The Crimson Blade - Vol 4 (FSJPR)

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Spring ResultsCaptains ReportSummer Program

Upcoming EventsSocial Media

CRIMSONBLADE

THE

SPRING 2014

SPRING 2014

A LETTER FROM JOE KIEFFERPRESIDENT – FRIENDS OF ST. JOSEPH PREP ROWING

A Promising FutureThe Prep is off to another solid start and is proving again to be one of the fastest high school programs in the country. We have captured another Catholic League Championship in decisive fashion. The coming weeks will bring more medal races, our boys in Crimson and Grey are well positioned to take their rightful position on the medal stand. The competition is stiff with crews from Washington DC (Gonzaga), Pittsburgh (Central Catholic), Chicago (New Tier) and, of course, Philadelphia (Holy Spirit and LaSalle). We have the traditional home court advantage with Cities and Stotesbury. This year’s Scholastic Nationals are at Mercer Lake in Princeton NJ. A schedule of the medal races are listed later in this edition of The Crimson Blade. On May 5, the annual Prep Crew social will be held at the Prep boathouse. This is the main fund raising event for Prep crew. Please see if your schedule allows for you to attend – all alumni and friends of Prep crew are invited. Our senior class will be on hand and it will be great opportunity to engage them and hear first hand stories from a current Prep oarsman and if they have any plans of continuing the Prep rowing tradition in college.

Our alumni and parents support and involvement of Prep rowing continues to be strong. Our Prep parents continue to be the source of event planning with organizing the weekly tent on the Schuylkill and a away race and they are the arms, legs and brains behind the Annual Prep Crew Social. The FSJPR continues to fulfill its mission of reconnecting Prep Crew alumni through so-cial media (Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin) and alumni events and gatherings, such as the young alumni summer rowing program and alumni entries for the head of the Schuylkill. FSJPR con-tinues to be the sources of information for The Crimson Blade and our social media platforms. A special thanks to all alumni and parents that contributed to Prep rowing throughout the year. Your loyal support is one of the reasons our boys go fast. The recent boathouse brick campaign raised over $10,000 to help fund new equipment for our boys. Upon request, we are preparing a second order of bricks. If you would like to donate a custom engraved brick ($350 per brick), please check for details later in this edition of The Crimson Blade. All donations are fully tax deductable.

A special thanks for our chief editors, Chris McElroy ’84 and Shawn Duffy ’04, for another fine edition of The Crimson Blade. Also, thanks for Harrison Kieffer ’11 for the twitter feeds for re-sults throughout the season and maintaining the Prep Crew Facebook page. Finally, thank you to Matt Glaeser‘02 for leading the efforts for our Linkedin page and maintaining our alumni email distribution list.

Please consider renewing or becoming a member of FSJPR. Your membership dues are the sole sources of funds to fuel the FSJPR efforts listed above and allow FSJPR to continue in support the current Prep crew team and preserve our legacy. If you are interested in becoming involved in FSJPR governance, please contact Joe Kieffer ’84 at 267-228-1341 / [email protected]

Joe Kieffer ‘84President – Friends of St. Joseph Prep Rowing

"Your loyal support is one of the reasons our boys go fast"

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Inside The Issue

04 Captain Reports

10 Spring Results

16 Let's Get Involved

I look into the season from our team Captains. Their goals, ex-pectations and determination for a successful season.

The results are in! A look back at this Springs results. Some great races with the excitment of getting faster each day.

The program is always looking for help to keep this great Program running smoothly and to its highest potential. If interested in giving back to the program that means so much to all of us, there are plenty of ways to lend a hand.

