St. Joe’s Prep, Malvern Prep and Mount St. Joseph Academy all win gold
By John Knebels
Sports Columnist
Jim Glavin loves rowing. Always has.
A 1965 graduate of St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, Glavin took over the program last year. His immediate goal was to make sure that the Prep rowers were aware of what a privilege it was to represent their school in a world-renowned sport that possesses deep local roots. {{more}}
“It takes so much commitment,” said Glavin, “and every one of our guys has committed to being winners both on and off the water.”
At the prestigious 84th-annual Stotesbury Cup Regatta May 14-15 on the Schuylkill River, the Prep indeed emerged as winners. The Prep snared the boys’ varsity eight for the second time in three seasons and an amazing sixth in the past 12.
Despite a slow start in the final, the Prep rowers weren’t worried. Nor was their coach.
“The middle of the race is where we start to go hard,” said Glavin. “The guys did that.”
Several Prep rowers – among them varsity eight participants Carter Law, Dean Hill, Pat McGlone, Brendan Courtney, John McGrorty, Steve Lezynski, Brendan Adams, Colin Kline and coxswain Lou Lombardi – referred to a letter written to them by injured senior Ted Beck. The Boston University-bound Beck reminded his teammates about the sacrifices they had made and how their legacy would be augmented by a gold medal in the tournament’s marquee event.
Beck’s challenge proved prophetic, and it led to the victorious crewmen being adorned with gold medals by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.
A 1975 Prep graduate and an admitted Prepper through and through, Nutter admitted he felt a variety of emotions when the race ended.
“Being from the Prep is an extra sense of pride for me,” he said. “I’m very proud of what they accomplished, and how they handled themselves as gentlemen after winning.”
The Prep wasn’t the only local Catholic school planning a post-victory party. Malvern Prep placed first in the lightweight double, junior quad and varsity quad. It marked the second straight season that Malvern captured three medals.
In the girls’ races, Mount St. Joseph matched St. Joseph’s Prep’s performance in the varsity eight, winning the event despite a challenge from second-place and fellow Catholic Academies League rival Merion Mercy.
The Mount’s boat consisted of Victoria Babson, Meredith Bracken, Darian DiCianno, Mary Duff, Katy Gregor, Dana Lerro, Laura Pospisil, Chierika Ukogu and coxswain Sarah Jordan. Mount Coach Megan Kennedy raved about her rowers’ willingness to commit to a very difficult preparation routine, arguably a misnomer because crew basically goes on all year long.
Lerro lauded Kennedy for motivating the Mount to not become complacent.
“There is a lot of competition, especially in a meet like this,” said Lerro. “Winning this made all of that hard work worthwhile.”
John Knebels can be reached at jknebs@aol.com.
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