Baylor girl's rowing team at the Head of the Hootch competition.
photo by Contributed
Girls Rowing
The Baylor girls’ rowing class of 2020 has excelled in every way, finding success on the water and in the classroom throughout their high school tenure. This group of seven athletes helped lead Baylor to a third place finish among scholastic crews at the Head of the Hooch, earned 11th place at the 2018 Scholastic National Championships, and won four of seven events against rivals GPS and Westminster at the 2019 Mid-South Scholastic Championships.
More importantly, they retained an average GPA of 3.74 throughout high school while taking 73 AP and Honors courses combined.
The group includes two Division I signees, a Morehead-Cain Scholar, and a Baylor Global Scholar.
“My message to the girls is that they must excel at more than just rowing,” said head coach and program director Anders Swanson. “There are so many opportunities at Baylor for personal and intellectual growth, and they should continually seek out new ways to challenge themselves. These seniors have taken that message to heart, and have not only improved our team, but have embraced all that Baylor has to offer.”
Kennedy Watson: Watson is a boarding student from Kentucky, and is also one of the team’s co-captains. Currently in the top ten all-time fastest Baylor girls, she has signed with Georgetown University, and will continue her rowing career as a Hoya next year.
Grace Rollins: Rollins is a day student, and the team’s other co-captain. She has been a member of Baylor’s top varsity boat for the past four years, and has contributed to the finishes at the Scholastic Nationals and Head of the Hooch.
Katie Nelson: Nelson is a day student and varsity coxswain. She coxed mixed 8+ to Baylor’s first-ever gold medal at the Head of the Hooch, and has signed with Indiana University, where she will continue her coxing career as a Hoosier.
Natalie Lopez-Durel: Lopez-Durel is a day student from Lookout Mountain. She has been a member of the top varsity boat throughout her high school career, and has made the semifinals at both Scholastic and Club Nationals.
Maddie Hart: Hart is also a day student from Lookout Mountain. She was in the crew that placed 11th at Scholastic Nationals in 2018, and has won several medals as a lightweight competitor.
Katy Waddell: Waddell joined the team after a long stint in lacrosse, finding success quickly as a lightweight rower. A member of Baylor’s science research program, she earned the Morehead-Cain scholarship this year and will be joining the University of North Carolina’s team this fall.
Jewel Gordon: Gordon joined the team this spring, and although the season was cut short she had an immediate impact. In addition to rowing, she is a standout varsity swimmer for Baylor and will continue her swimming career at the University of Cincinnati.
Boys Rowing
The boys’ rowing team has three seniors who have excelled over the past two years. Max Smith, Jack Anderson, and Lake Watson are three top performers who have elevated the Raiders’ boys’ rowing program to a new level.
After a successful fall and spring season as juniors, they were part of the Varsity 4+ that placed fifth in the Grand Final at last spring’s Scholastic National Championships, which head coach Kate Hall believes is the highest finish ever for Baylor.
This past fall, they were part of the Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ that were fourth (out of 85 and 96 boats respectively) at the Head of the Hooch. The Varsity 8+ boat was the top scholastic finisher in the field of competitors. They also led the Mixed 8+ to a first place finish at the Hooch.
Smith and Anderson are the team’s co-captains, but Hall said that while Watson isn’t an official captain, he has demonstrated the same leadership by actively supporting his teammates throughout practices and races.
“As a team, we often talk about the fact that it’s all of us or none of us,” Hall said. “All of these boys take that to heart. It will break my heart to lose these three young men. I am so excited for their prospects though, and grateful that I have had the opportunity to be their coach.”
This group of seniors is also on Baylor’s all-time top ten 2K board, with Smith and Anderson in the first and second positions respectively. All three have received multiple recruiting and scholarship offers from collegiate rowing programs.
The Chattanoogan Senior Spotlight series highlights local prep seniors whose seasons have been put on hold due to the unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are associated with a high school spring sports team and would like your seniors featured, please encourage the coach to reach out to me at kevin.llewallyn@gmail.com. Also, share this article and others like it from this series on social media using #ChattanooganSeniorSpotlight.
The Baylor combined team at the Head of the Hootch competition.
photo by Contributed