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6/10/10 Rowing
State title just the beginning of a St. Mary's re-emergence
By ALEX DROPKIN
Special to The Oakland Press
ORCHARD LAKE -- While to many, winning a championship at any level of competition is the pinnacle of success, for Orchard Lake St. Mary's crew head coach Michael Pricer, the team's sweep of the 2010 Michigan Scholastic Regatta is just a stepping stone on the path towards a reemergence of St. Mary's rowing.
“We set out this year to really try to establish the program as what it used to be. Back in the late '80s and early '90s, this program was pretty dominant, and then in the last 10 years, it's kind of fallen off, so this year's been really about a rebirth, a restart so to speak, about what Orchard Lake St. Mary's rowing really represents,” Pricer said. “At the regatta, I actually had some coaches come up to me and say, ‘It's nice to have the old Orchard Lake back.' ”
For St. Mary's, despite winning 17 of the past 18 state championships, this past regatta, held on May 15 in Grand Rapids, was the first sanctioned championship regatta in which all 24 Michigan high school rowing teams were represented.
“That's what made it unique. It was really the first time where we could legitimately call it a state championship,” Pricer said.
The Eaglets not only finished first in the men's category, winning the total points trophy, but also won the combined points trophy, for the team that scores the most points in the men's and women's categories combined — and St. Mary's doesn't even have a women's team.
“These boys performed beautifully, and they supported each other beyond any of our coaches' expectations and, ultimately that's the reason why we won,” Pricer said. “If you don't believe in yourself, you're not going to win anything, and I think that not only did they believe in themselves, they believed in each other.”
Pricer attributed this overwhelming success to a sense of unity shared among both the coaches and the boys. Team captain Zack Seelig echoed Pricer's sentiments.
“We've really been focusing on ... everybody has their own roles, and we have to be able to do our own roles and support each other in group efforts like winning a state championship,” Seelig said. “That's what it comes down to, because if we're not all working towards it, it's not going to happen.”
Already this season, the team placed second at the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Championship May 8-9, finishing just 10 points behind first-place New Trier High School, from Winnetka, Ill.
“This year, we set out to try to win (the Midwest Championship) and we almost did. Our goal next year will be to win. States will be now an expectation, and Midwests will absolutely be the goal,” Pricer said. “If we ever come across a crew that is fast enough, the premier race to ever go to would be the (Henry Royal Regatta) in England. That is where the essence of the sport exists. It all started there.”
Though the expectations are high, the team members agreed that not only have they gotten used to the expectations, but have also thrived on them.
“It almost becomes a lifestyle. You're here every morning ... at (3:00 p.m.) going late into the evening. Every day it's constant work, but you're always pushing for something,” junior Kevin Manz said. “The one thing is, we push ourselves every day and (the success) is just making it worth it.”
This past weekend, the Eaglets competed at the CSSRA (Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association) Championship Regatta, one of the premier North American championship regattas. Though it was the last race of the season, the successes, as well as the aspirations of Pricer and the team, have certainly not come to an end.
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