ORCHARD LAKE-- Orchard Lake offers St. Mary's Prep students a scenic view on the south side of their campus. But for the members of the St. Mary's rowing team, the lake isn't merely decorative, it's functional. Not only is St. Mary's one of a handful of Michigan high schools that boasts a crew team, but the school has dominated the local rowing competition, winning the state's championship regatta, the Hebda Cup, for 11 years in a row.

"Every year we have about 60 guys on the team," says crew coach Mike German. "We have a lot of guys who row all four years through high school. There's a great tradition at the school, and alumni come back to the boathouse all the time, just to see how we're doing. So it's definitely part of the St. Mary's fabric."

German says the team attracts "hard-working athletes, guys that know that if they put in the time, they'll be able to be successful."

Asked what skills a strong rower needs, German responds, "Stamina is a big one. And strength. Willingness to do the training, basically. Guys who work hard tend to be successful."

The Eaglets must have quite a few hard workers because they've enjoyed plenty of success over the years. And this season is no exception. In addition to winning the Hebda Cup, St. Mary's placed third in the Midwest championships, to earn a place in this weekend's Scholastic Rowing Association event, the national championships, in Princeton, N.J.

But German isn't certain how to assess his competition this weekend.

"The Nationals will be very interesting because we don't see any of the competition," German explains. "Most of the strong teams in high school rowing are from the east coast - Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., the Boston area - so it's going to be kind of up in the air. If we make the finals, we'll consider it a great victory for us. To be in the top six in the country would be great for us."

St. Mary's third-place finish at the Midwest competition matched last year's effort.

"This year I'd say we're actually a little stronger," German adds. "Our depth is a little better. We had a very good Varsity Eight last year, but across the board we weren't as strong. This year I think our depth is much better."

The Varsity Eight, which includes each school's top rowers, is the marquee event of any high school crew regatta. St. Mary's most successful boat at the Midwest championship was the Junior Eight, in which all competitors are juniors, or younger. The St. Mary's Junior Eight was the team's only victor at the Midwest. The winning crew included coxswain Mike Moran and rowers Jonathan Misch, Tim Simon, Scott Catanzaro, John Conners, Justin Summers, James Shubert, Chad Cummings and Stuart Langner.

St. Mary's Novice Four and Lightweight 4 boats won silver medals at the Midwest, while the Novice Lightweight Four and Junior Four both took bronzes.

Additionally, "our freshman squad, our lightweight squad and our heavyweight squad were all pretty solid competitors," German adds.

The Eaglets will finish their season with the Canadian championships, in St. Catherine's, Ont., June 2-4. Regardless of the event's name, it's open to schools of any nationality. St. Mary's will be one of about 20 U.S. teams that will compete with over 100 Canadian schools at the regatta.