Hathaway being a Fenwick Falcon. Kraft a Badin Ram.
They later connected off the court, too.
This time, it was in water.
“Becca messaged me and said, ‘Hey, we’ve met,‘” recalled Hathaway, referencing the time both participated in Great Miami Rowing Center’s Learn to Row program.
“It was crazy because I didn’t know if she’d remember me.”
They’ll soon get to know each other better.
Hathaway and Kraft are set to attend the University of Alabama next school year and become teammates on the Crimson Tide women’s rowing team.
“It’s nice to know that I’ll have someone down there who lives close to home,” Hathaway said. “The idea of going to college and not knowing anyone does scare me just a little.
“So, it’s cool because if we ever need a ride back from Alabama together, it’ll sort of be there.”
Their rides — individually — have unique similarities that ultimately brought them together.
Finding her craft
Kraft came across a different kind of craft.
The Badin senior was mainly involved with soccer and basketball, but she doesn’t do much of that anymore.
Kraft transitioned into rowing, and it’s taken her to new heights.
“My situation is very, very different,” she said. “A lot of people sort of do it through family members — or just people who know of the sport.”
Kraft said she just wanted to try something new, and the Great Miami Rowing Center played a factor in shaping her athletic future.
“When I walked in the room, there was a lot of girls that looked my height and my size,” Kraft described her first experience with GMRC’s Learn to Row.
“We had done some tests while I was there and figured that my times were really good. My plan was to just try and grow. I really started seeing improvement in my times.
“My coach said that it would be really good if I just fully do away with soccer and basketball.”
That’s just what she did.
“I started doing more research on it,” Kraft said. “I learned more about it, and I fell in love with it.”
Alabama, now part of the Southeastern Conference in rowing, also fell in love with Kraft.
Kraft noted that what ultimately led her there was the fact that she fit the mold as an oarsman.
“They’re all very difficult sports, but rowing is very different from basketball and soccer since it is an endurance sport,” said Alabama assistant coach Bianca Arrington, who recruited Kraft. “It requires a lot of training and a lot of volume in general. Even for a tough athlete, that’s still a big transition, and the fact that Becca was able to take to the sport so quickly and identify that she is passionate about it was very intriguing to me as a coach and a recruiting coordinator.
“We are looking for passionate rowers — not outright fast ones. Becca is already showing to be that she is not only passionate but picking up a lot of speed as well now that she’s got the motivation to do well at a top 20 Division I university such as the University of Alabama.”
Arrington started communicating with Kraft the summer after her junior year at Badin when Kraft had only been invested in rowing for 12 months.
“We’re really excited to have her come be a part of our team,” Arrington said. “She’s also heavily pursuing something in the engineering department for a major — which definitely aligns with our values and our expectations for our rowers.”
Kraft is the first women’s college rowing signee from Badin, and she credits her parents Adam and Tracy for pushing her along the way.
“I said I wanted to go after it, and they helped me the entire time,” Kraft said. “They helped me set up a gym in our basement for me to row, and it has been amazing for me to be able to get the times that I need for college and get extra training in.
“They’ve spent so much time and energy and money on me to be able to go places and go to different camps and go across the country to different regattas.
“I just can’t wait to continue with it.”
Relentless, injury-filled ride
Hathaway didn’t necessarily find the sport of rowing.
It found her.
When Hathaway was a junior, she didn’t play basketball at Fenwick because she tore her ACL. But she didn’t like the fact that she was confined.
So, she took to rowing.
“I knew I was going to be out my entire season of basketball,” Hathaway said. “Getting into rowing was just on an urge because it was something I could do with cardio. It wasn’t hurting my knees as much as jogging was when I first started getting back into stuff.”
Hathaway did her research and found rowing programs in the area — which included the Great Miami Rowing Center and the Dayton Boat Club.
She said that’s when it got a little more serious.
“I thought this could be something I would be really good at,” Hathaway said. “I’ve always heard of it, but it really wasn’t something that I had fully known about.”
Hathaway participated in Learn to Row at GMRC — where she met Kraft — before committing to the Dayton Boat Club closer to her residence near Lebanon. It also lined up with her schedule better.
“It was really interesting because at the beginning, I was telling people that I was trying this rowing thing out,” Hathaway said. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh my gosh. You’ll be so good at it. You’re like 6-foot.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I know. That’s what everyone keeps saying.’
“I actually didn’t know if I was going to be good at it or not.”
Her coaches at the boat club saw her gradual progression and convinced Hathaway that she’d succeed.
“I was like, ‘OK, this is pretty cool,‘” said Hathaway, who began her own research on colleges that had rowing programs.
She said Alabama was on the radar because “I’m a big football girl. I love watching football.”
Hathaway started talking with the Alabama coaching staff and was offered a campus visit.
“I saw how nice it was, and I was like, ‘This is where I want to be,” Hathaway said. “It felt like a college campus — the red bricks and how green it is.
“This is where I could see myself, and that’s how it all came together for me.”
Hathaway said moments of persistence led her down this path — especially with overcoming multiple injuries throughout her high school career.
She broke her ankle, had a pelvic injury and most recently recovered from the ACL tear.
“There were moments when I thought I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Hathaway said. “I had been playing basketball so long. My dream was to go play college basketball wherever.
“Rowing was a big shift, but I tried to work my butt off to get to this point.”
Hathaway added that she plans on studying sports management at Alabama.
“I’ve always wanted to go to a big school,” she said. “My parents both went to the University of Kentucky. My sister is at Florida State University, and so just being able to attend a large university with endless possibilities, it’s just great.
“It’s interesting to look back at this all now and think that my injuries kind of got me to this position, and I’m excited for what’s to come.”
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