By Mark LaFrance

When thunderstorms pass through the greater Fairfax area, the Mason rowing team has to move its practice inside.
 
The inconvenience can sometimes put a damper on momentum and limit what can be accomplished as a team on that particular day.
 
However, it was on one of those days this fall that the sheer will and determination of one of the University's most complete student-athletes was on full display.
 
While the rain poured down outside, head coach Ted Nagorsen had the entire team perform wall sits inside as a way to test endurance while the inclement weather moved along.
 
Each member of the team lined up against a wall and placed her back against the hard surface. The Patriots then moved into an elevated sitting position as a lengthy oar was balanced along everyone's arms. The last Patriot remaining would be declared the winner.
 
If the winner of the competition was based solely on an eye test, it's unlikely any passer by would've bet the house on senior Nicole Van Oort.
 
As arguably the smallest and shortest member of the rowing team, Van Oort is at a massive pound-for-pound disadvantage on paper when compared to the majority of the team, as well as rowers across the country.
 
But, to no one's surprise on that rainy day, as Patriot upon Patriot could no longer endure the grueling physical test, the one athlete left standing was Van Oort herself.
 
And she wasn't done.
 
Van Oort wanted to keep going and keep going.
 
"It became a game for her," Nagorsen said. "It wasn't just that she won. It was how long she could sit there for. In all facets of her life, she goes above and beyond what is asked of her. There are so many examples just like that wall sit challenge."
 
Van Oort's underdog story is the kind of fable which makes people believe in the power of athletics.
 
In collegiate rowing, there are student-athletes who are recruited out of high school, and then there are "novices" who have little to no rowing experience and work their way into the program as first time walk-ons to the sport.
 
Van Oort made the Mason team following the latter journey, which is very much the harder path to success.
 
She didn't even begin rowing until spring semester of her senior year of high school, when her town of Guilderland, N.Y., put out an ad in the local paper looking for rowers. Once she enrolled at Mason, she knew she wanted to continue competitive athletics, which had meant a lot to her during her adolescence.
 
Despite the competitive disadvantage from the start, as well as the physical disadvantages of her size, over her four years, Van Oort has risen from novice team member to arguably the most important seat in the team's most skilled boat. She has earned a medal at one of the world's largest regattas and garnered countless awards from the University and national sport organizations across the country.
 
Oh, and all the while, she's accomplished all of this while sporting a perfect 4.0 GPA. A 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-District selection and member of the Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team, Van Oort will graduate in May with a degree in mathematics.
 
Van Oort's formula for success is simple.
 
"I make sure I take time for rowing and also take time for studies," she said. "I also make sure to make time for myself so I don't go crazy. It's important to relax. I prioritize what needs to be done and check it off step by step to make sure I'm staying on track and staying in time."
 
In addition to that strategy, Van Oort also approaches collegiate rowing with a drive and amount of pure heart that few can match.
 
"Effort only goes so far in rowing- size is very important," Nagorsen said. "The smaller you are, the more effort you have to put forward."
 
"Nicole is very athletic. She can handle her body and move a boat incredibly well for her size because she's incredibly dynamic. The room for error when you're smaller is zero. Someone that's much larger and taller can get away with a bit more because they have more power to put down. Pound for pound she's the strongest athlete on this team in my opinion."
 
Van Oort's freshman season began as a member of Mason's novice crew. It became quickly evident that she would not remain at that level for long.
 
"By her sophomore year, we fully realized her natural instinct to work hard," Nagorsen said. "You need to motivate and push good athletes. But Nicole is a great athlete, and you have to protect and help great athletes.  Nicole works harder each day than she did the day before. I've never questioned how hard she's going to approach everything she does."
 
By her sophomore year, Van Oort moved into the important stroke position in the Patriots' Second Varsity 8+ crew. In that role, she led the Green & Gold to a pair of championships in the A-10 petite final.
 
As a senior, Van Oort has done the unthinkable – she's a lightweight serving in a leadership role in a heavyweight boat.
 
Competing against athletes twice her size, Van Oort's pure determination has led her into the bow seat of the program's premier boat. With her as a part of the crew, Mason put together an excellent 2018 campaign and just missed out on the boat's best ever A-10 finish by just .03 seconds this past week.
 
Now, Nagorsen uses Nicole's example when incoming recruits ask what it takes to compete at the highest level.
 
"I think Nicole's story can be motivating for novices when they start," Nagorsen said. "Especially because novices will look at the Varsity 8+ and are often intimidated because it's a big, strong boat. But when you point someone out who's earned their way into that boat through how hard they work and what they do, it gives them hope."
 
Van Oort has embraced her leadership role as a senior, often mentoring Mason's novices with athletic encouragement and advice on which classes to take while simply serving as a helping hand if there are questions or issues to tackle.
 
"I enjoy working with the novices," Van Oort said. "The college schedule is hard to get used to at first. It's important to take it day by day. As seniors, we've been through it, so it helps to see someone who's been in their shoes and knows how to conquer those challenges."
 
Van Oort also uses her leadership role to stress the value of teamwork in a sport that involves a lot of individual athleticism to achieve a common goal.
 
"When we work together and push each other, we go farther," Van Oort said. "Sometimes it's hard if you approach the sport independently or alone.  The erg can be very individualistic during training. Once we get on the water - it's very team based. So if we work to push each other and motivate each other to do our best and stay focused on our goals, we can approach every practice as another opportunity to move closer to those goals."
 
One goal Van Oort and the Varsity 8+ has as the 2018 season comes to a close is to earn a medal at the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta this coming weekend. The regatta is the largest collegiate sporting event in the world, bringing teams from across the country and internationally to the Schuykill River in Philadelphia for two days of spring racing.
 
For Van Oort, Dad Vails is the site of her favorite college rowing memory. As a junior in 2017, Van Oort and teammate Emily Holt won a bronze medal in the Varsity Pair event.
 
But the true brilliance of that feat can be explained with a simple story.
 
On the morning of the Women's Pair competition, Van Oort and Holt approached the dock to get in the water and begin pre-race prep.
 
At the same time, a pair of Canadians who stood more than six feet tall ran into the Mason duo at the dock and peered down at them with grins on their faces. They didn't think the closer to 5-foot pair of Holt and Van Oort would present much of a challenge.
 
In sports, we know how that story can pan out. Grit and determination can often be superior to natural size and raw skill.
 
Van Oort and Holt – who barely qualify to be in the lightweight category – defeated those Canadians and countless others in the heavyweight ledger to return home to Mason with a pair of bronze medals.
 
Nagorsen was not surprised.
 
Van Oort and Holt would often put in additional sessions in the weight room and ask strength & conditioning coach Brad Turnbaugh what more they could do to improve and get better from a physical standpoint.
 
They also put in countless hours on the water to ensure they were maximizing their performance level.
 
All of that effort paid off with the medals, and it's also helped shape a culture in which the Mason rowing program continues to improve from year to year.
 
For example, this year Mason took a Third Varsity 8+ boat to the A-10 Championship for the first time. It's those types of accomplishments that show what kind of a cultural impact Van Oort and others like her can make on a program.
 
Now, with just one race weekend remaining for Mason's senior class, Van Oort is ready to finish her Patriot career om a high note.
 
"As seniors, we realize this is it, so we have to put everything we have into it and make this season the absolute best we can."
 
 #GetPatriotic