Crew notebook: Holy Spirit duo of Katie Sutton and Kendal Sweeney keep winning together
By GUY GARGAN
For The Press, 609-272-7210
Published: Thursday, May 01, 2008
Holy Spirit seniors Kendal Sweeney and Katie Sutton make up the Spartans girls lightweight double crew, and they haven't lost a high school race since they were freshmen. The two won again at the Cooper River in Camden on Saturday at the New Jersey Scholastic Rowing Championship. They're a sculling crew, which means they row with two oars apiece instead of one, and their boat has no coxswain.But both say they'll probably row in eight-boats next year in college. Sutton will row for Lehigh University (Pa.), and Sweeney will compete for Stetson University (Fla.) "I've done sweep rowing (with one oar) a lot before, and scullers can always sweep," Sutton said. "There's only a few little changes that have to be made."St. Aug. bounces back
After a rough start, the St. Augustine Prep boys varsity eight crew rowed to victory Saturday at states.The St. Augustine team was stroke Brian Searle, Ted Baumgardner, Matt McPeak, Tom Lindeman, Alex Bielous, Jason Browne, Eric Szendrey, bow Steve Zipparo and coxswain Ryan Anthony. The boat's victory kept the Prep at No. 1 in The Press' Elite 11."Coach (Ray D'Amico) said he would leave (the game plan) up to the seniors and the coxswain," said Bielous, one of the crew's three seniors, along with Searle and Zipparo. "After the start we headed off our lane because of the wind. Central Catholic (of Pittsburgh, Pa.) had us by about four seats at the first 500 (meters). We pulled even at about 1,000 or 750, and pulled away (to win by just over a boatlength)."Searle, of Somers Point, and Bielous will both row for Cornell University next year, while Zipparo will row for Massachusetts Institute of Technology.The varsity eight victory was the St. Augustine's only win, but all seven of the Prep's eight-boats made the final.Now all area crew teams look the Philadelphia City Championships, which is Sunday on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Waiting there will be St. Joseph's Prep, which won the boys varsity eight final by more than five seconds over La Salle at last Sunday's Philadelphia Catholic League Championships."All the teams from Philly are really tough, and you can't overlook anyone at this point in the season," Bielous said. "You expect all the teams to step up with the last few weeks of the season ahead, so you can't take anyone for granted that you may have beaten,"Lightweight eight rivalsThough they'll both be underdogs to St. Joseph's Prep this Sunday, the Ocean City and St. Augustine boys lightweight eights have a good rivalry. O.C. won at States last Saturday, and the Hermits were second. Ocean City's crew was stroke Pat Lavin, Jeff Buyse, Chris Stickel, Matt Newsome, Shawn Bryan, John Chester, Adam Cordi, bow Corey Barnes and coxswain Chad Rummler. St. Augustine's lightweight team was stroke Tim Shields, Brandon Wilberham, Andrew Carmody, Daniel Carmody, Jackson McCarron, Nico Ricci, Drew Parenti, bow Dave Kase, and coxswain Sam Scimeca.The St. Augustine crew finished ahead of the Red Raiders two weeks ago (in a race won by St. Joseph's).To e-mail Guy Gargan at The Press:ggargan@pressofac.com
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