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Mount wins gold medal sweepstakes at Stotesbury
by Tom Utescher

At the Stotesbury Cup Regatta last weekend the rowing royalty was wearing purple. The Mount St. Joseph Academy Magic had plenty of opportunity to display their school colors as they paraded past the awards dock to collect four gold medals.

Racing in some of the most hotly-contested categories, Mount St. Joe finished first in the lightweight eight, junior eight, second eight, and senior eight (see separate article), winning the most gold medals of any school at the annual extravaganza, which is the oldest and largest high school rowing event in the world. Previously, the Mount’s most successful outing at Stotesbury was in 2006, when the Magic won three gold medals and one bronze.

Only one MSJ crew, the senior four, was unable to advance out of the qualifying round, held in a timed head race format. The four victorious eight-oared boats, along with the freshman eight and the junior four, moved into the semifinals and on to the finals.

For the Magic’s freshman eight (Mary Ragazzino-cox, Kait Loftus-stroke, Kate Mirabella, Lauren Seminack, Lauren Hamilton, Kiera McCloy, Emily Ruddy, Bobbie Sutton, Rachel Heller) the 2010 campaign was a little bumpy, and the boat did not reach the finals at the City Championships at the beginning of May.

Last weekend, MSJ fans were happy to see the rookies qualify 10th of 41 entries and then take second in their semifinal section to gain a berth in the finals. Although the Magic wound up sixth, they were the only crew from Pennsylvania to appear in the medal race, which was won by New York’s Saratoga High School.

The junior four was staffed by Alex Kist (cox), Rebecca McCool (stroke), Kaitlin Kiernan, Leah McGlynn, and Maureen Flynn, all 10th graders. Out of a whopping 69 entries in their class, they ranked fourth in the head races, and then they became the runner-up in the last of three semifinals. Like the freshman eight, they came in sixth in the finals as they competed against five out-of-state crews.

The lightweight eight (Maggie Rush-cox, Ari Harkins-stroke, Sam Brecht, Rose Ehrlich, Alanna McCloy, Katie Casebeer, Julie McGlynn, Meg Bresnahan, Colette McNeela) turned in an exemplary performance, as usual, qualifying first with a 10-second lead over the second-fastest crew. The Magic won the first of the two semifinal races by 10 ticks, as well, but in the second semi, first-place Holy Spirit put up a time more than eight seconds faster than the Mount’s.

Head-to-head in the Saturday afternoon final, Spirit pressured the MSJ lights up until the closing sprint. With a few hundred meters to go the Mount was still not clear of the Spartans’ bowball, but the indignity of not winning by at least a little open water would’ve been too much to bear, and the Magic separated themselves at the end to win by five-and-a-half seconds.

“It was a very fast race and the margins were a little tighter than expected,” noted MSJ varsity coach Mike McKenna, whose charges checked in at 4:57.57, a time that would’ve netted them a silver medal in the senior eight final.

A false start had delayed the beginning of the race, creating even more tension among the crews.

McKenna opined, “The hardest thing to do when you’re the big favorite is to win. It’s a ton of pressure for a high school kid, but they handled it very well and they retained their composure.”

The junior eight and second eight finals were much closer. Over the last dozen meters, rowing technique and race strategy went by the board and it all came down to sheer force of will – a good old-fashioned gut check.

“They both race with a lot of determination and maturity and drive,” remarked Mount head coach Meg Kennedy. “It was an amazing testament to these girls and how they approach everything in their lives.”

Kennedy had a great deal of respect for the junior eight from Montclair (N.J.) High School, which had edged out the Mount to win the Philadelphia City Championships by just under one second. At Stotesbury, Montclair was faster in the head racing and the semifinals, and seemed about to eclipse the Magic again as the final quickly developed into a two-boat race.

With a hundred meters to go the Jersey crew appeared to be in command, and when Mount St. Joe began to move, many Magic fans thought, “Too bad, they should’ve started that sprint earlier.”

That final push turned out to be successful, and with 1.28 seconds to spare, the Mount jayvee’s (Erin McElroy-cox, Paige Flynn-stroke, Molly Tenzinger, Katie McCormick, Katie O’Connell, Emily Carbone, Anna DelRicci, Steph Henrich, Meg O’Brien) captured the gold medal.

“They just really wanted it,” Kennedy commented, “and to surge back in the last 100 meters and win it was an incredible accomplishment.”

An unremarkable row in the head races produced a number four ranking for the Magic’s second eight, which contained Anora Collier (cox), Natalie Carlone (stroke), Maura Dougherty, Lauren Gresko, Colleen Delaney, Cathleen Keene, Rebecca Duffin, Catie Travaline, and Laura Powell. Keene, a sophomore, was the only underclassman in the boat.

In a preview of the medal race, the Mount won the faster of two semifinals, coming in 2.28 seconds ahead of Virginia’s T.C. Williams High School. The final would be a much tighter race, with the top four boats all passing under the wire within a span of two seconds.

There wasn’t an immediate celebration because no one was sure exactly who had won. Race officials examined the finish-line photo and the computer read-out and declared Mount St. Joe the winner by 11 one-hundredths of a second. Of all the medal races at the regatta, only the boys’ senior four class could claim a smaller winning margin (0.08 seconds).

With that victory, Kennedy pointed out, “Rebecca Duffin became the only girl that’s gone through our program to win four gold medals at Stotes. First she did it in the freshman eight, then the second eight, then the JV eight, and now the second eight again.”

Even the trophy presented to the winner in this category had special meaning for the senior, who’ll attend the University of Pennsylvania. The award for the second eight is the Irish American Chamber of Commerce Cup, and Duffin’s parents come from County Derry and County Tyrone on the Emerald Isle.

Hours after most of their races were over, the Mounties remained in the grandstand near the finish line, waiting for the senior eight final.

A member of that crew, Katy Gregor, commented “It was amazing the way that the JV and the 2-V (second eight) and the lightweights all won, and it was great that they stayed to watch us.”

Then the senior added a remark that might’ve conjured up an image of the great Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, surveying the Montana prairie following the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

She said, “The Mount spirit was very strong today.”