The Newsletter for Alumni & Friends of St. Joseph's Prep Rowing

Published 3 times a year

PresidentJoe Kieffer '84

Vice PresidentTony Horvat '75

TreasurerRick Wegryn '82

SecretaryMatthew Glaeser '02

Crimson BladeChief EditorsChris McElroy '84Shawn Duff '04

FSJPR Governance BoardRay Antonini '71Joe Backe '82Bill BarkerShawn Duff '04Bill Gennaro Sr '79Larry Hennigan '81Kevin Kelly '72Harrison Kieffer '11Dan Kilpartrick '94Al LawnChris MarkamJeanMarie MarkamChris McElroy '84Kevin McGowan '91Joe McHaleNick Morinigo '82Mike Murphy '99Don Powers '04Kerry Quinn '06George Schaefer '73

SPRING 2014

Matthew Canal ‘14Cherry Hill, NJ6’2’’ 185 lbs

This year has been very successful in regard to the strength and conditioning of the team. Our average 2K for the Varsity 8 is about 10 seconds lower than last year's, with the other boats right on our heels. Everyone worked very hard every single day this winter and I believe that this dedication will continue to make us faster as we hone our technique on the water this spring. The cold winter this year kept us off on the water for quite some time, either because the river was frozen or it was just too cold to row. This led to some shaky racing early in the season, but as we get more time on the water we are getting better and refining our technique, which will allow us to convert all that power we obtained over the winter on the erg, into the boat. This year, al-most all of our competitors have improved as well. It will be a fun season, full of close races and I am looking forward to it.

As a team, everyone’s goal is to push themselves to be the best they can be, embrace the magis, and become better and better. We have worked very hard all year to build a strong foundation and as a team we all just want to make Prep Crew proud and race our best. However, as a captain my goal is to lead the guys with me as best I can. A boat, as well as a team, is only as good as our weakest link and as a captain, I take it upon myself to make sure everyone is keeping their heads up and focusing on getting better no matter how rough practice may be. This year it has been very easy to do this be-cause everyone is so committed to their team and boat mates. No matter how bad a day might go, ev-eryone just comes back the next day ready to do it ten times better. Overall, I look forward to making this season one of the most successful years Prep Crew has had in a long time and I am really look-ing forward to the upcoming races.

CAPTAINSREPORT

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SPRING 2014

Joseph McCarrie ‘14Moorestown, NJ6’2” 190 lbs

Of my four years at Gillin Boathouse, this year has to be the most exciting. The feeling in the boathouse all winter and now into the spring has been electric. After a long winter of training, I can see all the effort physically manifesting itself. The guys are the strongest we’ve had, overall, in my four years. It’s also important to note that the V8 is half juniors and half seniors. The juniors have really pulled their weight this year, and then some.

As captain, I try to lead by example; going out of my way to make sure everyone knows they’re a part of the team. Whether you pull a 7:32 or a 6:10, if you are working your hard-est, you still get the respect, no matter what. I believe that the underclassmen see this spirit and understand it, hopefully leading them to truly be a man for and with others, on their team and throughout their life.

The coaches have been great influences this year. They have instilled discipline around good tech-nique, along with the necessary power training. I believe that they are seeing the accumulation of all the technical and powerful exercises being put to good use on the water. The coaches’ expectations, and ours, are to strive for greatness every race. The mindset around here is about giving it 100%. When we have our guys going down the race course giv-ing it everything they got, it’s going to be an excit-ing season for Prep crew. I’m so incredibly proud to be captain this year and I believe we are on track to do something special.

CAPTAINSREPORT

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SPRING 2014

Kevin Kiernan ’14 Hatfield, PA6’5’’ 195 lbs

The whole team, from the freshmen to the varsity, and everyone in between, put in a lot of good hard work in over the past couple months. We are starting to see the strength and conditioning training translate into boat speed as we continue to hone our technique on the water. We've had a lot of good competition in the Flicks this year, and we always have a lot of good boats come out for the championship races, so it will definitely be a fun and com-petitive year of racing for Prep Crew.

