Kerri Brace is entering her seventh season as the head coach of the Golden Griffin rowing program.
During her sixth season at the helm in 2023, Brace coached Hannah Kenefick earn First Team All-MAAC honors, becoming the first Golden Griffin to accomplish the feat since 2019. Destiny Severn also earned Second Team All-MAAC honors in back-to-back seasons. As a team, Canisius would finish in sixth at the MAAC Championship. The Griffs would sweep the Black Rock Cup on April 30 as all three Blue and Gold shells finished in first place.
During the 2022 campaign, the Griffs saw two rowers earn All-MAAC Second Team honors under Brace with Oliva Merolle and Destiny Severn as the team finished in seventh.
After the 2020 MAAC Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brace's squad had two members earn All-MAAC Honors after a seventh-place finish at the 2021 MAAC Championship in Pennsauken Township, N.J. Tara Federow and Ally Matrassi both earned Second Team honors at the conference championship.
In her second season at the helm, Brace saw an abundance of walk-ons join the program and was crucial in their development. Despite the Blue and Gold finishing sixth at the 2019 MAAC Rowing Championships, Brace saw captain Emma Vicaretti honored on the All-MAAC First Team while Bridget Lillis was selected to the All-MAAC Second Team. Brace also saw eight of her student-athletes recognized on the 2019 MAAC All-Academic Team, while four were named CRCA National Scholar-Athletes.
During her first year with the program, she guided the Griffs to a third-place finish at the 2018 MAAC Rowing Championships. She also had four rowers (Patricia Beaulieu, Jessica Fabian, Sydney Bichsel and Lexi Heinz) earn both All-MAAC accolades and 2018 Division I All-Conference honors from the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association. Additionally, a total of 11 student-athletes were recognized as members of the 2018 MAAC All-Academic Team.
Brace joined the Canisius athletic staff on Aug. 1, 2017 after spending the previous eight years in various roles with the University at Buffalo rowing program, including a stint as the Bulls’ interim head coach during the 2016-17 academic year.
As an assistant coach at UB, Brace helped coach the Bulls to the silver medal at the 2014 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women's Rowing Championships. The Bulls earned the bronze medal at the CAAs in 2015.
In 2012, Brace led Buffalo’s Lightweight Four to a gold medal at the Knecht Cup, while the Lightweight Eight won the silver medal at the Dad Vail Regatta. She also played a key role in the Lightweight Four participating in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship for the first time in program history, where the group earned a bronze medal. The Lightweight Four also raced as the Varsity Four in the CAA championships, winning gold after edging out Boston University by less than a second.
Brace helped guide the Lightweight Eight team to a bronze medal finish at the 2010 Knecht Cup. The Lightweight Eight also medaled for the first time at the Dad Vail Regatta, helping UB win its third straight team title.
Brace previously served as the head coach at Buffalo’s Nardin Academy, leading her Lightweight Eight boat to the New York Scholastic State Championship in 2008 and 2009, as well as a gold medal at the Canadian National Championships in 2007. While in the Buffalo area, she has also coached under Aileen McNamara at the West Side Rowing Club.
Brace graduated from Mercyhurst University in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in management information systems. As a two-time captain of the Lakers' rowing program, she competed at the NCAA Division II National Championships in 2003, 2004 and 2005. In 2004, she and her teammates captured the first National Championship in Mercyhurst athletics history. For their efforts, Brace and her 2004 teammates were inducted into the Mercyhurst Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
