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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 Madison Sanders.
 

Hometown: Mill Creek, Wash.

Highlights: 3-Time NWC Champion NCAA Qualifier

As the boat sped through the finish line, Madison Sanders knew she would remember that moment for the rest of her life.
 
It was 2017, Sander's first year as a member of the PLU women's rowing team. That race, saw the Lutes win the varsity eight race to claim the program's second consecutive Northwest Conference Championship.
 
"Coming across the finish line in first place by a long shot, seeing the rest of our team practically sinking the dock from all being there, and knowing we just punched our ticket to Nationals; that is a feeling I will never forget," Sanders said. 
 
Away from the water, it was J-Term as a first-year that remains Sander's fondest memory.
 
"That month is where I really connected with the group of people that I'm still best friends with today. After countless long nights of laughing so hard that tears rolled down our cheeks, J-Term is where I really found that tight-knit group I know I can count on for the rest of my life."
 
Now four years later, she is head-to-head with the end of her rowing career. Through her years as a student-athlete, Sanders has learned how to be resilient. After a disappointing sophomore season, she decided to come back for third year and give it another shot, and she is incredibly grateful that she did. Sanders cherishes the bonds formed with her teammates, and says she would be lost without them.
 
Sanders will use the lessons she learned as a student-athlete as she looks towards life post-graduation.
 
"Athletics has prepared me for life after PLU in that it taught me that life doesn't always go our way," Sanders said. "Rowing taught me to never give up, no matter how tough things might get."
 
Sanders is also incredibly grateful for her coaches and teammates, who taught her, "how to face adversity, how to stand up for myself, and truly how to be a leader."
 
As a coxswain, Sanders navigated the Lutes 1V8+ to an NWC title in 2017 and an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championships. Her tenure on the squad saw the Lutes hoist three NWC titles and make three trips to the NCAA Championships. Sanders was poised for a big senior season in 2020, serving as one of the coxswains for the 10th-ranked Lutes only to have the season cut short after just one spring regatta.
 
"Madison has been an extraordinary leader for the last four years," said Head Coach Andy Foltz. "She came to us as a freshman with coxing experience in a time when we were in desperate need for coxswains as we had one graduate and one study away. Her ability as a freshman to step up and take control of the varsity 8+ while also helping other coxswains, has helped this program for many years. Madison is a wonderful person and someone who shares a love of dogs and having fun. We will really miss 'Mad-Dawg' Sanders as she brings so much to our team it's hard to really quantify."
 
Sanders is graduating with Bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Sociology, with plans to start graduate school at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia in the fall. She is enrolled in the Forensic Psychology graduate program, and hopes to use her education to help criminals or juveniles adjust back into society.