Ocean City Beach Patrol wins surf dash, 2nd in paddleboard, 2nd overall; Sea Isle City Beach Patrol is third
LONGPORT — The Avalon Beach Patrol placed in every event to win the 26th Longport Women’s Lifeguard Invitational amid choppy seas July 9 at 33rd Avenue. The Ocean City Beach Patrol was a close second.
Regan McDonnell won the singles row and took third place in the doubles row with sister Molly McDonnell for the ABP, which earned 22 points.
“The team showed up a lot. We are really excited about the women this year. We’ve been training really hard so it’s great to have that pay off,” McDonnell said of the team win.
Paddleboarder Alyssa Sittineri was third, as was the surf dash team of Caroline Gallagher, Maddy Hippensteal, MacKenna Finnegan and Sarah Powell. Becca Cubbler was fourth in the swim to complete the scoring for Avalon.
The OCBP scored 18 points and Sea Isle City was third with 13 points. Longport also had 13 points but Sea Isle placed better in the doubles row, the tiebreaker, to secure third place.
A dozen of the 15 beach patrols that comprise the South Jersey Lifeguard Chiefs Association sent teams. Patrols from Avalon, Atlantic City, Brigantine, Longport, Margate, Ocean City, Sea Isle City, Upper Township, Ventnor, North Wildwood, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest competed in five events: doubles row, swim, singles row, paddleboard and surf dash relay.
Points were awarded for six places: first gets 7 points, second 5 points down to sixth with 1 point.
The Upper Township Beach Patrol duo of Kailey Grimley and Lorna Connell won the doubles row (11:10) in the newly dedicated boat’s first race, taking 7 points. (See related story, page A1.)
“We’ve been working really hard,” Grimley said. “We were competing with Ventnor to the flag and then we passed them and turned the flag first.”
“We’ve been really excited for this moment; it’s really awesome to be here with all these ladies and really show that female guards are strong and capable of doing this,” Connell said.
They were followed by twins Molly and Maura Quinn of Sea Isle City (11:30) and the McDonnell sisters (11:41), who picked up an important 4 points for Avalon.
“I feel like my course could have been better but it’s a good start,” Molly Quinn said, noting it’s the girls’ second year rowing together.
Longport Beach Patrol, the defending champions, got a repeat performance out of its swimmers in the next event. Megan Fox (11:38) and Jordan Ricciotti (11:57) again finished 1-2, taking a big 12 points and the lead in the competition.
“It was a lot harder than I thought it would be; it was very rough out there and visibility was slim so I kind of just followed the pack on my way out and did my best on the way in,” said Fox, an Atlantic City High School graduate who attends Rutgers University. “We train on the same club team, so we do really push each other at club practices. Other than that we get really motivated for each other at these races.”
“This is our beach patrol’s race so try to get 1-2 and keep it like that as long as we can,” said Ricciotti, a recent graduate of Mainland Regional High School.
OCBP’s Summer Dewitt (12:03) was third and teammate Rhylee Cornell (12:32) fifth for a combined 6 points. Avalon’s Cubbler was fourth (12:06) to add 3 to the ABP’s total.
“It knew it was going to be a fun one because I knew everyone swimming it so I was definitely excited to swim. Last year I got seventh place and this year third, so it’s a big improvement,” Dewitt said.
She said she was battling with Cubbler the entire way back to the beach.
“It was just a big race between us two and I ended up catching a wave. Credit goes to her too because it was not an easy race; it was rough out there but was definitely really fun,” Dewitt said.
Cornell said it’s difficult to transition from a pool swimmer to an ocean swimmer.
“On the way out I tried to swim with the pack but on the way in I put my jets on and just sprinted as hard as I could,” she said, noting it was her first race as a rookie.
Regan McDonnell led the singles row from near the flag to the finish, taking first place in 5:35 and 7 points. She was followed by Julianna Granese of the Atlantic City Beach Patrol (5:59) and Sam Keough of the Ventnor City Beach Patrol (6:01).
McDonnell said the conditions were “a little choppy but nothing too bad,” noting it was her first competitive race for the patrol.
“The whole beach patrol has been really helpful in teaching me. This is my first year racing for Avalon in the boats, so this is my first official race and it’s so much fun,” she said.
McDonnell said Longport’s Lauren Fox got a quick start and flew ahead but that she caught her by the flag.
“That was great, that was a lot of fun. It’s nice to have my friends here supporting me and it’s great to row with my sister and have her cheering for me,” the 23-year-old said.
Unfortunately for Fox, she did not make it back to the beach in her boat. She got sideways on a wave and flipped into the water, but was not injured.
“Coming in I saw the wave and decided to keep on rowing but it was not in my favor,” she said. “Normally you are supposed to lean into the wave but the boat was already spinning me and when I tried to lean I slipped off my seat.”
In a repeat of last year, Brigantine Beach Patrol guard Grace Emig (5:26) won the paddleboard race, topping the OCBP’s Lexi Santer (5:50). Avalon’s Sittineri took third (6:06).
“This is always fun. I’m always pushed by the other competition,” Emig said. “I know Lexi Santer is an absolute animal and I love racing with her. I have been racing with her since I was 17 and I’m 25 now.”
She said the pair has gone back and forth with wins over the years.
“She’s my favorite person to race with and she always pushing me,” Emig added.
Santer said it was a difficult race.
“I felt like I had a pretty good start and then right there, Grace from Brigantine was right with me. She’s a beast, man, she’s been doing a whole bunch of different paddles,” Santer said. “I was just trying to stay close to her as long as I could.”
The final event was the surf dash, which required the guards to race out into the ocean trailing a flotation device known as a can, touch their buoy on a rope and sprint back to tag their teammate.
Avalon was clearly in the lead following the first two legs but the OCBP’s Morgan Decosta owned the third leg, putting Santer in great position to take the 7 points. Chloe Care and Claudia Booth ran the first two legs.
“I got really lucky with the conditions that I had. I caught a wave going in. I think that really sealed the deal for me,” Decosta said. “Then Santer finished it off like a rocket.”
“We can always rely on her to get us the lead,” Santer said of Decosta. “I just had to maintain that gap that she made.”
Care, a rising senior at Ocean City High School, and Booth, a new graduate of Mainland Regional High School, faced each other on the track this past season. Both ran distance races, but now are enjoying competing together.
“Me and Claudia are rivals usually – Mainland and Ocean City – but when worlds collide, we do good,” Care said, laughing.
Margate’s Isabella Iordanov, Kamryn Smallwood, Julianna Duff and Callie Duff took second place and Avalon was third.
– STORY by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
