Stillwater woman helps row Wellesley College to victory

By Laurie Gordon
West Windsor — Last week, Wellesley College crew took the bronze at the 2017 NCAA Division III Women's Rowing Championships at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, NJ. One of the crew members was Stillwater's own Molly Hoyer who is now a junior at Wellesley. Hoyer balances an intense major and minor with Varsity Crew brilliantly thanks to a lot of diligence and organization.
Hoyer said, “It was our best performance of the season. We lost 12 seniors going into the season, so there are a lot of younger girls on the team. I was proud of our team. We worked very hard all season.” This is Hoyer's third trip to the NCAA Championship with the Wellesley team... who would have thought such a thing would have happen to an “artsy” teen.
Hoyer grew up in the hamlet of Stillwater where she attended The Stllwater Elementary School. She suffered from tree nut allergies and asthma and said of the school, “They took great care of me and I always knew where I could go for help.” She loved her teachers and after school, the bus would drop her, and her older sister, Katie, at their grandparents farm. The farm is called Stone Bridge and there, Hoyer said she enjoyed a childhood of being outside and learning about the farm and chasing after a dog or the like outside no matter what the weather. “You hear stories of where other kids grew up, and I feel so lucky I grew up where I did,” she said.
Graduating from elementary school led her to Kittatinny Middle School where, after a brief go-round with field hockey, Hoyer settled into the arts. “I was in the Children's Chorus of Sussex County and in high school was part of the marching band and every school play,” she said. So where did this athletic ability come from? Ballet. Since she was a little girl, Hoyer took ballet, tap and jazz at Ballet Bar., in Sparta. She was enamored with ballet. “The school has had dancers go on to prestigious dance schools and perform in some pretty amazing places,” Hoyer said. “I wasn't one of those kids. At one point I sat down with my teacher and told her I wanted to stick with ballet because I loved the discipline. My feet didn't always do what I wanted and I wasn't destined to be a great dancer, but I was a good dancer and I was willing to put in the work to stay with the school.”
That discipline and what her crew coach would later call her “proprioception” she learned from ballet along with her 5'10” stature.
Crew started with a visit to her sister's college, Smith University, when Hoyer was still in high school. Katie Hoyer's roommate rowed crew and told Molly Hoyer that she'd be good at it. Interesting, perhaps, but Hoyer didn't think about the comment again until she arrived at Wellesley and heard about a meeting for those interesting in seeing what it was all about. She wasn't able to make the meeting, but a friend assured her she'd get her the information and handed her some paperwork following the meeting. Hoyer put it on the back burner until she was reminded it was due... yesterday. The roomate suggested she e-mail it to the coach pronto which she did. Seth Hussey , the new Novice Crew Coach; Recreation Coordinator got back to her and said to come on Monday. She wouldn't be able to participate pending the required medical clearance but she could watch. She did and was eager to participate the next morning. One small problem: crew practices are very early in the morning, and as fate would have it, Hoyer overslept... by two hours. “I kind fo blew it,” she said, “But I figured I'd go down to the Sports Center and at least apologize to the coach.” Seth Hussey not only accepted the apology, he had her finish out the workout with the girls and then stay and compete the part she had missed.
A week of land tryouts ensued and soon Hoyer found herself in an actual boat: a barge they use to teach balance and get the girls ready for the crew shells. The novice (other wise known as 'walk-ons') group participated in several meets that fall. Hoyer worked hard conditioning over the winter and when the “official” season came in the spring, the novices were integrated with the team. Before she knew it, the freshman found herself in the second varsity boat (V2). The season went well, and in V2, she helped her team win the conference. She was then moved back to row with the novice group. “That was something that ended up being very important to me. I got to spend time with that group again and it taught me a lot.” She didn't stay there for long. As NCAAs approached, Hoyer found herself back in V2. “We had a Saturday practice before flying out to California for the NCAA and the coaches put me in V1 that afternoon,” Hoyer said. Figuring it was just for that day to give someone else a rest, she said she enjoyed every moment in V1. “My friend was on the coaches' launch and was encouraging me and it was just the most beautiful day. I told myself, 'I'm just going to have fun with this.'”
V1 moved so wall that day, that Hoyer found herself heading to Gold River Valley, CA, slated to row in the top boat for the Nationals.
“Mark (her father) went to Wellesley to pick up her stuff to bring it home for the summer while Hoyer flew out to California. She'd then fly home after Nationals,” her mother, Kathy Hoyer, said. “Shortly after he arrived, I received quite a phone call. He said, 'Not only is she going to NCAA, she's rowing in V1.”
The Hoyers weren't able to go that year, but watched it on Live Stream and saw their daughter's team win the Bronze.
Molly Hoyer had gone on to make NCAAs both her sophomore and junior years. Last year, the team took gold and the Hoyers were able to be there. “It was such an exciting race because it was so close,” Kathy Hoyer said of the Nationals in Sacramento.
This year, the now “rising senior” said was a little tougher season. “We lost 12 seniors, so it was a lot of new rowers on the team. It was just a question of did we have what we needed to maintain what we had had.” In the end, the final race of the season, NCAAs, this year in south Jersey, saw the young team having the best race of the season and taking bronze.
How does Hoyer do it? She's a Comparative Literature Major at Wellesley College with a minor in Environmental Studies. Her thesis will be comparing French and Arabic literature in North Africa, specifically in Nigeria and she's about to head to Japan for the summer to the Asian Rural Institute. PS: she's fluent in French, knows a lot of Aribic and spent last fall's semester in Morocco. On top of all this, she's on Varsity Crew.
“It's all about being very organized and sticking to your 'to do' lists,” Hoyer said. “Growing up, Mom would coordinate the family's numerous activities through G-Mail Calendar.” Hoyer has continued her mother's practice throughout college. “In addition, it's important to open and respond to every e-mail right away instead of letting them pile up.”
The dancer who grew up running around a farm and did marching band and plays has blossomed into a brilliant student and vital member of the Wellesley Crew Team. “It's kind of funny having been an artsy kid all my life and then ending up a varsity athlete,” Hoyer said. “So I can play the oboe and I can row.”