As always, the team’s goal for this spring rac-ing season is to achieve excellence. The legacy of the program has always been one of great success, so we are hoping to be the next in the long line of elite high school boats coming out of St. Joe's Prep. All of the rowers are com-mitted to making technical changes as well as fitness gains, and we have a lot of invaluable advice and experience available to us from our

coaches. The commitment to excellence I see from the current group of guys we have is just as great, if not greater, than anything I have seen over my past four years here. We have the potential to make a lot of big statements this spring, and now the chal-lenge falls to us to capitalize on this opportunity. There is no doubt in my mind that we will do this and make 2014 an historic year for St. Joe's Prep rowing.

CAPTAINSREPORT

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SPRING 2014

Jesuit Invitational Camden, NJSaturday, March 15th Varsity 8+1st Gonzaga 6:05.62nd St. Joseph’s Prep 6:14.53rd Canisius 6:23.44th Fordham 6:36.45th St. Peters 6:37.76th McQuaid 7:06.7 2nd Varsity 8+1st Gonzaga 6:15.02nd St. Joseph’s Prep 6:25.13rd Canisius 6:29.34th Fordham 7:02.35th McQuaid 7:16.46th St. Peters 7:18.4 Lightweight 8+1st St. Joseph’s Prep 6:14.02nd Gonzaga 6:32.43rd Canisius 6:38.94th Fordham 7:05.65th St. Peters 7:07.9

First Manny FlickPhiladelphia, PASunday, March 16th Freshman 8+ A SecondFreshman 8+ B Second

Second Manny FlickPhiladelphia, PASunday, March 23rd

Novice 8+: Fourth and FifthFreshman 8+: Second and FourthFreshman 8+: FourthJunior 8+: SecondJunior 8+: Second and ThirdLightweight 8+: FIRSTVarsity 2x: ThirdVarsity 4x: FIRSTVarsity 4x: FourthVarsity 8+: FIRST

Fourth Manny FlickPhiladelphia, PASunday, April 6th

Novice 8+: SixthNovice 8+: FourthFreshman 8+: Second and ThirdFreshman 8+: FifthJunior 4+: SecondJunior 8+: FourthJunior 8+: FIRSTLightweight 4+: SecondLightweight 8+: FIRST Varsity 4+: SecondVarsity 4x: FourthVarsity 4x: SecondVarsity 8+: FIRST

Early Spring Results

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Second Manny FlickPhiladelphia, PASunday, March 23rd

Novice 8+: Fourth and FifthFreshman 8+: Second and FourthFreshman 8+: FourthJunior 8+: SecondJunior 8+: Second and ThirdLightweight 8+: FIRSTVarsity 2x: ThirdVarsity 4x: FIRSTVarsity 4x: FourthVarsity 8+: FIRST

Fourth Manny FlickPhiladelphia, PASunday, April 6th

Novice 8+: SixthNovice 8+: FourthFreshman 8+: Second and ThirdFreshman 8+: FifthJunior 4+: SecondJunior 8+: FourthJunior 8+: FIRSTLightweight 4+: SecondLightweight 8+: FIRST Varsity 4+: SecondVarsity 4x: FourthVarsity 4x: SecondVarsity 8+: FIRST

Noxontown RegattaSt. Andrew’s School, DESaturday, April 12th Varsity 8+: 1st Gonzaga 4:22.52nd St. Joseph’s Prep 4:26.33rd Dallas Jesuit 4:31.84th St. Andrews 4:34.85th Bonner 5:06.8

Varsity 4+:1st St. Joseph’s Prep 5:09.62nd Gonzaga 5:16.63rd St. Albans 5:40.7

Lightweight 8+1st St. Joseph’s Prep 4:34.12nd Gonzaga 4:41.43rd St. Joseph’s Prep 4X A 4:56.24th St. Joseph’s Prep 4X B 5:15.5

Junior 8+1st St. Joseph’s Prep A 4:45.52nd St. Joseph’s Prep B 5:01.73rd Gonzaga 5:06.64th St. Andrews 5:09.3

Junior 4+1st St. Joseph’s Prep A 5:19.92nd Gonzaga 5:22.43rd Dallas Jesuit 5:25.34th St. Joseph’s Prep B 5:25.8

