St. Augustine Prep, second in the final Elite 11 a year ago, is rebuilding. Seniors Alex Bielous and Brian Searle are the only two back from the Prep's 2007 varsity eight, which finished sixth at both the New Jersey State regatta and the Philadelphia City Championships.

Coach Ray D'Amico's lightweight eight also lost nearly everyone from a crew that was third at Stotesbury and second at the Nationals. Only Tim Shields is back, while two others, Steve Zipparo and Ken Calemmo, are now in the varsity program. Others moving up are Sal Lucchesi and Chris Dinger, who were in last year's junior eight. Sam Scimeca will be the coxswain of a lightweight boat.

Holy Spirit, third last year in the final Elite 11, lost most of its varsity eight to graduation. Coach Stan Bergman inherits a team with 10 seniors, led by varsity-eight returnees Jim Smith and Tim Welsh. Some of the varsity eight's new members should come from last year's competitive junior eight, which was third at Stotesbury and second at the Nationals. Seniors Erik Conover, Tom Kresz, Brian Reehill (who also spent time in the varsity eight), and coxswain Alex Bross are back from 2007's junior eight. Other seniors are Dan Bryz-Gornia, Pat McDevitt, Shawn Slattery and Ryan Starr.

Ocean City should have a successful year, with seven senior rowers back from a varsity eight that was third last year in the Philadelphia City's and second to Mainland at the Atlantic County Championships. They are Chris Stickel, Angelo Camano, Tyler Lawlor, Tyler Huck, Nick Buyse, Alex Forsman and Matt Newsome. The Red Raiders finished fourth in the final Elite 11 in 2007.

Other key seniors: Richie Fredericks, John Chester, Pat Lavin and Mark Doerr. Coach Greg Tracy also has 16 juniors who are pushing for spots in the big boats.

Absegami will feature a varsity four, a lightweight four and a junior eight. Frank Agli, who won the varsity division of the Greenheads Sprints indoor rowing event this month, will lead the varsity four. Others in that boat are Brad Hegarty, Mike Hopp, Mike Mirabella and coxswain Robert Tyszka.

Coach Matt Deibert and new assistant Anne Gramlich have a smaller team than a year ago. Michael O'Hagan, Zach Bauman and Joe Cuozo, all members of the 2007 Falcons lightweight eight, will now be in a lightweight four boat. The others in that crew are Ian Deibert (the coach's son) and coxswain John Axelrod.

Oakcrest, in its fifth year, will have a varsity eight for the first time. Seniors Mike Lugg and Eric Hamilton will lead the varsity and lightweight eights, respectively. The senior coxswains are Kelsey Jensen and Priscilla Donahue. Girls are allowed to be coxswain on boys crews, and boys can be coxswain on girls crews.

Oakcrest coach Brad Cress said the program's numbers have increased and that his team is young but promising.

Egg Harbor Township has mostly lightweight rowers. New coach Zach Palombo said that three-quarters of the team members weigh less than 150 pounds. EHT plans to run a lightweight eight, lightweight four, junior four, novice four and freshman eight.

The lightweight eight will be led by seniors Ryan Courtney and coxswain Dan Moore. Junior Michael Germana is another important member of the crew.

The junior four has Cody Miller, who's a captain of EHT as a junior. Other important Eagles are Peter Egnor, coxswain Jake Fox and sophomore prospect Brad Miller.

Atlantic City is rebuilding and plans to have three eights. New Vikings coach John Dattalo will run a varsity eight, freshman eight and novice eight. The team has three seniors and three juniors.

Atlantic City's leader is Paulino DeJesus. The Vikings also are counting on junior Joe Singer and promising freshmen Jay Bhavsar, Sharif Harris, Raymond Diaz-Lopez and Denzel Kelly.

Vineland has a small team and plans to have a varsity four and a junior eight. Coach Heather DeHainaut's team lost several seniors to graduation. The Fighting Clan has senior leaders Jon Clifford and Rob Hayes, plus junior Maciej Grudzien.

Girls teams

The Oakcrest girls varsity eight lost six rowers to graduation after last year's outstanding season. Only Brielle Bowers, Joanna Zachowski and coxswain Heather Clayton are back.

Oakcrest came on in the second half of the season in 2007 and earned the No. 2 ranking in the Elite 11. The Falcons' top boat was the best in The Press' area and second only to Stotesbury winner Bishop Eustace in the final rankings.

After getting only fifth at States last spring, the Oakcrest varsity eight was third in the Philadelphia City's, first in the Atlantic County Meet, third at Stotesbury and second at Nationals.

Coach Vince Sera still has good depth and several promising freshmen. Other leaders this year will be Asiya Mahmud and Ashley Enright (both of whom spent some time in 2007's varsity eight), Rosie Miller, Lois Townsend and Nydia Rodriguez.

