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From Agony To Ecstasy, St. Joe's Women Rowed Henley With A Little Help From Dad Vail
 The Dad Vail Regatta Organizing Committee (DVROC) has a tradition of sponsoring crews to compete at the fabled Henley Regatta on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England. Last year, the men's varsity eight from Brock University and the women's varsity eight from Saint Joseph's University made the trip abroad. It's the ultimate joy for any coach to tell his or her crew that they will compete at Henley. This is Saint Joseph's story ... As an elated women's varsity eight from Drexel University rowed out from the awards dock at the 2010 Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta with shining bronze medals, the Hawks from Saint Joseph's University pulled in downtrodden. Like proud parents, Saint Joseph's head coach Gerry Quinlan and athletic director Don DiJulia awaited the boat's arrival to the dock. Silver medals and congratulatory handshakes needed to be given out. The nine faces looking up at them from the Hawks' shell were not what they expected to see. "It looked like someone killed their puppy," Quinlan remembers. Seeing the somber faces, DiJulia turned to Quinlan and asked, "What's wrong with them?" "They expected to win," Quinlan said, "and they realize deep down that they just lost a trip to Henley." Quinlan brought his 2006 Dad Vail gold-medal winning V8 to Henley and knew exactly what his team would miss out on. The winning varsity eight from Sacramento State would instead be the boat cashing in on a trip to the 2010 Henley Royal Regatta. Looking at his Hawks, DiJulia turned back to Quinlan and responded, "How much? How much will it cost?" Quinlan gave DiJulia a ballpark-number and the following day a fervent fundraising campaign began to fly the Hawks to Henley. Per NCAA rules, schools that compete at Henley must wait at least four years to return. Since Saint Joseph's had not been to the River Thames since 2006, the program was eligible. Thus, some donations began coming in, but there was much to be done. Then ... it happened. "We got the call from the people at Dad Vail that Sacramento State wasn't going to go, so they were going to award the airline tickets and the lodging to the second-place team — that was us," Quinlan said recently, recalling the episode. "It was nice that we didn't have to have a call-a-thon to get them over there," added DiJulia with an accompanying laugh. As the discussions between the Dad Vail Regatta Organizing Committee and Saint Joseph's occurred behind drawn curtains, the nine members of the Hawks' varsity eight waited anxiously. Classes were over so the team went its separate ways, but everyone clung to hope that a trip to Henley could still be on the horizon. "Every day either myself or one of the other captains, Christina DiSanto or Colleen Greway, was communicating with Gerry," remembers Danielle Brady, then a junior tri-captain on the varsity eight. "For about three days it was, ‘Oh, could this be the phone call?' and we'd get on the phone and Gerry would say, ‘Well, they don't know yet.' It was really tough not knowing." Finally, though, the moment came. Crowded inside a bedroom in an Atlantic City, N.J., shore house, Brady, DiSanto, Greway and another senior, Tina Regan, encircled a cell phone. Quinlan was put on speaker phone. After a pause, the coach cooly announced, "Get your passports." Instant pandemonium. "We started jumping on the beds and hitting the walls," Brady says. "It was madness. It was like we won the Super Bowl and we were going to Disney World. Then we made sure to call to everybody and within 10 minutes the whole team knew. Brady had the privilege of calling her pair partner, senior Colleen Smith, who would join the trip as an alternate. "You could feel her smiling across the line," Brady says. Just like that, a year's worth of work was paid off tenfold. "We talked about (going to Henley) the first day of practice in September and then I told the girls that we weren't going to talk about it again," Quinlan says. "They knew it was on the table all year." Two weeks after the Hawks in Atlantic City hit the jackpot, Saint Joseph's varsity eight landed in England and stayed in a house provided by Dad Vail's title sponsor, Aberdeen Asset Management. Ultimately, the Hawks were edged by Grand Valley State in a razor-close race and fell short of advancing at Henley. Ultimately, however, a season that nearly ended with second-place pain at Dad Vail, instead ended with memories to last a lifetime. "It was the experience of a lifetime," says Brady, who will lead Saint Joseph's to the 2011 Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta on May 13th and 14th. "Henley is the biggest race I'll ever race in. It was amazing." Note: The 2010 Saint Joseph's women's varsity eight was comprised of seniors Christina DiSanto (Sewell, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep), Colleen Greway (Westmont, N.J./Haddon Twp.) and Lauren Rozsits (Landenberg, Pa./Kennett); junior Danielle Brady (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City), Clare Burns (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Visitation Prep), Brianne Kammerman (Ventnor City, N.J./Gwynedd Mercy Academy), Katie Herdmann (Libertyville, Ill./Carmel); and sophomore Bridget Dempsey (Forest Park, Ill./St. Ignatius Prep). Team alternates were Andi Hartfield (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) and Tina Regan (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East). ~ Brendan F. Quinn Editorial Writer Dad Vail Regatta Organizing Committee  About the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta, Presented by Coca-Cola® The Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta presented by Coca-Cola is the largest collegiate regatta in North America with over 100 colleges and universities from the United States and Canada. Held annually since 1953 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the Schuylkill River, thousands of student athletes and spectators visit the City of Philadelphia during the weekend of the second Saturday in May. About Title Sponsor — Aberdeen Asset Management Aberdeen Asset Management Inc is the wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of Aberdeen Asset Management PLC, a global investment management group which is headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, and manages more than $287 billion of assets for both institutions and private individuals (as of Dec. 31, 2010). Philadelphia is home to the U.S. equity and fixed income investment management teams, as well as U.S. client servicing, consultant relations, business development and other operational staff: more than 180 employees in total. Aberdeen manages and services approximately $53 billion in total assets on behalf of North American and international clients. For more information, visit www.aberdeen-asset.us Here in the U.S., Aberdeen is also proud to be one of the supporters of the British Garden at Hanover Square, New York. This New York City park celebrates historic ties of friendship and unity between the U.S. and the UK. Globally, Aberdeen has a long standing association with university rowing competitions having sponsored the Oxford v Cambridge University Boat Race in the UK from 1999 – 2005. The company also continues to support the Aberdeen Universities Boat Race in Aberdeen, Scotland in their annual event which takes place every February. About Presenting Sponsor — The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Together with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company's portfolio includes 14 billion dollar brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply and Georgia Coffee. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate of 1.6 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that protect the environment, conserve resources and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. For more information about our Company, please visit our website at http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com. To download this story in PDF: 2011_Aberdeen_Dad_Vail_Feature_1_SJU.pdf Content reviewed and published: 4/11/2011 12:26:01 PM |
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