possible. I remember getting this mass email about crew tryouts when I was a freshman. I thought, 'Why not?,' since my mom (then Laurie Dion) rowed for the UW.
"Now I honestly don't know what I would have done without crew," said Mapes, who has a 3.77 grade-point average as a major in kinesiology.
Fuchs says Mapes - who is in her third year in the Varsity 8 boat after rowing on the Varsity 4 as a freshman - has been a rock of stability.
"She's just someone who does everything we're trying to accomplish," said the coach, who is in his 13th season and has seen his team qualify for the nationals 11 consecutive years.
"Casey is a good student, a leader, and she works her butt off," Fuchs said in a phone interview while preparing to put the Vikings through a practice on Lake Natoma.
As wonderful has winning can be, Mapes says the friendships she has made and the intense bonding produced by rowing's demands is what she'll never forget.
"This has been such a huge part of my life, part of what has defined my college career. I've made wonderful friendships that will last throughout life," she said, thinking about the bonding produced by hundreds of 5 a.m. workouts on Lake Samish over the past four years. "That just means so much to all of us, being part of something bigger than yourself. We pretty much have to be totally dedicated to our sport."
Mapes said Western's unusually experienced varsity 8 boat has some unfinished business, having finished second behind Mercyhurst at nationals last year. The varsity 4 won and the two finishes combined produced Western's record sixth consecutive Division II championship.
"If we row like we have been this season, we have a good shot of winning," said Mapes, whose team has lost only to Division I UW and Gonzaga. "I'm crankin' it. I'm definitely not going to leave anything out there."
In addition to Mapes and Oberholzer, the varsity 8 boat includes Casey MacPherson-Krutsky (7 seat), Jean Priett (6), Siri Carlson (5), Megan Northey (4), Stephanie Bluhm (3), Katie Woolsey (2) and Kate Berni (bow). All but Bluhm, a sophomore, are seniors and juniors.
"The cool thing about this group is that there's a lot of experience," said Fuchs, who had eight freshmen competing two years ago and this season was named Western Coach of the Year. "This is our most experienced team."
The varsity 4 boat will feature senior Kelsey McFarland at coxswain and junior Kelsey Baker at stroke, along with senior Mariana Cains (3 seat), and juniors Alyssa Dewey (2) and Lauren Fleming (1).
Two "spares," both of whom could prove invaluable, are juniors Nolan Winger and Hannah Gallagher, who helped the varsity 4 boat win last season.
"I think we have just as good a chance as anyone else," said Fuchs, who stresses not overlooking anyone and focusing mentally on what's happening now, not in previous years. "We have prepared well. We don't look across (the water) and say we have an advantage over anybody."
Western will compete in heat competition Friday, May 27, along with No. 2 Mercyhurst, No. 3 Nova Southeastern and No. 4 Humboldt State, the at-large entry. All four teams earned selection by their season's body of work.
Repechages (second-chance heats) will be held the next day and the Grand Finals will be held Sunday, May 29.
Carlson and Oberholzer, both seniors along with Mapes, recently earned Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Pocock Division II All-America honors. In addition to Mapes, five others were National Scholar-Athletes: Cains, Gallagher, MacPherson-Krutsky, Northey and Miranda Steward.
