Crew team to host first home race at Ivy Lake

Liberty University’s Men’s and Women’s CMNzrew Team will kick off its Spring Sprint Racing season this weekend at home with a dual race with The College of William & Mary at Liberty’s Ivy Lake.

The event, scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, will mark the first time the lake has been used for a sporting competition.

Founded in the spring of 2009, Crew/Rowing is a club sport at Liberty that currently consists of 52 student athletes led by head coach Mark Furler and assistant coach Karolyn Milton.

Furler said Saturday marks a major milestone in the program.

“Many of the athletes have worked every weekday tirelessly waking before the first light of the day for years to create a healthy program which emphasizes hard work, discipline and persistence in a manner which glorifies God,” he said. “This weekend will both showcase the lifestyle of our oarsmen to the greater University population and provide some fierce competition against William & Mary, a very formidable, growing, and well-respected rival crew whom we’ll see throughout the year.”

Liberty Crew practices at the 112-acre Ivy Lake located in Forest, Va., 15 minutes from Liberty’s campus. The lake was donated in late 2008 by Lynchburg-area residents Tom DeWitt (a Liberty alumnus), Terry Dobyns and Richard Chaffin and includes a 6,000-square-foot beach, picnic area and a recently completed boathouse.

• Parking for Saturday’s race will be located across from the Liberty Crew boathouse on Ivy Lake Drive. Guests should bring chairs and binoculars (the best place for viewing is atop the dam along the road). Concessions will be available near the boathouse.
• Crew is just one facet of Liberty’s Club Sports Department. For more information about the race and Liberty Crew, email crew@liberty.edu.