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Postscript from the Office of Advancement:
By Chris McManes
DeMatha Communications Manager
Back on April 19, DeMatha rowing coach Rich Blorstad ’10 took me out on the Anacostia River during the Battle of Bladensburg. What a thrill to be on the water while Rich was directing his team to several victories.
I wasn’t with the club in Philadelphia on Saturday to see the Varsity 4+ become the first DeMatha boat to win the Kings Club Cup as Senior 4+ champions of the Stotesbury Cup Regatta. But I’ve enjoyed hearing and reading about it.
No scholastic rowing event is bigger than the “Stotes.” Last week’s 99th edition featured nearly 800 entries from 160 schools across the United States and Canada. More than 5,000 athletes participated. Winning one of these races is truly a national championship.
After advancing through Friday’s time trials, DeMatha placed second in Saturday morning’s semifinals. The six-boat final that afternoon came against strong headwinds and whitecaps along the Schuylkill River.
While some teams would struggle to race under such conditions, the Stags were well prepared. Coach Blorstad recalled a March 28 regatta on Lake Lenape in Mays Landing, N.J.
“The boys were joking that the lake looked like the Atlantic Ocean,” Rich recalled from his Cross Center office Tuesday. “A lot of teams backed out, but we decided we were going to go for it. We practiced and raced through those conditions all season.
“So, when we got to the Schuylkill River for the final and the wind had picked up, our guys had no problem. They were able to fare the bad conditions and make it work and not be offset too much.
“Whereas every other team, I think, had not had that same adversity throughout the season.”
DeMatha’s title-winning team of seniors Joey Pla (coxswain) and Matthew Akonnor, and juniors Michael Lewis, Josiah Henson and Eli Cummins are having a great season, including, among others, winning the Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Rowing Association championship on May 3.
“It just goes to show our school and the rest of our team how important hard work and diligence is,” Rich said. “The guys that won the Stotes championship spent countless hours outside of our practice with fitness, doing what we call ‘steady state,’ which is long endurance training.
“So, during the race, every time another team tried to make a move on us, we had better fitness and were able to hold everybody off. And that is exactly why this group was so successful.”
The final Stotesbury sprint resulted in a photo finish. St. Joseph’s Prep, racing on their home waterway, raised their arms in triumph thinking they had won. Not so fast, gentlemen.
The young men who train on the Anacostia and on rowing machines in the Looney Convocation Center crossed the finish line first in 5:37.13 to edge the Philadelphia school by .11 of a second.
For bow man Matthew Akonnor, it was his fourth Stotesbury Cup and only the third time the Stags had ever made a final in a senior event.
“It was amazing,” Matthew told row2K. “At 1,000 meters we made a move, and we were just flying from there.
“It’s the first Stotes championship we’ve ever won, so this is going to be big. It’s going to set the standard for next year. Hopefully, we’ll get some more championships in the future. It’s just an amazing feeling.”
On to Another National Regatta
DeMatha’s Varsity 4+ and Junior 4+ left Wednesday for the SRAA National Championship Regatta on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. It will feature teams from as far away as Canada and San Diego. Event winners are recognized as North American Champions.
Rich, who succeeded Andrew Bright ’03 as head coach in 2023, is feeling good about his two boats chances to medal in eastern Tennessee. It’s why they’re driving nine-and-a-half hours – with an overnight stay in Bristol, Va. – to compete in one of the most scenic areas of the country.
“We don’t go this far for a meet unless we think we can at least make the semifinals,” he said.
Let’s make another big splash, fellas.
Go Stags!
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