Editor's Note: The Marist Athletics Department is continuing to highlight its Senior Awards finalists. From April 20-May 15, a feature story will be presented on each finalist for Sportsperson of the Year.
Previous finalists: Megan Fergus (Volleyball) | Female Strength & Conditioning (April 14) | Male Strength & Conditioning (April 15) | Female Pizzani (April 16) | Male Pizzani (April 17)
POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Though Marist Women's Rowing wanted to ride the wave of its 2019 MAAC Championship as long as possible, the number of seats to fill from the graduating class took precedence as preparations began before the fall semester.
The Red Foxes had nine seniors move on from the program. Eight of the nine occupied spots in boats that won Grand Finals in the MAAC Championships. Four were selected for the All-MAAC First Team. And, perhaps most importantly, the two captains departed, leaving a void for new leaders to guide Marist in 2020.
Sydney Ford emerged as one of those captains, and combined her leadership acumen with her athletic contributions over her four years to be named a finalist for the 2020 Female Sportsperson of the Year.
"Sydney has had an immense impact on our rowing program over the last four years," said Head Coach and Director of Rowing
Tom Sanford. "She was a big piece of the puzzle that we put together for our MAAC Championship last spring. Her positive attitude, along with her strong desire to win, helped to motivate those around her to excel. Sydney is passionate about rowing and has a wonderful personality, which makes her fun to be around. She will be missed by her teammates and coaches alike."
Ford is the women's rowing representative for the Female Sportsperson of the Year for similar reasons as to why she was selected as a team captain for 2020: her performances on the water, on the ergs, and the manner she carried herself to achieving success in the latter facets.
From the moment she stepped foot on Marist's campus, she worked to immediately earn a spot with the Varsity 8 crew. In her sophomore year, she helped guide the V8 to six top-three finishes, including wins in the President's Cup and Cooper Invitational.
After the 2017-18 season, Ford's rowing career took off both at Marist and beyond. In 2018, she joined the Riverside Boat Club as part of USRowing. Participating in the U23 Women's 8, she earned third place the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta.
That experience proved beneficial for Ford with her junior year on the horizon. Earning the fifth seat, or the power seat, in the V8, she was a part of the New York State Championship and MAAC Championship crews, earning All-MAAC First Team honors along with those four seniors and a trip to the 2019 NCAA Championships.
Every new accomplishment created a pathway for an even more prestigious opportunity. Ford joined the ARION Rowing Club in 2019 and competed in the USRowing Club National Championships. There, she won gold in both the Intermediate Women's 2x and 4x, adding to her club success a season ago.
For all of her individual accolades across her first three years, Ford displayed the essential characteristics of a team leader in a team sport.
Her coaches describe Sydney as one of the quieter athletes on the team. That is not to say she is shy; rather, she is subdued on and off the water. However, she was often the first to suggest ideas of how to make indoor winter practices fun and productive for everyone. When she finished her workout, she would stand up from her erg and cheer on her teammates who were finishing their pieces. There was no evidence of any ego from her, even if her performances indicated she was the fastest current athlete on the team.
With all her individual success, Ford correctly understood that this success was more than just her own doing. Rowing is more than an individualist pursuit, and requires the ultimate commitment to the team. Ford knew this, and never correlated her own speed and technical ability to the dependency of the team's success.
Even so, Ford wanted to constantly better herself for the team's benefit. Each improvement was never enough; that was evident from her ascension through the club and MAAC ranks from 2018-2019. However, it was always with the goal of elevating the team's overall speed more than her own development. It was for her team, and the teams that will follow her as she prepares to graduate with a degree in Communication at the end of the semester.
Sadly,
Sydney Ford and the rest of Marist Women's Rowing were unable to stage the repeat that they were working towards since not too long after that 2019 MAAC Championship. Who knows what Ford could have added to her already decorated Marist career?
That being said, she has already made a permanent impression on the program. She is a MAAC Champion, playing a key role in first Red Fox team to reach the NCAA Championships in six years. She is a U23 gold medalist in USRowing competition. She currently holds the second-best erg 2k score in program history.
For all of those tangible achievements, it is her humble and dedicated work ethic that her coaches, teammates, and successors will remember. It is the 110 percent effort, all with a smile on her face, that serves as the minimum standard for future captains and rowers. After finishing classes, she will turn her attention to applying for the U23 selection camp this summer. She's out to show by example what opportunities are available for the Red Foxes who put in the work.
Even though rowing is as pure an example of a team sport in definition, Ford's nomination as a Female Sportsperson of the Year finalist pays homage to what she has done for Marist Women's Rowing in her four years. Her contributions to Marist will be as much of challenge to replace as the contributions from the Class of 2019 and their on-water performances.
But with a team that learned under
Sydney Ford for four years being tasked with that challenge? The Foxes should be in prime shape to do it.
