<b>Ireton Rowing Sweeps</b>
On Saturday, the Bishop Ireton Cardinal Crew rowed to great success against Holy Cross High School and Georgetown Day School, winning eight of nine races at the Holy Cross Invitational regatta held on the Anacostia River.
The Cardinals took control over the regatta from the get go with the women’s varsity 4 race. The Ireton women led Holy Cross and Georgetown Day early and held off a Holy Cross come back in the last 1,000 meters to win by 1.7 seconds. Earlier in the season, Holy Cross defeated the Cardinals in this race by more than 16 seconds. The women’s varsity 4 consisted of rowers Sara Woodruff, Clara Candalor, Meredith Ramey, Sarah Morgan and coxswain Katie O’Neil. Other winning women’s boats included the two Women’s Second Varsity 4s, the Women’s Novice 8, and the two Women’s Novice 4s.
The men’s team had another clean sweep defeating Georgetown Day School in every event. The Cardinal men showed their dominance in all of their races but especially the Men’s Novice 8 race in which they won by four boat lengths. In this boat were rowers Jacob Ramey, Donovan Jimenez, Matt Batson, Lukas Rodriguez, Alan Boyce, Jake Hayhurst, Zack Deforge Daniel Paczak and coxswain Brian McCormick.
The sweep was continued by the Men’s Varsity 4, the two Men’s Varsity 8s, and the two Men’s Second Varsity 4s.
The team’s success was “a direct result of intense training over spring break,” said coach Ryan Gibson. “[We] went into the regatta strong and faster having trained three practices per day over the spring break.”
The Cardinals will take part in two races this weekend, including Saturday’s Charlie Butt Regatta on the Potomac River that will feature some of the area’s strongest teams.
<b>Lax Update</b>
District and conference tournaments are right around the corner and the area lacrosse scene is heating up as a result. The <strong>T.C. Williams</strong> boys’ scored its second win of the season last Friday, beating West Potomac, 7-1. Meanwhile, their female counterparts beat the Wolverines, 9-6, and followed it up with a narrow 6-5 win over Annandale Tuesday to improve to 9-2 this year.
The <strong>St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes</strong> girls’ lacrosse team has continued their local dominance this season, but suffered their first loss of the year last weekend against McDonough, 10-9. The Saints rebounded to beat Georgetown Visitation Tuesday. Their male counterparts narrowly edged Collegiate, 11-9, Tuesday to up its record to 9-4 this season.
The <strong>Bishop Ireton</strong> girls’ improved to 12-2 this season with two lopsided wins over Elizabeth Seton and W.T. Woodson last week. Ireton will host a youth lacrosse day this Saturday, highlighted by games between the Cardinals and Alexandria rival <strong>Episcopal</strong> in both girls’ and boys’ lacrosse.
<b>Free Football Clinic</b>
Perfect Performance is hosting its Second Annual Free Youth Skills and Drills Clinic on Saturday, May 2, from 2:30 to 3:45 at Velocity Sports Performance 6315 Bren Mar Drive, Alexandria. At the clinic, current and former professional football players will teach position specific fundamentals and techniques for football players ages 7-13. Advance Registration required at www.perfect-performance.com. For more information, call 202-669-4445.