Traditions Summer 2006.indd - Junipero Serra High School

Serra Crew celebrates with a “Padre Whisper” Kirk Halterman ‘06 - Men’s Single Rowing ChampionSouthwest Regional Junior Crew Regatta at Lake NatomaCoach Cunningham & Alex Pan “07“Ladies and Gentlemen, there’s ‘open water’ between Serra and the nextgroup of boats,” shouted the announcer from the top of the hill overlookingLake Natoma at the regional Southwest Junior Rowing Championships(SWJRC) held in May. As tears streamed down the beaming face of rowerBrian Dunn’s mother, Anne Dunn, she turned to the novice parents in thegroup and explained that four years ago, when Brian first started rowing,the announcer usually told the crowd there was “open water” in front ofSerra. “It’s unbelievable how far they’ve come,” Anne said proudly.Serra qualified two boats for the National Junior Championships this pastJune for the first time since crew became an autonomous varsity teamin 2002. The Lightweight Eight, with a silver medal at regionals, and agold medal senior in the single, advanced to the national championship inCincinnati, Ohio, and returned as the 4th and 6th best teams in the nation,respectively. These wins capped off an impressive year for the crew teamand their coaches Cassandra Cunningham, Jon McDougall, Rich Tzengand Pierre Idiart. Atthe Southwest JuniorRegional Championships,with teams fromWashington to Arizonacompeting to be thebest in the west, Serraalso won a gold inthe Men’s JV Four, abronze in the Men’sJV Eight, a bronze inthe Men’s FreshmanEight, a silver in theFrosh Four A boat andBronze in the FroshFour B boat.Earlier in the fall season,Serra crew competed in several “Head Races.” These races are 6 kilometerslong (approximately 2.5 – 3 miles) with starts staggered at ten-secondintervals. The course usually includes several turns and bridges whichmakes passing difficultand exciting. The fallseason included a trip tothe prestigious Head ofthe Charles Regatta inBoston, a trip to Seattlefor the Head of theLake competition, andtwo races in Sacramento-- the Head of theAmerican and the Headof the Port.After an intense wintertraining season, andAN INCREDIBLE SEASON FOR SERRA CREW by Carol PanLightweight Eight (L to R) Matt Levin, Billy Scherba,Dante Ciardi, Mike Verdone, Jeremy Lazzara,Brian Dunn, Pat Stumbaugh, Beau Ramsey,and Mike KellyJV Four (L to R:) Nick Sammut, Anthony Heimuli,Mario Morales, Andrew Gregg, and Tony Scherbamany more hours on the newly donated “ergs” in the weight room,the team competed at the Peninsula Indoor Rowing Championships inBurlingame, where Serra was well represented.The spring rowing season started in early March with a RedwoodShores invitational, where the team swept the competition in almostevery race. Later that month, the JV Eight placed second at the CrewClassic - a nationwideevent held inSan Diego. Theseason continuedwith league racesagainst Marin, St.Ignatius, OaklandJV Eight (L to R:) Coach Cunningham, Bryce Welsh,Nick Sammut, Ryan Borg, Tony Scherba, Alex Pan,Anthony Heimuli, Vinny Ciardi, Gavin Callies,and Andrew GreggStrokes, CapitalCrew, Los Gatosand River City.The Novice teamhad their firsttraveling experiencein late April whenthey, along withthe JV three boat,competed at theLong Beach Invitationaland wenthome with a gold in the Freshman Four, a silver in the JV Four and asilver in the Men’s Single.Success on the water has translated to success in the quest for acceptancesto top colleges. Most of the senior rowers will continue to row incollege and have been accepted to schools such as Columbia University,U. C. Berkeley, U.C. Davis, Northeastern University, Gonzaga and theUniversity of San Francisco.The coaches, school and especially the parents are all proud of howhard these boys have worked throughout the long rowing season.The 5:15a.m. earlymorning practicesand hours on the“ergs” have paid off.Congratulations ona great season andwe look forward toseeing them raceagain next year Ifyou like waking upearly on week-endmornings, we inviteyou to come to oneof the races andcheer the team on.Frosh Eight ( L to R:) Coach McDougall, TommyStogel, Aaron Gonzales, Nathan Lucero,Jon Bruno, Zach Felise, Joey Petrick,Matt Chan, Ongley Ocon, Cameron Woods,and Coach Pierre Idiart ‘03