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Athletics

Lax Star Hines Bound for NCAA Convention

Will Take Part in NCAA’s Student Immersion Program

Next month, Zoe Hines ’18 will join a very exclusive club at Purchase College.

Hines is set to become the second Purchase student-athlete to be selected to attend the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Student Immersion Program. Hines follows men’s volleyball standout Christopher Williams, who attended the NCAA Convention in Nashville, TN last January.

In conjunction with the NCAA Convention this year, Hines, a women’s lacrosse star, is bound for Indianapolis, IN from Jan. 17–20, 2018. The senior was second on the team offensively last spring, finishing her junior campaign sixth in the Skyline Conference in goals and assists per game during the regular season. The Maplewood, NJ resident recorded the 100th goal of her career in 2017. She totaled 43 goals and 58 points by season’s end, and is also a standout student in the classroom, where the Arts Management major and Theatre and Performance minor is a Skyline Academic Honor Roll selection.

Hines will be attending the convention with Athletic Director Chris Bisignano and Assistant Athletic Director Francesca Levine, who is also her head women’s lacrosse coach at Purchase.

“Zoe has grown into a mature and responsible young lady during her time at Purchase College,” says Levine, who like Bisignano is elated and proud of Hines’ selection. “I am thrilled to have her be a part of this year’s convention. It should be a rewarding and insightful experience for her.”

Bisignano adds, “We are very proud of Zoe for this accomplishment, and it’s also very humbling for us as a program since it’s our second year in a row being represented at the NCAA Convention with a student-athlete as part of the Student Immersion Program. It shows how truly amazing our students are here at Purchase.”

In 2015, at the recommendation of the Division III Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, the Division III governance staff and the NCAA Office of Inclusion partnered on a new program that brought 40 ethnic minority students to the NCAA Convention.

The selected students are fully funded to attend the convention, and they are exposed to Division III, its members and its governance process. The goal is to build a pipeline of talented ethnic minority candidates, with an interest in Division III coaching and/or administration, in an effort to ultimately diversify the division, according to the NCAA.

“I’m so excited to be able to go to Indianapolis and meet other athletes in Division III that have similar backgrounds,” Hines says. “There’s always something special when people come together and bond on different situations they have experienced.”

Hines said she’s not familiar with the city, but is interested in exploring and “visiting popular attractions while I’m there.”

She is also thrilled about the prospects of a career in college athletics someday.

“Being a coach has always been a dream of mine for the future,” she says. “My experience with being on a team has taught me how to work with others and multitask. It would be nice to pass on those skills that I learned in the past to others.”  

—Bobby Ciafardini, SID