May 30, 2006

Frances Parsons

Rebecca Gutwin

GENEVA, N.Y.—William Smith senior oarswomen Frances Parsons (Hoosac School/Liverpool, N.Y.) and Rebecca Gutwin (Champlain Valley Union/Williston, Vt.) recently were named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association National Scholar-Athletes team. Both women are making their second appearance on the team after receiving the same honor in 2004.

Parsons and Gutwin were instrumental in William Smith’s success this season. As members of the varsity eight, they helped the Herons secure four Liberty League Boat of the Week Awards and the Liberty League Crew of the Year award. William Smith’s varsity eight won the conference championship by a commanding seven-second margin over the runner-up, as the Herons secured the League title for the second time in as many tries. William Smith also secured a silver medal at the 2006 New York State Rowing Championships.

A magna cum laude graduate with a bachelor’s degree in critical social studies, Parsons was named to the Dean’s List three times. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society, she was a Faculty Scholar, a Bampton Scholar, and a Farris Scholar.

A summa cum laude graduate with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, Gutwin was named to the Dean’s List in each of her four years on campus. A Faculty Scholar, she is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Laurel Society, William Smith’s junior class honor society. Gutwin is a two-time CRCA Pocock All-American. Last week, she was named to the ESPN The Magazine At-Large Academic All-District first team.

To be named a CRCA National Scholar-Athlete, student-athletes must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5, must have completed one academic year, and must compete in the varsity boat in at least 75 percent of the spring’s races.

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