ORCHARD LAKE ─ For decades, the boys at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, until recently an all-male high school, ruled the world of campus athletics, particularly since the pandemic, with national, state, and Catholic High School League championships.
Four years ago, girls were welcomed to St. Mary’s student population, a seismic shift in the institution’s 139-year history. It wasn’t long before the boys heard cheering, but it wasn’t for anything they accomplished. The girls have won CHSL championships in basketball (reaching the state regional level), soccer and volleyball.
And, yet, there is a sport on campus in which a hundred or so of their classmates participate and, over the past 40 years, have won international, national and state acclaim and have received nary a “Yea!” for their accomplishments.
Rowing was introduced in 1976 through the efforts of Judd Ross, former coach at the Detroit Club, and John “Laddie” LeBlanc, who volunteered and developed the program from 1978 to 1996. He was succeeded by Kevin Van Houten, who led the team to a second-place runner-up by half a boat at the 1998 Henley Royal Regatta, a world-famous international event held annually in England.
Chris Czarnecki is in his 21st year as head coach. He has a staff of a dozen coaches, four of whom are full-time, nine of whom are alumni rowers. Their combined scorecard shows four U. S. national titles, three Canadian national titles, and 27 state championships in addition to four wins in the annual “Laddie’s Cup” invitational St. Mary’s has hosted since 2010.
Czarnecki, who rowed at Grand Valley State and is the chair of the English Department at St. Mary’s, thinks he’ll have about 80 rowers this year, 50 boys and 30 girls.
“The kids work hard year-round,” Czarnecki said. “Summer is pretty light.” Yet they show up for 6 a.m. workouts 3 to 4 days a week. On the day of this interview, “We had nine boats in the water. They’re putting in the miles. I’m sitting in the coach’s launch giving them ideas to think about, letting them know when they got the stroke right. Did you feel it come out of the water smoothly? There’s a lot to it.”
Rowing is a kind of year-round sport. “August to October, it’s on-water, long-distance training,” explained Don Wright, the girls coach. “November and December, we stay inside. January to March weight training and lots of rowing machine work developing techniques. All in preparation for the regional, state, and national championships in May and June.
“Workouts are six days a week,” Wright said, “3 or 4 at 5:15 in the morning, 2 or 3 in the afternoon after classes. We have to be on the water in the mornings when the water is more likely to be calm. Afternoons tend to be windier. Mornings are better for our coaches, too, who have to get to their jobs.”
“You have to give up a lot to do this well,” Czarnecki said. “We’ve had great kids who are coachable, who have a high level of investment, who really care to excel at it. On the other side of the coin, we’ve always had coaches who are deeply invested in this, too.”
He had high praise, too, for the parents. “It’s not an easy undertaking getting their kids here in the mornings or preparing food for the weekend meets. Their support is critical.”
About the girls rowing, Czarnecki said, “There are so many scholarship opportunities for girls who are athletic via rowing. To have access to this sport in high school is an absolute godsend.” Three senior rowers will be moving on to the collegiate level this fall: Isabella Cooper (Clemson University), Reece McNutt (University of Notre Dame), and Addison Selby (Duquesne University).
The girls Junior 4+ team won a pair of first-ever gold medals. The crew of Maddie Curtin, Ava Gallegos, Gia Tanguay, Nika Ladoszensky and Sadie Ross won at the Canadian Secondary Schools regatta at St. Catharines, Ontario. A crew composed of Ellie Azzato, Siena Smith, Chloe Filiatraut, Ashley Hegedus, Ross and Ladoszensky won at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America national championships in Camden, New Jersey.
The boys and girls crews combined to win the state championship for the 27th time. The boys placed in the top 8 in 14 events, including five firsts, and the girls boats placed in 11 events, including six firsts.
Wright, who was voted the Women’s Coach of the Year by the Michigan Scholastic Rowing Association, said the girls were “incredibly motivated, incredibly competitive. They were no shrinking violets.”
The association also voted St. Mary’s the “Most Improved Team” based upon “their performance throughout all levels of competition” compared to a year ago.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected]
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