OLD SAYBROOK – Kylie Lake was at an ecology club meeting last spring at Old Saybrook High School when she heard some girls talking about rowing.“My mom decided one day to send my (rowing) times in to UConn and I said, Why not?’ Lake said. “Then the recruiting coach reached out to me.”Lake had her […]
OLD SAYBROOK – Kylie Lake was at an ecology club meeting last spring at Old Saybrook High School when she heard some girls talking about rowing.“My mom decided one day to send my (rowing) times in to UConn and I said, Why not?’ Lake said. “Then the recruiting coach reached out to me.”Lake had her doubts. She grew up playing basketball and soccer from age 4. She played travel soccer and AAU basketball. She had never rowed.“It is crazy. If you were to tell me this a year ago, I never would have expected it. It definitely was a switch.”Her teammate Breleigh Cooke, who has started at point guard since her freshman year, is nearing the milestone, however. When Cook went to the art room to ask if they had someone in mind to letter the ball, he was told that Lake would be perfect for the job.“I’m kind of looking around, wondering what everyone was doing. That was hard because it was different muscles I never worked before. Then getting on the water, I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ I’m catching crabs. I couldn’t row. I thought, ‘Maybe this isn’t for me.’ Thankfully I stuck it out and I really enjoyed it.”From that random encounter, Lake – who is better known as the 6-foot post player averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds for the 9-3 Rams this season – has developed into a rower, so much so that she will row at UConn next year on a partial scholarship.They were members of the co-op rowing team with Valley Regional. They had three girls but needed a fourth for their novice four boat. Lake, who plays basketball and soccer for the Rams, wasn’t playing travel basketball that spring, and was intrigued.“I tell her, ‘You got to dominate this game, you are the best player on the floor,’” Woods said. “Some teams have been able to slow her down a little bit but Kylie’s the first to recognize ‘ Two on me, you’re open.’ She’s a smart player.”This season Lake has been dominant in the post, although sometimes Woods has to remind her.“She’s dabbled in a lot of things; she’s multi-faceted, interest-wise,” Woods said. “She wants to try things. She’s got an inquisitive mind.”She visited UConn in October and was subsequently offered a place on the team.Woods didn’t start Lake her freshman year because there were two senior post players ahead of her, although she did play off the bench. Now, he feels a little bad about it because Lake will not reach the 1,000-point milestone this year.Her mother was the one who connected her with UConn.“I was like, ‘All right, I’m not really doing a sport. They needed one more girl. Why not?’” Lake said.Lake helped her novice four boat win the Connecticut Public School Rowing Association championship last spring.Basketball coach Steve Woods said he was trying to find her one day and was directed to the band room. Lake played the flute and the trumpet until this year.“It was hard to pick up, definitely,” Lake said. “I didn’t do any of the winter conditioning or anything. I go to the first practice and I’m sitting on the erg and they’re like, ‘Sit up at the catch,’ I’m like, ‘The catch? What is that?’“I’ve always been indecisive. I could see myself down south, I could see myself here. This kind of helped me focus like, ‘Wow, this would be a good fit,’” she said. “My mom went to UConn and my brother just graduated from UConn.“I remember the first day of practice and the captain looked at me, and she said, ‘I can tell you’re going to be a good rower,’” Lake said.She does work out on the erg a bit during basketball season. She also plans to row with the Blood Street Sculls in Old Lyme this summer.“I’m like I hate to ask you….” Woods said. “She’s like, ‘Sure, why not, I’ll do it in acrylic. This is the kind of person she is.”It wasn’t the first time Lake had tried something new. After playing soccer for years, she decided to try field hockey at Old Saybrook for a year before going back to soccer. Last season, she was the goalkeeper for the Rams, who went 8-5-3 in the regular season and advanced to the Shoreline Conference tournament finals, where they lost to eventual Class S runner-up Morgan, 2-1.
