Liberty's Women's Varsity 4 rowers earned bronze medals at Sunday's Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Crew Championships on the Occoquan River in Farifax Station, Va.
Rowers sprint to multiple medals at Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Crew Championships on Occoquan
5/1/2024 11:29:00 AM | Rowing, Women's Rowing
The Flames and Lady Flames also fared well at the April 20-21 SIRA Regional Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn., but opted not to enter the May 17-19 ACRA National Championships at the same location.
Liberty University's men's and women's rowing teams concluded their seasons by capturing three gold medals at the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Crew Championships regatta hosted by the George Mason Crew Club on Sunday on the Occoquan River in Fairfax Station, Va.
"We had a great day of racing on the Occoquan," Flames and Lady Flames Head Coach Debbie Prowse said. "It was beautiful weather, the best I have ever seen on the Occoquan, with very little wind or currents. So, it was a great day for racing."
In the Men's Single, junior John Bailey struck gold with his finishing time of 8 minutes, 0.70 seconds on the 2,000-meter course, more than 17 seconds faster than the second-place rower from George Mason.
Meanwhile, the Flames' Men's Double tandem of sophomore Kyle Meeker and graduate Jacob Hazel finished first by more than a minute in 8:09.48 and the Lady Flames' Women's Varsity 8 crew of junior Faith Hartle in bow, senior rower Devyn Bayle, freshman Jada Ward, juniors Jada Lane and Kimberly Loutzenheiser, sophomore Ally Reed, junior Robin Payton, junior stroke Lauren Thompson, and sophomore coxswain Emily Tait claimed gold in 7:40.60, more than eight seconds in front of the boat from Case Western (Ohio) Reserve University and 12.5 seconds ahead of Virginia Tech.
Liberty's Women's Novice 8 boat also earned a silver medal for its second-place finish in 8:27.73, more than 17 seconds behind Virginia Tech's winning boat (8:10.55), and its Women's Varsity 4 brought home a bronze medal for a third place showing in 9:05.86, just over two seconds behind George Mason though well back of Virginia Tech's winning boat (8:40.0).
"That was a great way to end the season, with good success and great racing, and winding up with some good hardware," Prowse said.
The rowers approached Sunday's regatta knowing that it would be their final races of the season, based on their showings at the April 20-21 Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championships. Although there is no qualifying standard to enter the May 17-19 American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) National Championships, they would not be returning to Oak Ridge, Tenn., based on their rows at the SIRA regatta.
"This year, we decided that we wanted to take fast, competitive boats to the national championships because we would be rowing against the best competition, fast boats from all over the country," Prowse said. "If we're going to go to ACRA, we want to be competitive, up in those top finals. So we set the bar pretty high, that we would need a top-three finish in an A finals at SIRA, which is a regional race, in order to go to nationals."
The Flames and Lady Flames had three boats come close, with Bailey finishing fourth in the Men's Single, Meeker and Hazel placing sixth in the Men's Double, and the Women's Varsity 8 also taking sixth in the A final.
"We did not meet the qualifying standards that we had set, so we are going to work harder to go faster next year," Prowse said.
Though Liberty is only graduating two senior rowers, others may not be able to compete next year due to academic conflicts.
"Rowing is a very fluid sport, and you don't always have same people in the same boats the following year," Prowse said. "So we are looking to get more recruits, starting with a recruiting table set up on Aug. 16 at the Montview (Student Union). We'll be looking for all student-athletes interested in rowing. We would love to get people with experience, but it's not necessary, and we will teach (prospective rowers) everything they need to know."
The team will then hold a rowing and refreshments informational meeting on Aug. 20 at the Hancock Welcome Center and tryouts on Aug. 22 at 6 p.m. in its indoor training facility in the Liberty Club Sports Complex.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Kylee Lilge/Club Sports Video & Media Coordinator
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