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The rowers of Mount St. Joseph Academy’s lightweight eight display their bronze medals on the awards podium at the 2010 U.S. Rowing Youth National Championships in Bethel, Ohio.

After winning matching gold medals at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta and at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America national championships last month, Mount St. Joseph Academy’s varsity eight and lightweight eight headed out to Cincinnati, Ohio two weekends ago to race against the biggest of the big dogs.

At one of last week’s PAL clinics at Penn Charter, the Quakers’ Katie Brock helps a young protégé position her bat at home plate. Looking on are clinic organizer Mackenzie Kramer (far left), Springside’s Michelle Cybularz (crouching) and PC’s Danielle Sienko (right, by backstop).

Mackenzie Kramer, a rising senior at Penn Charter and a three-year varsity softball player, had to change her plans for the summer before they’d even gone into effect.

“This summer I wanted to coach a softball team for the Police Athletic League (PAL), but I learned that there were no softball teams in their program and the girls had to play baseball with the boys,” the Quakers’ third baseman explained.

Undeterred, Kramer began to explore the possibility of forming softball teams within the organization. Wanting to gauge the level of interest, Sgt. Eric Ervin, Command Sergeant for PAL Center Activities, suggested that she hold several clinics for young girls from various centers.

The enterprising Quakers senior conducted two clinics last week at the Penn Charter softball field, drawing 64 children (mostly girls aged eight to 12, with a smattering of boys who came along for the trip) from half-a-dozen PAL centers last Monday. After that, 80 youngsters from eight PAL locations signed up for the second session on Thursday afternoon, some of them coming from as far away as Southwest Philadelphia.

Springside School’s 45-16 victory over Mount St. Joseph in last Thursday’s Lou Cappiello League contest seems surprising unless one is aware that the Mount employs no varsity veterans at the summer hoops sessions in Roxborough.

Only incoming freshmen and members of last winter’s JV squad participate for the Magic, while the more experienced MSJ players see action in another league at Hatboro Horsham High School. The younger Mounties have been competitive in some Cappiello league games, but last week they were overwhelmed by an older and larger Springside squad that boasts a number of new recruits.