Hear Her Sports

Tory Mather began rowing in high school after a friend convinced her to try Learn to Row. She rowed Division 1 at Marist College, where she was unanimously voted captain her senior year. After college, she moved to Philadelphia to focus on lightweight rowing from 2012 -2014. During this time, she medaled at Head of the Charles and Club Nationals in the lightweight four. After struggling to make weight and dealing with related health issues, she quit. Later, convinced by friends, she returned to the sport in 2015, rowing masters at Vesper Boat Club. Since then, she has been a 14-time masters national champion and she and her doubles partner, Shannon Kaplan, have never lost a race. She coached masters women at Newport Aquatic Center in California for three years and is currently rowing out of Western Reserve Rowing Association in Cleveland. Join Hear Her Sports Patreon https://www.patreon.com/hearhersports Find all episodes hearhersports.com Find Tory on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mytrailsaremany/

Cynthia Appiah was a standout shot put and hammer throw athlete at York University. In the summer of 2011 she discovered bobsleigh at a testing camp at her university. She enjoyed a standout rookie season on the World Cup, where she pushed both two-time Olympic champion, Kaillie Humphries, to a gold and bronze medal and rookie pilot Alysia Rissling to her first ever World Cup bronze medal. After being an alternate at the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018, she decided to switch positions in the sled into the driver’s seat and is now one of Canada’s top pilots. In December 2021, she won her first medal at a World Cup event, a silver medal in Altenberg, Germany. That followed a bronze medal in an Olympic test event in October on the same track that will be the site of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Cynthia set a new Ice House start record from the pilot bar in 2019 at 5.41. She was recognized by her peers at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton with the L. Lamont Gordon Award in 2019.

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Find Cynthia on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecynapps/

Helen Wyman is 10x British Cyclocross Champion, 2x European Champion, and World Championship bronze medalist. In addition to racing, Helen has worked for years to make progress in the sport towards equality for female riders. This included four years on the UCI Cyclocross Commission and establishing Helen 100 in 2018 to provide opportunities to women in cyclocross. She’s been an expert commentator for Red Bull coverage of cyclocross. Helen retired from racing in 2018.

Helen also offers a preview to the Cyclocross World Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Mary Wittenberg is president of League One Volleyball (or LOV), a new, first-of-its-kind volleyball community with a network of junior clubs across the country and a developing pro women’s volleyball league. At Canisius College she was a coxswain for the men’s rowing team and an avid runner. She earned a law degree from Notre Dame University Law School, where she trained with the men’s undergrad cross-country team because there was no women’s team. In 1987, she won the Marine Corps Marathon in a time of 2:44:34 qualifying her for the 1988 Olympic marathon trials. After working at a law firm for more than a decade, she joined New York Road Runners. In 2005, she was named President and CEO, and Race Director of the New York City Marathon, making her the first female race director of a World Marathon Majors race, and the first female leader of the world’s premier road running organization. She is also former CEO of Virgin Sport and former president of EF Education First Pro Cycling Team.

Nikaeda Griffie started running in high school as a way to socialize and continued cross country and track in college for gym credit and to stay in shape. Nikaeda returned to running in 2007 when a coworker invited her to participate on a marathon relay team. From there she went on to participate in one event each month usually between a 5k and 10k distance. A year later she ran her first half marathon and then her first marathon a few weeks later. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic she had been training for her dream race, the Selma to Montgomery Relay where she would run the route Civil Rights leaders traveled on foot for voting rights. The race was cancelled the week before it was to take place in March 2020 but Nikaeda ran the race virtually. Following this accomplishment, her coach encouraged her to train for Indiana Trail 100 endurance race. After 8 months of training, Nikaeda earned her 100 mile buckle in October 2021.  She now runs for stress relief as much as fitness and prides herself in being an average runner with above average goals. She is a proud member of several running clubs- the most influential being Black Girls Run!, Black Runners Connection, National Black Marathoners Association and She Runs This Town.

Starla Garcia is a registered dietician, Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier, and founder of The Healthy Shine, a sport nutrition and coaching consulting practice in Houston Texas. Starla was a D1 track and field and cross-country runner at the University of Houston. There, she was diagnosed with an eating disorder.  Thanks to care and support of some teammates and a coach she faced that and with guidance from a dietician, she recovered and regained confidence in her body. Her experiences now inform her work with other athletes.

Paige Alms is a 2x Big Wave World Champion Surfer, one of Maui’s token female big wave surfers, an active water enthusiast, and foil frother. Born on the island of Victoria B.C. Canada, Paige relocated to Maui when she was nine after traveling the entire breadth of Australia in a van with her mom. In 2020 Paige was named the women’s winner of the Red Bull Big Wave Awards Biggest Paddle for a Dec. 12 ride at the world-famous Jaws, on a wave measuring 36 feet on the wave’s face. And just in late October it was announced that she won The Biggest Paddle Award again for a ride at Todos Santos, Mexico on January 11, 2021. Paige is on the forefront of women in big surf and has long fought for equal representation in her sport. 

Stephanie Scheirlynck is a certified dietitian and nutritionist specializing in sports nutrition. Over the past 15 years Stephanie has worked with professional athletes across a variety of sports including Olympic gold medalists Greg Van Avermaet (cycling) and Nafi Thiam (track and field), Team Belgium (BOIC), RSC Anderlecht (soccer), and UCI World Tour road cycling team Trek-Segafredo. Stephanie holds a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition Sciences a master’s degree in Sports Nutrition. She is also the author of five books.

22-year old rookie race car driver Toni Brideinger is the all-time winningest female in US Auto Club history with 19 wins. Like all race car drivers, Toni has sponsors. Hers include fashion and makeup brands. And she recently signed with Triller, a social media platform, so will be racing their #25 Triller Toyota Camry after recently switching to Venturini Motorsports, a Toyota Racing Development team, for the remainder of the 2021 season. Toni is one of only a handful of female drivers. In February 2021, when she raced in the ARCA-MENARD Series at the Daytona International Speedway, finishing in 18th place out of 33 she made history as NASCAR’s first Arab-American female driver.

Morgan Tuck returned to the Connecticut Sun as the Director of Franchise Development after retiring as a WNBA player in March 2021.  

Morgan, a forward, was drafted by Connecticut in 2016 as the third overall pick. She spent four seasons with the Sun until 2020 when she was traded to Seattle. She concluded her WNBA career with 642 points, 273 rebounds and 97 assists. In 2019, she helped the Sun force a five-game series against Washington in the finals and in 2020 she won the championship with the Seattle Storm. Prior to her time in the league, Morgan helped lead UConn women’s basketball to four consecutive national championships. In her senior year she earned WBCA All-American and AP Second Team All-America honors.