FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FICKS, GRYNKIEWICZ NAMED 2001 BATES
LINDHOLM SCHOLAR-ATHLETES

LEWISTON, Maine —Field hockey player Peg Ficks of Washington, Conn., and rower David Grynkiewicz of Southampton, Mass., have been named the 2001 winners of the annual Milton L. Lindholm Scholar-Athlete Award at Bates College.

The award, named for the college's emeritus dean of admissions, is presented every year to the Bates senior man and woman who best combine athletic and academic skill. The honored students are the seniors with the highest grade-point averages among student-athletes who have won two or more varsity letters.

Ficks, a 1997 graduate of the Taft School, is one of the most decorated field hockey players in Bates history. She is a two-time All-America goalkeeper. A captain in 2000, Ficks led the Bobcats to a school-record three straight appearances in the post-season. She also earned three varsity letters with the softball team in her career. Ficks is a 2001 Academic All-America selection, making her one of three Bates athletes to earn academic and athletic All-America status in the same year. Ficks, an English major, is an eight-time dean's list student and a member of Bates' Student Athletic Advisory Committee. Upon graduation, she hopes to begin teaching high school English next year.

"Peg displayed an ability and desire to learn and to become the best she could be," said Bobcat field hockey coach Wynn Hohlt. "She is the biggest reason our team has been as successful as it has in the past four years."

Grynkiewicz, a 1997 graduate of Hampshire Regional High School, is the first member of the Bates crew team, now in its second varsity season, to earn the Lindholm Award. He rowed in the first season of the Bobcats' men's second varsity eight-plus-coxswain boat, the team's most consistent performers this season. That crew finished fourth in the Grand Final of the New England Rowing Championships and earned a spot at the Avaya Communications Collegiate Championships, held on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga., site of the 1996 Olympic rowing venue. The Bobcats finished second in the Petit Final at that regatta. Grynkiewicz, a mathematics major, was recognized on a national level three years running and helped Bates earn a national ranking in the prestigious Putnam mathematics contest. Grynkiewicz will enter a graduate program in mathematics at California Institute of Technology in the fall.

"It has been my pleasure to have David on the team," said Bates' first year rowing coach Andrew Carter. "His work ethic and commitment to the program have been remarkable."

First presented in 1976 and considered one of Bates' most prestigious student honors, the Lindholm Award is sponsored by the Bates College Key, a service organization of Bates alumni. It is named for Milton L. Lindholm of the Bates class of 1935, who served as dean of admissions from 1944 to 1976. As a student, Lindholm was a football captain and student council president at the college.

Ficks is the daughter of Robert and Ann Ficks, Washington, Conn.

Grynkiewicz is the son of Bernard and Barbara Grynkiewicz, Southampton, Mass.

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