The Holy Spirit High School crew team celebrated a pair of varsity rowing gold medals May 5 at the City Championships at the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
Albert Michael Ricciardi took gold in the boys varsity single in a winning time of 5:37.6, which finished ahead of Roman Catholic’s Nicholas Ricci by more than four seconds. Ricciardi had the fastest qualifying time of the 11 participants May 4 and bested the field of six finalists May 5.
PHOTO GALLERY: Holy Spirit High School Rowing April 7
The Spartans’ girls varsity four with coxswain also cruised to a win by more than four seconds in their championship race. The team of Gwen Amalfitano, Taya Anderson, Alexandra Solari, Allison Lee and coxswain Giavanna Rynkiewicz had the best qualifying time (5:29.54) among the 25 boats in the event May 4. Holy Spirit then won its semifinal heat May 5 in a time of 5:36.19 and saved its best time for last, rowing to a 5:27.81 in the championship race, beating out Mount Saint Joseph, Unionville, Radnor, Archbishop Carroll and Haddonfield, respectively, in the final.
Another notable performance included Holy Spirit’s girls lightweight four with coxswain, which finished in fourth place. The team of Peyton Ballard, Summer Stevenson, Janet Hoerner, Grace Fishbein and coxswain Mikayla Nash finished in a time of 5:57.99, about 12 seconds behind winner Egg Harbor Township.