Mount coxswain Shannon LoStracco (right) holds forth as lightweight eight stroke seat Julia Comerford absorbs the full impact. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

Dodging a meteorological bullet as a predicted Nor’easter veered farther offshore than first expected, Mount St. Joseph Academy enjoyed another successful Sunday on the Schuylkill, racing in the second regatta of the Manny Flick/Horvat series.

The varsity eight won, and a pair of MSJ octets entered in the second eight category delivered a one-two punch to the competition. Wins were also recorded for the lightweight four and lightweight eight, and there was a second-place showing by one of the three boatloads of Mount St. Joe rookies.

Yes, this was the day when rear admiral Alanna McCloy nudged most of her 31 freshmen into the water for their first official race. An Erdenheim native who rowed for the Mount (’10) and for Villanova University, first-year novices coach McCloy deployed her fledgling oarswomen in three vessels last weekend, an “A” and “B” novice eight, and a freshman eight.

The Mount does not throw its newbies into the fray as early in the season as some other schools, and the object of their first outing is simply to descend the course safely and get a feel for actual racing.

First up, the novice “B’ bunch (Sofia Bernal, MaryKate Ciolko (stroke), Laurel Cheung, Nora Hogan, Riley Gorman, Eva Timoney, Jess Webb, Hailey Goodyear, MollyKate McDonough) got most of the way down the course before catching a crab and slowing almost to a standstill. They settled down, got underway once more, and still were able to finish third, more than a minute ahead of the fourth-place crew.

In the second flight of the novice event, there was a smoother ride for the “A” boat (Izzy Mina, Maureen McGreevey, Harriett Blatney, Emily Lubinski, Aydin McPhilemy, Gia Hunt, Bryn McLaughlin, Caroline Timoney, Shayne McKernan). They placed second in their race, with the third-best time overall in the two novice sections.

In the freshman eight race (where everyone must be a ninth-grader, unlike in the novice class), the Mounties finished a respectable third, since the rowers from Merion Mercy and Radnor High School that came in ahead of them had both raced the previous Sunday. Here, the Mount line-up consisted of Katie Greed (cox), Julia Woodrow, Eileen McKenna, Maddie Niekelski, Aine Playdon, Katie Edling, Lauren Kiefner, Claire Broderick, and McKenna Matthews.

About an hour later, the Magic JV four had a rough row. Angela LaCorte (cox), Jen DeGroat, Rebecca Patti, Julia Flynn, Aileen Mansfield were entered in what was by far the faster of the two flights. They recorded the fourth-best time in the total field of 12 (6:16.94), but that only netted them fourth in their section.

The crowd sipping hot beverages at the MSJ tent then witnessed another powerful performance by the JV eight (Abby Schwenger, Brayslin Gallagher, Karsen Healy, Sam Cordero, Michelle Lipovsky, Cathryn Antonacio, Celine Mina, Gabi Natale, Emma Veon). Winning in 5:08.74, the Magic jayvee’s separated themselves from the runner-up crew by half-a-minute in the second flight of the event.

However, there appeared to be a worthy rival plying the Kelly Drive course. Appearing on the Schuylkill for the first time this spring, Jersey shore powerhouse Holy Spirit won the other JV eight race in 5:06.06.

The Mount lightweights were not to be outdone. These soft-on-the-scale sisters won in both the four and eight-oar categories. In the four, Olivia Kylander (cox), Paige Comtois, Maddy Sandquist, Maddie Curran, and Grace Sowa tripped the clock in 5:31.60, about three-and-a-half seconds ahead of Catholic Academies rival Merion.

Only two schools entered light eights, and a starting error by the Mount’s competitor forced both boats to swing around back to the top of the course. The Magic (Shannon LoStracco, Julia Comerford, Vicki Matsinger, Shannon Hughes, Erica Arnold, Molly Whalen, Brooke Gimaro, Rachel Sandquist, Katelin Cordero) made up for lost time with a victory in 5:04.55, while Moorestown High School drifted in at 5:52.83.

Foregoing the varsity four category last weekend, Mount St. Joe tried to put as many of its 28 seniors in motion as possible, sending out two boats in the single section of the second eight event. Sandwiching in the other four schools by occupying lanes one and six, the Mounties secured the top two spots.

The regular two-vee won convincingly in 5:09.50 with its line-up of Emily Woodrow (cox), Brooke McMahon, Demi Simms, Dana Mischler, Julianna Hunt, Olivia Tice-Carroll, Mia Fitzpatrick, Grace Little, and Zoe Ramos. The “B” boat (Kathleen Brooks, Brianna McBride, Olivia Snakard, Sam Altomare, Anna Gallagher, Kerry Faust, Emma French, Liz DeGroat, Christie Faust) beat out Radnor for the runner-up spot, 5:20.09 to 5:23.64.

Near the end of Flick Two, the longsuffering varsity eight parents saw some light rain and sleet arrive shortly before their girls raced. The pride of the Mount fleet got it over with quickly; headliners Lindsey Maiale (cox), Erin McGreevey, Christina Knox, Grace Comerford, Maddie Lauinger, Alex Natale, Maddy Carlton, Cait Hagan, and Alex Uzzo won the second flight of the category in 4:56.20, seven seconds in front of runner-up Haddonfield (N.J.) High. Holy Spirit had won the first flight with a time of 5:00.43.

The Mount St. Joseph crew usually includes a number of graduates of Norwood Fontbonne Academy, and this season the Chestnut Hill grade school is particularly well-represented. The former NFA Bears on the roster are MaryKate Ciolko, Julia and Grace Comerford, Julia Flynn, Maddie Lauinger, Aileen Mansfield, Brianna McBride, Aydin McPhilimey, Abby Schwenger, Caroline and Eva Timoney, and Emma Veon.