Freshman 8+1st Gonzaga 4:58.32nd Dallas Jesuit 5:00.53rd St. Albans 5:01.94th St. Joseph’s Prep 5:07.85th St. Andrews 5:17.7

Novice 8+/5th 8+1st Gonzaga A 5:11.12nd Gonzaga B 5:12.43rd St. Joseph’s Prep 5:16.34th St Andrews 5:40.05th Bonner 5:43.8

2nd Novice/Freshman 8+1st Gonzaga 5:24.92nd St. Joseph’s Prep A 5:27.53rd St. Joseph’s Prep B 5:46.24th St. Andrews 6:08.75th St. Joseph’s Prep C 6:39.4

Early Spring Results

SPRING 2014

5th Manny FlickPhiladelphia, PASunday, April 13th Head RacesNovice 8+ FIRST, Ninth, Sixteenth Freshman 8+ Fourth, and Seventeenth Junior 4+ SecondJunior 8+ Third and Ninth Sprint RacingLightweight 4+ FourthLightweight 8+ FIRSTVarsity 2x FourthVarsity 2x SecondVarsity 4+ FourthVarsity 4x SecondVarsity 8+ FIRST

Philadelphia CatholicLeague ChampionshipPhiladelphia, PAApril 26th, 2014 Point Trophy & PCL Title: FIRSTVarsity 8+: FIRSTVarsity 4x: SecondVarsity 4+: FIRSTVarsity 2x: Third, FourthVarsity 1x: SecondLightweight 8+: FIRSTLightweight 4+: SecondJunior 8+: Second, ThirdJunior 4+: FIRSTFreshman 8+: Second, FifthFreshman 4+: SecondNovice 8+: FIRST, FifthNovice 4+: Second

Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association Point Trophies. Based off results for Flicks 1-5 Manny Flick Point Trophy: Mens SweepSt. Joseph’s Prep 426La Salle 363Radnor 188Harriton 185Mainland 180

Horvat Series Trophy: Mens ScullingRoman Catholic 273Malvern Prep 212Conestoga 166Haddon Twp. 94St. Joseph’s Prep 78

Early Spring Results continued

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Philadelphia CatholicLeague ChampionshipPhiladelphia, PAApril 26th, 2014 Point Trophy & PCL Title: FIRSTVarsity 8+: FIRSTVarsity 4x: SecondVarsity 4+: FIRSTVarsity 2x: Third, FourthVarsity 1x: SecondLightweight 8+: FIRSTLightweight 4+: SecondJunior 8+: Second, ThirdJunior 4+: FIRSTFreshman 8+: Second, FifthFreshman 4+: SecondNovice 8+: FIRST, FifthNovice 4+: Second

Summer Program

Friends of St. Joseph’s Prep Rowing (FSJPR) is again sponsoring a competitive rowing program for college-aged alumni. Building off of last summer’s program suc-cess, coached practice from the Prep boathouse will be held several times a week either in the early morning or early evening. The program will run from early June to early August. Planned regattas include the Schuylkill Navy Regatta (June 14) and Independence Day (July 4 – 6). Depending upon the interest and competitiveness, away regatta (USRowing Nationals and Canadian Hen-ley) will be considered. The summer fee (a few hundred dollars) will be determined on the turn out and will com-pensate the coaching staff.

If you want to keep in shape and build your competitive edge this summer, join the team and keep your Prep Spir-it alive by representing FSJPR. If there are any questions or interested in joining the program, please contact Har-rison Kieffer ‘11 at [email protected] or 215-264-2109.

SAVE THE DATEFSJPR will be submitting an entries for the alumni eight categories for the Head of the Charles (October 18) and the Head of the Schuylkill (October 25). Time to get in shape! If you are interested in competing and represent-ing FSJPR, please contact Joe Kieffer ‘84 [email protected] or 267-228-1341.

Assistant Summer Director Needed!Questions or if Interested?

