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TACOMA, Wash. - Throughout the rest of the semester, GoLutes.com will profile the Pacific Lutheran University senior student-athletes involved in spring sports that had their seasons cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today's installment features PLU women's rowing student-athlete Madeline Woods.

For Madeline Woods, the women's rowing team is her home away from home.
 
"My teammates and coaches mean the world to me," Woods. "My experience at PLU would not be the same without them."

 

Hometown: Inverness, Mont.

Highlights: 3-Time NWC Champion 3-Time All-Conference 3-Time NCAA Qualifier 2-Time Lamberth Cup Champ 2nd Team All-American (2019)

Woods' favorite memory from the team happened during her freshman year at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. After racing, she and her boat watched their teammates race and beat rival team University of Puget Sound for the first time that season. Cheering and watching her teammates succeed gave her goosebumps.
 
After four more years of racing, Woods has learned the importance of controlling her mindset.
 
"I'm only as strong as my mind," Woods said. "When things start to rock the boat, just sit up and go harder."
 
On the water, Woods was a member of the Lutes' varsity eight boat all four years. The Inverness, Montana native was a three-time All-Northwest Conference selection and a three-time conference champion and NCAA Championship qualifier. Woods was a Second Team All-American in 2019 and was a member of the 2020 1V8+ boat that ranked 10th in the nation as the highest rated crew west of the Mississippi River. A two-time Lamberth Cup Champion, Woods additionally placed second at the Scottish Indoor Rowing National Championships during a study away experience to the University of Aberdeen.
 
"Madeline has impressed me since she came to practice with a massive open wound after trying to jump on the stage in Olson her freshman year," said Head Coach Andy Foltz. "I knew from that moment that she would be a cornerstone of toughness for her class and someone who could set the tone. Madeline over the years though has turned into so much more than that. She is an incredible leader and teammate. She supports, encourages, and pushes her teammates in her own quiet way. Madeline has been a fixture in the varsity 8+ every year she has been on the team. Since making it as a freshman trying to hang on to being the one people look to this year. She has done a tremendous job and it will be difficult to replace her sense of humor and power that somehow could all be displayed at once."
 
Outside of athletics, Woods was also a part of the Kinesiologists of the Future organization and Active Minds club. She particularly enjoyed one of her biology labs, where she and her lab partners had fun while working hard.
 
Woods will be graduating with a degree in Kinesiology, and minors in Biology and Psychology. She has many goals for after graduation, including applying to medical school, working, and learning a new language.