The Lady Flames' Women's Varsity 8 crew rowed their boat to a silver medal at this past Saturday's Head of the South on the Savanna River in Gainesville, Ga.
Rowers excel at Head of Hooch, Head of South regattas in Tennessee, Georgia
11/12/2025 1:35:00 PM | Rowing
Share:
After winning a national title at the novice level last spring, the Lady Flames’ Women’s Varsity 4 crew captured a gold medal in Gainesville, Ga., without training for the 5,000-meter event.
Liberty University's rowing team concluded its fall semester schedule with back-to-back weekend regattas, at a varsity-only event Nov. 1 at the Head of the Hooch on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tenn., and another for novice and varsity rowers this past Saturday at the Head of the South on the Savanna River in Gainesville, Ga.
"It was beautiful weather, which is always a plus, with really nice temperatures, a nice tailwind, and the current was with us, though it wasn't really swift," Liberty Head Coach Debbie Prowse said of Saturday's race in Georgia, noting the rowers at the Head of the Hooch were aided by a swifter current that made for faster times.
The Head of the Hooch is one of the largest regattas in the world with 193 clubs and a total of more than 2,200 rowers competing over two days. Liberty's Women's Varsity 8 crew rowed to a 10th-place finish out of 25 entries on the 5,000-meter course in 16 minutes, 42.86 seconds, more than a minute behind Vanderbilt's first-place boat (15:35.73). Junior Grace Cornell was in the bow seat followed by rowers Liza Perdew, a junior, sophomore Olivia Henderson, juniors Mary May Bailey and Elise Marsalis, freshman Lily Connor, senior Rebecca Couric, senior stroke Ally Reed, and senior coxswain Annalise Benjamin.
Meanwhile, the Flames' Men's Varsity 4 finished 19th out of 41 crews in 15:53.695, more than a minute and a half behind the winning boat from Texas (15:18.266). Liberty's boat was led by freshman Aiden Lovelace in the bow seat, followed by four seniors — rowers Kyle Meeker and Nick Belzer, Gideon Abbott at stroke, and Emily Tait at coxswain.
Rowing against smaller fields in Georgia, with a total of 520 entries from 49 clubs, the Flames and Lady Flames posted several impressive results in the Head of the South, paced by a gold medal performance by its Women's Varsity 4 — using the same lineup that won an ACRA National Championship as a Novice 4 squad last spring in Oak Ridge, Tenn. — and a silver medal showing by its Women's Varsity 8 crew. Liberty's Women's Novice 8 finished fourth, its Men's Novice 4 crossed the finish line sixth, and its Men's Varsity 4 placed seventh out of 17 teams in 18:03.8, behind only Georgia Tech, two of three boats from Clemson, Georgia, Tulane, and North Carolina State.
"We had a great showing and were very happy with our placements, particularly the Men's Varsity 4," Prowse said. "Any time you can get into the top half of a head race, that's pretty awesome."
Liberty's Women's Varsity 4 featured the same lineup as last spring's Novice 4 national championship crew.
The Women's Varsity 4, which struck gold in 18:46.2, featured Cornell in the bow followed by Perdew and senior Rebecca Couric as rowers, junior Mary May Bailey in the bow, and Benjamin as coxswain. The Lady Flames finished ahead of boats from Georgia, two from Clemson, three from Georgia Tech, two from NC State, Auburn, Tennessee, Tulane, Emory, High Point, and UNC Wilmington.
"They didn't even practice for that event, but just showed up, executed their race plan, and won it by almost 20 seconds," Prowse said, noting they also rowed in Women Varsity 8 boat, which placed second to Georgia in 17:27.9 by beating crews from Clemson and Georgia Tech that had finished in front of them at the Head of the Hooch.
For the Head of South, Prowse substituted in junior Caitlin Kinsella — who was unavailable for the Head of the Hooch — in place of Henderson, who rowed in the Women's Novice 8 instead to fill in for an injured rower.
Kinsella and Henderson also competed in the Women's Double they were planning to row together in Chattanooga, and the tandem finished fifth out of nine boats in 22:06.9, behind only boats from Tulane, UNC, Georgia Tech, and College of Charleston.
The Flames and Lady Flames also entered two Mixed 4 boats, with the B lineup of Marsalis, Lovelace, and seniors Nick Belzer, Reed, and Tait at coxswain earning a bronze medal out of six entries, with the A lineup finishing sixth.
"That was exciting," Prowse said. "That was just a fun way to end the season."
She said Liberty's rowers made steady strides this semester, and will be in a great position to build on their training base over the winter months leading into the spring schedule.
"They've learned a lot, had a lot of great practices, with good attendance for our water practices this semester," Prowse said, noting that is expected of her veteran team members, but is not always the case with newcomers. "You're not going to get good unless you put in the work and the time, and that definitely really showed in performances and how well they progressed, especially on the novice teams. They really had good attitudes and didn't miss any practices."
Remaining disciplined is especially difficult with the team bus leaving campus at 5 a.m. for practices out of the team's boathouse on Smith Mountain Lake from 6-8 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, complemented by indoor erg training out of the Liberty Club Sports Complex on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the same times.
"Now, we have a couple weeks until Thanksgiving that we'll still be training together before returning for a full week before Christmas," Prowse said. "After Winter Break, our winter erg training will start right back up as soon as the rowers come back, and we will get ready for the (2,000-meter sprint) racing season in the spring."
