BOSTON – Carie Graves, a three-time Olympian and 1984 gold medalist who developed one of the top programs in the nation during her 10 seasons as head coach at Northeastern University, passed away on Sunday at the age of 68.
 
"This is sad news for the rowing world," said Northeastern head coach Joe Wilhelm. "Carie was truly a legend as an athlete, a coach, and as a person. She had a profound impact on years of Northeastern student-athletes. I feel fortunate to have been able to call her a friend and a colleague."
 
Widely regarded as one of the foremost rowing coaches and clinicians in the nation, Graves spent a decade at Northeastern from 1988 to 1998. During her tenure, the NU varsity eight was one of the top 16 crews to be invited to the first-ever NCAA Championships in 1997, where the Huskies placed 12th. The following season, the first varsity recorded a fourth place finish at the national championship, the best finish in program history to date.
 
Prior to the start of the NCAA Championships, Graves' Northeastern boats consistently finished among the top eight varsity crews at the Eastern Sprints, which were recognized as the strongest rowing league championships in the country. She was inducted into the Northeastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.
 
Graves went on to launch The University of Texas rowing program in the fall of 1998, where she worked until her retirement in 2014. While in Austin, Graves led the Longhorns to two NCAA Championship appearances, four Big 12 titles and one Conference USA crown. In that time, Graves' Longhorns produced 15 All-Big 12 selections and 66 Academic All-Big 12 selections since the league began awarding all-conference honors in 2012. Under Graves, Texas has collected 11 All-Conference USA selections in its five seasons as a C-USA affiliate member. The 2012 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Graves also was selected as the 2011 Conference USA Coach of the Year and the 2011 CRCA (Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association) South Region Coach of the Year.
 
Graves enjoyed a distinguished rowing career of her own and was selected to three U.S. Olympic teams (1976, '80 and '84) and five additional U.S. national teams (1975, '77, '79, '81 and '83).  Graves helped the USA's women's eight to gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and bronze at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Graves was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team that boycotted the 1980 Moscow Games.
 
The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) selected Graves as U.S. Rowing's Female Athlete of the Year in 1981 and 1984. The National Rowing Foundation inducted Graves twice into its Hall of Fame as a member of the 1980 and 1984 U.S. Olympic Teams.
 
Graves was The University of Wisconsin's first inductee into the school's Women's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984.  Graves completed a master's of education at Harvard in 1985.