The following is a spotlight on Catie Castle, the University of Rhode Island nominee for the prestigious NCAA ​Woman of the Year award. The Atlantic 10 institutions nominated a total of 17 outstanding student-athletes for the ​award (READ MORE). The A-10 will spotlight each of the institutional nominees.

Catie Castle

Profile

Catie Castle helped lead Rhode Island win three Atlantic 10 ​Rowing Championships as a four-year captain during her time ​in Kingston, three times being named an Atlantic 10 First Team ​selection and earning Second Team distinction her first season. ​The Vero Beach, Fla. Native was a 2023 CRCA Third Team All-​American, 2024 Honorable Mention All-American and a ​member of the U23 Quadruple Sculls at the competed at the ​World Championship. This summer, Castle represented Rhode ​Island at both the Women’s Henley Regatta and Royal Henley ​Regatta.

Academically, Castle is a four-time Rhode Island Dean’s List ​honoree and won the Rhode Island Athletics Winifred B. ​Keaney Award, given to the most outstanding graduating ​female student-athlete who has been a role model in her ​collegiate career and has maintained good academic standing. ​Castle earned degrees in sports media and communications

and public relations.

Castle volunteered at the URI SAAC Youth Field Day in 2024, ​the Women in Sports Day Youth Clinic from 2022-24 and was a ​volunteer at both Canonchet Farms and East Farm from ​2019-24. She interned for both the student Development and ​Inclusive Excellence and Advising Programs for Student ​Athletes departments and volunteered at the Treasure Coast

Rowing Center.

Q & A

What would you consider the top moment of your college ​career?

What I would consider the top moment from my collegiate career ​is when my team successfully regained our Atlantic 10 conference ​title. Not only was this our 10th A-10 conference win, but it also ​made us the most decorated women’s team on campus. This win ​meant the world to me. After our devastating loss in 2023 to our ​competitors from George Washington University, I set on a ​journey to lead the team to a win in 2024. Immediately after I set ​out to the national team selection camp, I was determined to make ​the team. I raced the top athletes in the country and won for my ​teammates, who needed to see their leader pushing through and ​winning after a loss. We spent months training, practicing, ​watching film, lifting, and making sure our GPAs matched our work ​ethic on the water, all for us to win. I remember crying the hardest ​I have ever cried while on the dock with my teammates after the ​announcement that we were the champions. I could not keep the ​joy and pride from my teammates at that moment, and it had to ​be the happiest moment of my time rowing yet!

Who or what has been your biggest inspiration or motivation?

My biggest inspiration and motivation is my mother. My mother, ​Nichole Castle, is the most hard-working and determined person ​to walk the planet. She is a single mother of three and I am her ​youngest. She has always put her children first. She would give her ​arm and leg to my brothers and me before she could see us fail at ​something we found important. She is always in our corner, and I ​don’t think I’ll ever find a better supporter than her. My mom has ​taught me that even when things are hard you can shift your ​approach and learn from everything life has to offer.

What hard goals have you set and/or accomplish?

The goals that I have set for myself are to make the National Team ​on every level and compete in at least one Olympics before ​retiring. In 2023, I represented my country through my sport in the ​Under 23 World Championships, a goal I had set for myself since ​the beginning of my college career. My next goal is to train with ​the Senior National Team by the end of next year and place in the ​top five in the women’s single sculls event at Head of The Charles ​in 2024. The goals I would like to accomplish while training under ​the high-performance rowing team Green Racing Project and The ​Craftsbury Outdoor Center.

What are three words your teammates would use to describe ​you, and why?

The three words my teammates would use to describe me are ​resilient, loyal, and adaptable. Resilient is a word that describes me ​because I am known to never back off from an opponent, a hard ​training session, or our team’s goals. Loyalty is something I try to ​instill in our team’s culture with positive team conversation leading ​and being a die-hard Rhode Island fan. I am a believer in loyalty ​from the top down, the most novice member of my team will ​believe in the highest performing athlete on our team much like ​the highest performing member of the team will have faith and ​stand by our most novice. Adaptability to any situation is crucial to ​rowing, it can determine if you win or lose by less than a second. ​Demonstrating high spirits and continuously pushing for more is ​something I do to advocate for our team’s adaptability.

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received? The ​worst?

The best advice I have ever received was from my Head Coach at ​the University of Rhode Island, Shelagh Donohoe. She once sat me ​down when I was a junior in college and pointed out my more ​dominant style of being a teammate. She said “ You are a lone ​wolf and a lone thinker in many things, and this will be true for ​whatever you are involved in. But at the end of the day it is about ​what you want, say, and your actions to get to your goals.” Since ​then, I have always brought with me a sense of independence and ​confidence in my leadership and my goals.

The worst piece of advice I have ever gotten was when I was told ​that I was “a great team pusher for teammates, but not a national ​team quality athlete” and that it was the only quality I brought to ​the team. However, this was the complete opposite. To limit ​myself to just one position on a team is unfair to both me and the ​team. It was a naive way of thinking and a disservice to the sport.

Pick one song that would describe you and one that would ​describe your team

A song I would use to describe myself is “Diva” by Beyonce and ​the song I would use to describe my team is “Big Rings” by Drake.

What do you think is the most important issue for student-​athletes today?

The most important issue for student-athletes today is giving them ​the space to advocate for themselves and not building narratives ​around the competitive spirit. As a female student-athlete, there ​are many tropes and negative narratives that are built upon me as ​a competitive and determined woman in my sport (this is personal ​to just me and doesn't even begin to cover the intersectionality ​that many athletes feel). It is easy as a woman to tear down your ​fellow woman, especially in sports and sometimes the media wants ​us to rip each other to shreds off the court or field. To create more ​competition, healthy athletes, and more love for sport, this cycle of ​being passionate and then being torn apart for it must be ​discussed more.