Please Contact:Harrison Kieffer, Summer [email protected]

SPRING 2014

St. Joseph’s Prep Rowing2014 Racing Schedule

Sunday, March 16 Flick - Horvat Regatta #1 Philadelphia, PASunday, March 23 Flick - Horvat Regatta #2 Philadelphia, PASunday, March 30 Flick - Horvat Regatta #3 Philadelphia, PASunday, April 6 Flick - Horvat Regatta #4 Philadelphia, PASaturday, April 12 St.Andrews Middletown, DESunday, April 13 Flick - Horvat Regatta #5 Philadelphia, PASaturday, April 26 Catholic League Champs Philadelphia, PAFriday & Saturday, May 16-17 Stotesbury Cup Philadelphia, PASunday, May 18 City Champs Philadelphia, PAFriday & Saturday, May 23-24 SRAA Nationals Camden, NJSaturday June 7 National School Regatta Saratoga, NY

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TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FORRESCHEDULED PHILADELPHIA CITY

CHAMPIONSHIPS

St. Joseph’s Prep Rowing2014 Racing Schedule

Novice 4+: 8:16 Bow: 36 & 38 Possible final: 1:30

Freshman 4+: 8:26 Bow: 51 Possible final: 1:42

Novice 8+: 8:48 Bow: 78 & 85 Possible final: 1:54

Freshman 8+: 9:16 Bow: 138 & 149 Possible final: 2:30

Junior 4+: 10:02 Bow: 222 Possible final: 3:35

Junior 8+: 10:30 Bow: 312 & 360 Possible final: 4:03

Lightweight 4+: 10:58 Bow: 360 Possible final: 4:31

Lightweight 8+: 11:04 Bow: 372 Possible final: 4:59

Varsity 1x: 11:28 Bow: 416 & 419 Possible final: 5:20

Varsity 2x: 11:40 Bow: 443 Possible final: 5:41

Varsity 4+: 11:56 Bow: 484 Possible final: 6:02

Varsity 4x: 12:06 Bow: 507 Possible final: 6:16

Varsity 8+: 12:18 Bow: 526 Possible final: 6:30

TENTATIVELY MAY 18TH

SUBJECT TO CHANGE

ALL HEAD RACES ARE 6 TO FINAL

SPRING 2014

LET'SGETINVOLVED.Event Planner – FSJPR has several events throughout the year and we need someone with strong organization and party planning skills. This includes annual alumni class day event, Summer Social and Regatta events.

Class Captain – FSJPR is looking for class cap-tains for their respective class years and maintain alumni information, coordinate reunions, fund rais-ing etc.

Membership Chair – FSJPR annual spring membership drive and bookkeeping of receipts. Cre-ativity and persistent personality is needed.

Alumni Racing Coordinator – Identify, field and entry various alumni race events – in regattas such as Head of the Schuylkill, Head of the Charles, Masters Henley (Canada and UK), Catholic League, etc. Organize practice, uniforms, entrance fees, etc.

Database Administration – One of the big-gest challenges that FSJPR has is maintaining cur-rent contact information of its 2,000 alumni. We need someone with strong social media, IT skills and techniques to improve alumni contact information in-tegrity.

The Crimson Blade Editors / Writers – We need beat reporters to write about the team, our coaches and alumni and FSJPR happenings. The Crimson Blade is published a few times a year.

Assistant Treasurer – Assist in the adminis-trative financial function of FSJPR . Work directly with the Prep finance office.

FSJPR Governance – Need a few executive board members to set direction, vision and prioritized initiatives for FSJPR. Need hands and active leader-ship in the above efforts.

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FSJPR Career Connections – We are look-ing for someone to create and lead the effort to con-nect graduating seniors and students looking for full time and summer internships. FSJPR volunteer will work with coaching staff on gathering resumes and identifying alumni with firms that have positions. Ex-plore option of broadening to all alumni in the career transition.

