Liberty University Club Sports
Rocketts Landing
Rowers cruise to first-place finishes in four races at Rocketts Landing Regatta near Richmond
4/24/2023 7:41:23 PM | Rowing
Spectacular weather led to some fast times for boats entered in Sunday’s Rocketts Landing Regatta on the James River in Midlothian, Va., where Liberty University rowers finished first in four of the six 2,000-meter races they entered.
“It was a great day with perfect weather conditions for racing, and they did very well,” Liberty Head Coach Debbie Prowse said, noting that the races were originally scheduled for Saturday, but were pushed back a day, well before Saturday’s severe storms struck parts of Virginia. “Rocketts Landing is a small-scale regatta, but it was good to get another race in before we go down to ACRAs.”
The Flames and Lady Flames plan to take four boats to the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) National Championships, which will draw club programs from 35 states to Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn., from May 19-21.
At Rocketts Landing, Liberty rowed in a field that included Christopher Newport (CNU), George Mason, James Madison (JMU), the University of Richmond, host Virginia Commonwealth (VCU), and William & Mary.
Prowse said the only lineups that changed from last weekend’s Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championships in Tennessee were for the winning Men's Novice 4 and Women’s Varsity 4.
The Lady Flames' Varsity 4, which completed the course in 8 minutes, 57.94 seconds to finish more than a minute ahead of CNU, George Mason, and JMU, featured graduate Brielle West in the stroke seat followed by sophomore rowers Rachel Teague and Jada Lane and Kimberly Loutzenheiser in the bow seat as well as senior coxswain Timothy Bentz. Bentz won’t be available for ACRAs and will be replaced in that race by freshman coxswain Eva McCawley.
Liberty’s Men’s Novice 4 team of freshmen coxswain Kyle Meeker and rowers Travis Hogan and Gideon Abbott, sophomore John Bailey, and senior Kody Herbert crossed the finish line first in 7:59.32, followed by George Mason in 8:38.98 and VCU in 8:45.93.
The Lady Flames’ Novice 4 and Novice 8 boats also rowed to first-place finishes, with the Novice 4 winning in 9:16.04 after pulling past Richmond’s runner-up boat that finished in 9:27.8 and the Novice 8 finishing in 8:31.41 to leave William & Mary (9:10.47) well beyond its wake.
After a rough start, the Men’s Novice 8 crossed the finish line second in 7:55.85, behind only Richmond (7:48.45).
“There was interference at the start as the William & Mary boat clashed into ours and we intertwined oars, and both boats lost about 15-20 strokes,” Prowse said. “It’s tough at the start where it is narrow with not a lot of buoys, so it gets a little tricky. The race officials didn’t call for a stop, so both boats kept rowing and were down a couple hundred meters and couldn’t catch up. Had everything been equal, we probably could have won.”
Liberty’s Men’s 2x tandem of junior Kurt Herbert and senior Quinon Gresham placed third in their first race of the season.
“We will take them to ACRAs so they can race on that full-buoyed course with another couple of weeks of training,” Prowse said, noting that they will join the Women’s Varsity 4 and Novice 8 and Men’s Novice 4 boats.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
