Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Rowers ready for ACRA Nationals with regatta in Nashville
5/23/2017 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
Members of Liberty University's men's and women's crew teams traveled to Nashville, Tenn., for the May 14-15 American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) Henley Style Championship Regatta, a two-day event on the Cumberland River that served as a tune-up for this weekend's ACRA National Championships on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga., site of the 1996 Summer Olympic rowing events.
Racing under extreme heat in downtown Nashville multiple times per day pushed the Flames and Lady Flames to their limits, and Head Coach Debbie Prowse expects that to pay dividends in Georgia.
"Henley style racing is dual, head-to-head, one against one," she said. "Each boat raced twice a day and one even rowed four times a day, so it was rough. We've made some adjustments and lineup switches and ironed some things out, hoping that will give us some speed for ACRA nationals this weekend."
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Liberty's Men's Double tandem of rising juniors Sam Cuidon and Bradley Weisman placed second to Virginia Tech in their race, with Weisman sculling with two oars for the first time.
"That was a very exciting race and to do so well was amazing," Prouse said. "He's a very strong rower and was able to transfer his knowledge of sweeping with one oar to sculling with two."
Liberty's Men's Varsity 4 crew — rowed by graduating senior Josh Elliott in the bow, rising sophomores Ryan Krupanski and Gabe Shemeth, and rising junior stroke Spencer Barrett and coxed by rising junior Savannah Perry — defeated the University of Georgia in the fifth-place final. It had split two of the most competitive pairings of the regatta in duels against Alabama. The Flames edged the Crimson Tide by 0.9 seconds in the semifinals before losing the rematch in their bracket final by 0.5 seconds.
"That came down to last couple of strokes," Prowse said. "They were just neck-and-neck it was fun to see races like that."
Members of Liberty's Women's Varsity 4 — rising senior bow seat rower Lydia Miller, junior 2 seat Daisy Wedge, junior 3 seat Baillie Knecht, senior stroke seat Allie Coughlan, and junior coxswain Emma Spector — actually raced seven times in two days after also competing on the Lady Flames' Varsity 8 crew that lost heat races to very fast teams from Georgia and William & Mary.
"That was the most exhausted I think I've ever seen most of our rowers," Prowse said. "It was pretty grueling (but) it lets them know that they are capable of that and it gives them such a level of confidence. We're looking for some great races this weekend. If we bring everything we've got, we've got a great chance to do well. It's a 2,000-meter sprint to the finish."
Liberty will enter five boats — the Men's Varsity 4, Men's Novice 4, and Women's Varsity 4, a Women's Double featuring rising seniors Gabby Kitchens and Sarah Catto, and Men's Single rowed by Weisman — in Saturday's preliminary races on Lake Lanier, hoping to send as many as possible to Sunday's finals.
The Men's Novice 4 will be rowed by Cuidon in the stroke seat followed by rising senior Carson Faix, rising junior Aman Kasy, and rising senior Dave Jensen, with graduating senior Cindy Zambrano serving as coxswain.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