Prep Alumni Rowing GearCoordinator – Coordinate bi-annual FSJPR Rowing gear offering to alumni and parents. Select vendor, items and promote through the web, social media etc

Communications / Social Media – We need additional resources on the social media team to coordinate race broadcasts, website, Face book, Linked-in, Twitter, blog etc. IT skills and social me-dia geeks are a plus.

Fund Raising – Need committed individual to help organize alumni fundraising targeted campaign. This is includes the brick campaign. Organizational skills, persistence, and the ability to ask for money are needed.

Prep Crew Historian – Finds, gathers, cata-logs, documents and preserves artifacts of Prep row-ing for public display or achieves. Oversee the writing of a book on the history of Prep rowing – founded in 1926

Senior Gifts – As a thank you for four years of rowing and a welcome to FSJPR, we organize a gift / recognition to the graduating seniors each year. Gifts are presented at awards banquet in May.

Boathouse Projects – We need more orga-nized and lead boathouse beatification projects. This might include hanging pictures, plaques, banners, etc. Past projects include the honor board. Projects typi-cally require creativity, draftsmanship and possibly work working skills.

Questions or if Interested?

Please Contact:Joe Kieffer, FSJPR President,[email protected]

As part of the fund raising program to purchase new racing shells, Friends of St. Joseph’s Prep (FSJPR) is providing the opportunity for alumni, current row-ers, family and friends of Prep crew to be memorial-ized at the Robert Gillin Boathouse with a person-alize brick. We have identified a small area of land adjacent to the Prep side boat slip that can accom-modate a couple of hundred bricks. This is a lim-ited opportunity to forever recognize a Prep rower, coach, regatta victory or loved one.

Each personal brick has up to 3 lines of text with 18 characters on each line. Brick are being offered for a donation of $350 / brick. Donations are tax de-ductible. If there are any questions, please contact Joe Kieffer ‘84, FSJPR President, at [email protected] or 267-228-1341.

Personalized BrickAt Robert Gillin Boathouse

Name: _____________________________________________Email / Phone: ___________________/___________________Inscription: _____________________________ (18 characters / line) _____________________________ _____________________________Makes Check Payable to: St. Joseph’s Prep - memo: FSJPR Brickmail form and check to 1733 West Girard Ave Philadelphia PA 19130

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Personal Information (Please print clearly)

Name

Address

Class Year/Last Crew Year

State Zip Code

City

Home Phone 

Email 

Mobile Phone

Membership Dues *

Before 2004 & Friends  $25Classes 2004 – 2007    $15 Classes 2008 - 2012   Free

* Please use for dues and member info only

Please send payment in the envelope provided to:

Friends of  St. Joseph’s Prep RowingSt. Joseph’s Preparatory School

1733 W. Girard AvenuePhiladelphia, PA 19130

OR 

Pay online at: http://my.sjprep.org/s/80/index.aspx?sid=80&pgid=1004&gid=1&cid=3473&ecid=3473&post_id=0

Friends of St. Joseph's Prep 

RowingBecome A Member

ST. JOSEPH’S PREPARATORY SCHOOL 28TH ANNUAL CREW SPRING SOCIAL

SATURDAY, MAY 3, 20147 P.M. TO 10 P.M.

ROBERT M. GILLIN JR. BOATHOUSE(BYOB ON THE DOCK)2900 KELLY DRIVEPHILADELPHIA, PA.

$50.00 PER PERSON

CATERING BY LUIGI AND GIOVANNI

JOIN US FOR28TH ANNUAL CREW SPRING SOCIAL

Personalized BrickAt Robert Gillin Boathouse

www.facebook.com/StJoesPrepCrew

Search on: “Friends of St. Joseph’s

Prep Rowing” to join group

Get ConnectedTHROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA WITH PREP ROWING ALUMNI

Over 440 visitors to our Facebook Pages!

http://www.facebook.com/StJoesPrepCrew  

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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-­‐of-­‐St-­‐Josephs-­‐Prep-­‐Rowing/298031736908147  

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