"We think the key to success is high mileage," said Galloway, who said the teams still do a minimum of 12 miles a day on the Schuylkill. "We don't do high stroke ratings until late in the season."
The boys' varsity quad is among the many Shipley boats that has benefited from the work. Tim Dittmann, a member of the junior national team who is headed to Princeton; senior Nate O'Connor, junior Alex Barton, and senior Sergei Bourlatskii are the principal members.
Galloway says he has also been pleased with the varsity four of seniors Adam Dougherty (Michigan), Chris Riley, Ian Lindvig, Ryan North, and coxswain Scott Pierce (Williams College).
Similarly, Doyle's girls are also rowing a capable quad and four. Both boats won in the fourth Manny Flick Regatta on April 8. Seniors Danielle Markel, Sarah Schneider (Hamilton), Anne Schmidt, and Tucker Bittel (Princeton) row the four with freshman coxswain Caroline Smith. The quad consists of juniors Hadley Wilmerding, Mary Hanna, Lindsay Waltman, and Erika Dykes.
"It's unusual to have that many girls that are that good," Doyle said. "We're pretty excited about them."
Prep in position. St. Joseph's Prep has 120 boys out for crew, but coach Bill Lamb said it's not simply about being a member of a winning program.
"It's not participatory, it's very achievement-oriented," said Lamb, whose varsity eight was a champion in the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta last year. "It's a super competitive environment. It brings out the best and worst in people, but it brings out natural selection. By structure, we teach some life lessons."
The Hawklets' varsity eight is strong once again. The junior-varsity eight is undefeated heading into Sunday's fifth Manny Flick. The sophomore-dominated boat includes Bryn Mawr's Paul DiMaggio, Havertown's Andrew Ross, and Berwyn's Brendan Stallard.
"They were all in the freshman eight last year and had a tough year because they got a late start," Lamb said. "They jelled together late last year."
The varsity eight will row Saturday at St. Andrew's (Del.) and in the Manny Flick on Sunday.
WYRA launches season. The Wilmington Youth Rowing Association (WYRA) - which features West Chester Henderson's Kelly McGrorey, Christina Berry and Jim Lyons - hosts the Wilmington Regatta on at 9 a.m. Saturday. It's the team's first official competition of the spring.
McGrorey and Berry are likely to row on the girls' varsity eight.
"The team we have now is one of the strongest that WYRA has ever had," McGrorey said.
Two of the reasons are Berry and McGrorey, the latter of whom signed for a full scholarship with Syracuse University on Sunday. She chose Syracuse over Michigan, Boston University and George Washington.
Miller to Miami. Harriton senior Liz Miller has accepted a partial scholarship to attend the University of Miami. Miller picked Miami over Kansas, Syracuse and Wisconsin.
In addtion to rowing on Harriton's varsity four with senior Sarah Simon and juniors Emily Fenkle, Sam Berman and Heather Filoon, Miller is rowing a single this year. She has placed second in one Manny Flick this season and third in another.
Ira Josephs' e-mail address is ijosephs@phillynews.com.
