OCEAN CITY — Ocean City High School’s girls varsity eight was ranked sixth in the nation in the April 13 Rowing By The Numbers (RBTN) Power Ranking, and the crew boosters are inviting the community to help name their boat as it aims at nationals later in the season.
The varsity eight includes coxswain Harper Petitgout, Aubrey Schlembach, Jada Smith, Victoria Sakhno, Margot Swift, Marina Zappone, Marin Pearce, Kailyn Kelly and Reese Hemberger. Colin Stewart is the head coach of the OCHS girls crew team.
This ranking places OCHS among the elite scholastic rowing programs in the country and reflects the team’s dedication, discipline and competitive success this season.
“This ranking is a testament to the relentless work these athletes have put in since day one,” Stewart said. “They’ve earned national respect, but they’re not done yet.”
On April 4, the OCHS rowing team was invited to compete at the second of five weekly invitational races hosted by the St. Andrews School – a private boarding school located in Townsend, Del. Teams from across the country travel to Delaware to compete in weekly races held on Noxontown Pond, which is located right on the St. Andrews campus. It’s a prestigious event, where the host school, St. Andrews, invites the best crews to compete against them based on their results from the previous seasons, according to Stewart.
That week, Ocean City was the only public school invited to compete against rowing power houses National Cathedral and St. Andrews, as well as Sidwell Friends and the Lawrenceville School.
The girls senior eight continued their winning season with a dominant 8-second win over St. Andrews. This marks the first time that an Ocean City girls senior eight has ever won at one of the St. Andrews Invitational Races, Stewart reported.
He said it was “a fantastic day for the program. It was a great honor for us to just be invited to a race of this caliber. Ocean City has been here a handful of times over the years, even a few times when I was rowing here. To walk away with a great team wide performance, as well as our first win in the senior eight category, is extremely encouraging as we prepare for the championship season next month. We’re happy with the performance but know we’ve got room to improve.”
The Raiders freshmen eight had a close race against National Cathedral coming short of the win by 2 seconds but beating third place Sidwell by 17.8 seconds and both St. Andrews crews and Lawrenceville. The OCHS crew consisted of Taylor Dillucia, Holly Delong, Zoey Fasy, Ava Cera, Noelle Nnewihe, Gabby Doyle, Cori Hemberger, Noelle McAnney and coxswain Allie Garrabrant.
The girls third eight wrapped up the day with a second-place finish, only losing to St. Andrews. The Crew consisted of Maddie Farkas, Charlotte LaFerriere, Sam Duffey, Camilla Yoders, Cailyn Dunn, Olivia Farkas, Luna Taraborrelli, Mary Jo Libro and coxswain Brooke Delanzo.
The varsity eight started the season in March with a strong win at the Lenape Sprints, beating Mainland Regional and Atlantic City crews.
Coming up are the New Jersey State Championships April 25 on the Cooper River, the City Championships on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia May 2 and 3, the Mother’s Day Regatta May 10 at Lake Lenape and the Stotesbury Cup Regatta May 15-16 on the Schuylkill.
Each event presents an opportunity for OCHS to solidify its standing among the nation’s best and build toward peak performance.
As the team prepares for a potential run at the National Championship in Tennessee, Ocean City Crew is inviting the community to be part of the journey in a unique way — by helping name the varsity eight boat that will represent OCHS on the national stage.
Details on how to submit name suggestions and participate will be announced soon, giving supporters a chance to leave their mark on this historic season.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
