Right before the biggest race of the year at the National Championships in Sacramento, California, the Jesuit crew team attended the Stotesbury Cup in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May 16-17. The Stotesbury Cup, which is hosted on the majestic Schuylkill River, is the largest scholastic regatta in the world and hosts over 5,000 rowers, 1,000 boats, and 10,000 spectators. It is also the oldest scholastic regatta in the world since it was started in 1927 in honour of Edward T. Stotesbury, a well-known philanthropist in the Philadelphia community. The prized award of this regatta is the Edward T. Stotesbury Cup, which is around 2 ½ feet tall and carries a lot of history behind it from past regattas. Jesuit entered three boats in total, a Boys Freshman 8, a Boys Second 8 [equivalent to our JV boat], and a Boys Senior 8 [our varsity boat].
In participating in this race, Jesuit encountered some challenges.
On Friday, May 16, there were torrential downpours all day. As a result, the water to rose in the river and the currents became really fast. “They almost had to cancel the races on Saturday,” explained Head Coach John Fife. “But, they were able to proceed with the finals directly from our performances in the heat. So, we were lucky enough to get in the finals, but it was pretty crazy.”
Another challenge faced the Freshman 8 team, which managed to get to the semi-final, but collided into the same opposing boat twice, preventing them from advancing further. It “was a tough loss, but they handled it with the grace you’d expect from a Jesuit student,” stated Fife.
Despite these challenges, Jesuit still put on a show in Philadelphia.
For the first time in Jesuit crew history, the Boys Senior 8 placed 6th in the grand final and the Boys Second 8 placed 2nd.
The Boys Senior 8, composed of Joey Merkel ’16, JW Schwab ’14, Jay Hofmeister ’16, Christian Taylor ’15, Jordi Perez ’14, Sam Todora ’15, Jake Gossett ’15, Mitchell Opatowsky ’15, and Elliot Stone ’15, finished 6th overall out of 38 schools from the US and Canada. Gonzaga College High School won 1st.
The Boys Second 8, composed of Liam McCormack ’16, Conar Ehring ’15, Nicolai Whittemore ‘14, Alex Mortberg ‘14, Tyler Freeman ‘14, Campell Lang ‘16, Jack Fontaine ‘16, Liam Doherty ‘15, and Christopher Bibanco’16, finished 2nd overall out of 23 schools and took home the silver medal 2.5 seconds behind Gonzaga College High School and 2 seconds above St. Alban’s School.
“We went in wanting to make the final for the first time in the Men’s Senior 8, and we did it,” continued Fife, full of joy. “That’s a big accomplishment. It’s the first time we’ve ever done that. We have a very young team. We are only graduating two seniors out of the Varsity 8, so things are looking really good for the next couple of years. We have a great freshman class that’s coming up for next year, and I’m really excited to see what we can do in the next couple of years.”
So, the next event for the Jesuit crew team to conquer is the National Championships in June. The event will be held on Lake Natoma in Sacramento, California, and only the Varsity 8 will be competing. After finals, the team, ready to hit the grind, will go back to practicing twice a day, training hard for two weeks, and then resting in order to get ready the week before the event to ensure the best results for the rowers. Make sure to catch up with the team and follow them on their journey to the National Championships, which will be held from June 13-17. Go Rangers!
