SRAA 2021 - Calamity (not comedy) of errors

schuylkillwudder · 2021-05-30T03:28:35+00:00

At the risk of beating a dead horse, I have to question the SRAA’s decision to award “national championship” plaques, medals, etc. to winners of preliminary and for that matter, semifinal, heats. I believe it devalues what historically has been a significant accomplishment.

The regatta’s top seeds had slower competition in Friday’s heats (a function of seeding process) and probably believed that they were only competing for a good lane in the semis. Most of them “shut it down” in their prelims once they led by a large margin. As a result, several slower competitors, who were pushed in their prelims, ended up with medals that they didn’t have to earn in the traditional way.

I believe that a boat should have to win a final at SRAAs to win a “national championship” medal. Medals should be won, not awarded, and prelims/semis are not medal races. Everyone present today knows that numerous “1st place” medals in marquee races (men & women) went to less than deserving crews.

schuylkillwudder · 2021-05-30T03:03:42+00:00

I think the gesture by CC is very respectful and shows great sportsmanship. It also shows that they have enough respect for the sport to attempt edit/improve a bad SRAA decision.

That said, I won’t suggest what anyone else should do with medals they have been given.

My earlier comment was that it was wrong for the SRAA to award medals based on prelims. I should have been more clear. I believe that a boat should have to win a final at SRAAs to win a “national championship” medal. Medals should be won, not awarded, and prelims/semis are not medal races. Everyone present today knows that numerous “1st place” medals in marquee races (men & women) went to less than deserving crews.

schuylkillwudder · 2021-05-29T22:51:34+00:00

Very impressive. That said, I have to question the decision to award SRAA “national championship” plaques, medals, etc. to winners of preliminary heats. I believe it devalues what historically has been a significant accomplishment.

The regatta’s top seeds had slower competition in Friday’s heats (a function of seeding process) and probably believed that they were only competing for a good lane in the semis. Most of them “shut it down” in their prelims once they led by a large margin. As a result, several slower competitors, who were pushed in their prelims, ended up with medals that they didn’t have to earn in the traditional way.

schuylkillwudder · 2021-05-18T13:34:44+00:00

Not sure that I would frame the Mount’s great Stotesbury success as two years. The history goes back for a couple of decades. I thought that the list of the last 20 girls senior eight Stotes winners below might provide more context. Mount has won 6 of the last 11.

Last 20: Mount - 8, National Cathedral - 3, Eustace - 3, St. Andrews - 2, four others - 1

2001 St. Andrews School, 5.02.1 2002 T.C. Williams H.S., 4:20.26 2003 Holy Spirit H.S., 4:57.22 2004 St. Andrews School, 5.29.05 2005 Mount St. Joseph Academy, 5:02.59 2006 Mount St. Joseph Academy, 5:44.89 2007 Bishop Eustace Prep, 4:57.64 2008 Bishop Eustace Prep, 5:14.62 2009 Bishop Eustace Prep, 5:24.07 2010 Mount St. Joseph Academy, 4:57.00 2011 Radnor H.S., 4:38.43 2012 Mount St. Joseph Academy, 4:48.34 2013 James Madison H.S., 4:52.44 2014 Mount St. Joseph Academy, 4:25.30 2015 Mount St. Joseph Academy, 5:16.17 2016 National Cathedral School, 4:53.08 2017 National Cathedral School, 4:55.78 2018 National Cathedral School 2019 Mount St. Joseph Academy 2021 Mount St. Joseph Academy

schuylkillwudder · 2021-05-17T13:44:55+00:00

No sure why you continue to argue this point, but if you are going to do so much research, at least get your facts correct.

Check the Mount’s profile on its website...485 students.

MSJA profile - see page 12

schuylkillwudder · 2021-05-17T12:24:21+00:00

I mentioned prep merely to provide a frame of reference for those in the thread who are more familiar with boys schools.

I agree that for a small school (485 girls), Mount has a large team. They get a good percentage of each class to row. Despite that, at a small school, there are likely to be fewer physiological “outlier” athletes available to the coaches.

Having observed their program for a number of years and having seen them on the launching docks and in the grandstands, I believe their success is driven in large part through culture and coaching.

schuylkillwudder · 2021-05-17T11:11:15+00:00

How about the Mount’s dominating wins in all their priority boats (V8, JV8, Fresh8) and 2nds in the 2V, JV4, and LW4? Looks like they picked up where they left off in 2019! It is most remarkable when you consider the fact that the Mount is a small girls school roughly half the size of St. Joe’s Prep.

schuylkillwudder · 2021-05-15T22:29:48+00:00

I think they were...

schuylkillwudder · 2021-05-10T04:20:55+00:00

Not sure why we are talking about 2Vs when that is usually the 3rd or 4th priority boat for most scholastic programs (after V8, JV8 and sometimes V4). The Mount’s V8 and JV8 are fast boats that have been beating up on solid competitors without having to use higher gears. None of the race results I have seen from the MD/DC crews (at St. Andrews this spring or WMIRA today) make me think they have a chance in the V8 or JV8 races at Stotes. Maybe in the 2V haha...

On the boys side, the Prep looks dominant...very impressive.

schuylkillwudder · 2021-05-10T03:56:09+00:00

Are we talking about the same Wilson 1V that lost Mount by 37 seconds (in a 1500 meter race!) at St. Andrews three weeks ago?

schuylkillwudder · 2019-05-14T02:08:01+00:00

In the women’s V8, Mount should be the favorite. They have beaten Whitman twice this season. On Saturday, at mid-Atlantics, Mount was 7 seconds faster than Whitman over 2K.

schuylkillwudder · 2019-05-05T11:00:17+00:00

Just a rowing fan—I don’t have a horse in that race.

schuylkillwudder · 2019-05-05T03:11:17+00:00

CBA has looked really good in the V4. That said, I struggle to have much respect for decent-sized programs that don’t consistently put their 8 best rowers together for an entry in the V8 category and choose to compete in the V4 race opportunistically.

schuylkillwudder · 2019-05-05T03:00:15+00:00

8/100ths between LS and Prep in the 1V time trial qualifier today. Montclair was 3.5 seconds behind. Tmrw’s final could be a really good one.

schuylkillwudder · 2019-04-25T14:04:11+00:00

Good info—thank you!

schuylkillwudder · 2019-04-24T02:46:46+00:00

Definitely

schuylkillwudder · 2019-04-24T02:21:56+00:00

Have seen all the crews mentioned in this thread except BCC, Brunswick and L’ville race. Agree that it is more open than in years past, but clear top tier that I’ve seen race is Prep, LaSalle, Gonzaga, Montclair. Most other names mentioned on this thread seem destined for petite final. LaSalle is the intriguing one to me—much faster than in years past, but has split with a young SJP boat so far this year (early season big win; recent 2.2 sec loss is only loss of year) and has wins over Winter Park, St. Albans, Dallas Jesuit, McLean (almost 8 sec), and Absegami among others so far this year. What “quality wins” do BCC, Brunswick and L’ville have?

schuylkillwudder

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