Holy Spirit once again will be coached by veteran Joe Welsh, who guided the Spartans' girls varsity eight to victory in 2003 in the Stotesbury Cup, the Nationals and the Henley Women's Regatta. Welsh was the boys coach the last four years.

The Spartans return their most successful crew, the varsity double team of seniors Kendal Sweeney and Katie Sutton, who went undefeated last year in high school competition. Sutton and Sweeney led the Spartans to a ranking of third in the Elite 11.

Kelly Bainbridge and Julia Jackson are seniors who were in the varsity eight last year. The Spartans got fourth in the States and Philadelphia, third in Atlantic County and sixth at Stotesbury.

Other key seniors are Catie McClure, Natalie Honan and coxswain Desiree Smith.

Mainland Regional lost many seniors to graduation from a competitive varsity eight last year, but there are several good rowers ready to move into those spots.

Coach Matt McDevitt's Mustangs finished fourth in the Elite 11 in 2007, due in large part to a junior eight boat that won at States, at Philadelphia, the Atlantic County Meet and the Stotesbury Cup before getting third at Nationals. Tina Bechtold, Megan Hanlin, Kate Maier and Jessie Wilson are seniors back from that crew.

Seniors back from last year's varsity eight are coxswain Katie Quinn, Leigh Cunius and Amy Feinberg. Kristen Park returns from last year's second eight.

Six Mustangs have signed letters of intent to participate in crew next year in college. They are Feinberg (Boston College), Bechtold (University of Central Florida), Hanlin (Temple University), Cunius (George Mason University), Maier (Indiana University) and Quinn (Rutgers University).

Ocean City featured a varsity four boat last year, and Amy Shrader, Shawnee Foglio and coxswain Nicole DeCredico are back from that crew. The Red Raiders' four crew won at States and the Atlantic County regatta, while finishing second to Peddie School at the Philadelphia City's and at Stotesbury. O.C. was third at the Nationals.

Shrader will row for Temple University next year, and Ocean City's Heather Higbee will row at Nova Southeastern University.

A good prospect for coach Jeff Garbutt's team is sophomore Alexandra Russo, who finished 20th this winter in the high school girls category at the prestigious Crash B Sprints indoor rowing event in Boston. Juniors Kiersten Stephens, Alexa Antonioli and Catherine Dierolf are also expected to play key roles.

Atlantic City has juniors Taylor Levine, Mallory Sykes and Macey Miller and senior Jackie Kerstetter to lead. The four were in the varsity eight boat that finished fifth last year in the petite (consolation) final at the Nationals. New coach Sean Duffey's team has only three seniors.

Egg Harbor Township has rowers Holly Berenotto, Michele Woolbert and Holly Van de Rijn, and coxswain Dana Urbanek back from last year's lightweight four boat, which finished third at the Nationals. Urbanek will be in the crew program next year at the University of Tulsa (Okla.)

EHT also has Danielle Widecrantz, Gabby Parker, Julie Engle, Catie Merendino, coxswain Alex Paulin, Christie McElhenny, Breana Badger-Watson, Monique Stenger and Kate Micvzejewski. Coach Dan Welsh's team has several freshmen and novices.

Vineland leaders are junior Carli Cherwien and juniors Bianca Herrera, coxswain and Emily Tobolski. Coach Heather DeHainaut hopes to run a varsity eight, junior eight and novice eight.

Absegami had seniors Caitlin Burke, Joanal Brown, Nicole D'Agostino, Chelsea Frigen, and the senior double crew of Nicole Mancuso and Keileigh McGinnis. New coach Nicole Brennan also had a large turnout juniors, sophomores and freshmen, and plans to have varsity, junior, second and freshmen eights, plus a novice four.

Our Lady of Mercy Academy is a new program this year and has 11 rowers and a coxswain. Coach Bob Conner, a former Holy Spirit High School and Temple University rower, was appointed last June and put the team through initial workouts last summer. Two of the team members have had previous rowing experience.

The Villagers train at the Viking Rowing Club in Ventnor Heights.

Key early races

Lake Lenape is becoming more and more popular as a local venue for high school crew. The Lake Lenape Sprints on Saturday will be followed by the Lake Lenape Sprints II (on April 5) and III (April 12).

The Mainland girls team will participate in the Shoebie Cup, hosted by Philadelphia-area power Mount St. Joseph on April 5 in Conshohocken.

The Manny Flick series in Philadelphia continues this Sunday and April 6, 13 and 20.

Some area teams will go to the Mercer Lake Sprints in Princeton Junction on April 19.

Five big weekends

The crew community refers to the season's four top regattas as the Grand Slam: the New Jersey Scholastic Rowing Championship on April 26 on the Cooper River, the Philadelphia City Championships on May 4, the Stotesbury Cup Regatta in Philadelphia on May 16-17, and the Scholastic Rowing Association of America (known as the Nationals) on May 23-24 in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The Atlantic County High School Rowing Championships, the top scholastic regatta that's close to home, is May 11 on Lake Lenape.

Guy Gargan