Sara (Baker) Lake ’01

In the Scotlight

Sara (Baker) Lake ’01

For athletes like Sara Lake, sports feel as natural as basic instinct. Athleticism is ingrained in the multisport athlete, who you might have seen performing a goalie dive to catch a softball.

Today, Lake is diving to catch her children from falling off bouncy houses instead of fielding a pop fly. As a wife and mother, direction from the formative experience of being a soccer, basketball and softball athlete at Gordon have new outlets. “Athletics gave me a home,” says Lake, recalling the camaraderie of championship victories, spring break tournaments to Myrtle Beach, playing basketball and softball alongside her late sister Juliana (Baker) Elliott ’03 and even spirited professors cancelling class to cheer the extended overtime and penalty kicks of a tournament win on the quad.

After graduating, moving to unfamiliar locations then becoming a mom, Lake admits, “It’s easy to feel lost out here in the world.” But recalling the close-knit communities in Gordon Athletics, Lake and her husband, Tom ’01 (a cross country standout), prioritized making connections in the local church and their neighborhood. Lake says, “It was easy to recognize the beauty of those relationships and to want it to be part of it because of my history of being in athletics and feeling close to a group.”