Nationally-recognized coaches lead Peddie crew to new heights Barbara Grudt and Joe Murtaugh have grown accustomed to explaining themselves. Given their qualifications, people often wonder what they are doing coaching crew at Peddie. Grudt, coach of Peddie’s women’s crew, is a two-time Olympian with a long and distinguished career of coaching at the national level. She coached at Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania, headed the U.S. Junior Women’s team and was named to the prestigious FISA (Federation Internationale des Societes d’Aviron) Youth Rowing Commission in 2010. Murtaugh, who coaches Peddie’s men, was the head men’s lightweight coach for Princeton University from 1989–2005 and supervised all four intercollegiate programs housed in the University’s Shea Rowing Center on Carnegie Lake. He served as assistant coach for USRowing, in charge of selecting and training lightweight eights for competition at Senior World Championships, where his teams won gold in 1999 and 2000.
Barbara Grudt
Some wonder how they ended up at an independent boarding school with a relatively small pool of young rowers, most of whom come to the program with little or no experience. Grudt followed former head coach Colin “Chip” Campbell here in 2006. “When Colin asked me to consider coming to Peddie, I thought of how much respect I had for him from our time coaching together at Dartmouth,” she said.
Joe Murtaugh
“I also thought back on the number of races in which I watched Peddie compete. I knew something special was happening at Mercer Lake.” What has kept her here, though, is the community that feeds the program. “Athletes at Peddie tend to have healthy relationships with the adults they are surrounded by,” she said. “Because they deal with adults in so many venues — in the classroom,
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Koppel said small items that many people would not think twice about discarding are luxuries to the families served by Rise. “Basic items like new toothbrushes or toothpaste are items that people often do without. To them, soap is as good as shampoo and conditioner if you don’t have those items,” Koppel said. “A desk lamp is a frill for many families. If you can purchase one for two dollars at Greater Goods, it makes people’s lives a little bit nicer.” Although initially unsure whether the students, faculty and staff would join in on the “shopping” end, Honsel said the energy of the effort became infectious. “People found it was hard to come and take a look and not dive in,” said Honsel, who scored herself a futon to add to her guest room. She said the children of faculty became big supporters of the cause, with her own daughter calling the process “treasure hunting.” Honsel said the purge was an incredible team effort among students, faculty, staff and faculty families who dedicated hours helping to cart and sort the items. “People were willing to spend their free time to make a difference for our community and the environment. Just as a group of volunteers finished up and energy was waning, another group seemed to emerge or a friend would pop into the black box and stay for an hour or two to help out,” Honsel said. “It was a great way to get to know and work with people who you might not have spent a lot of time with during the year, and it felt wonderful to be a part of it all.” In all, school officials estimated at least one dumpster full of items was redirected for repurposing, saving the school carting fees, fulfilling the goal of reducing waste, and teaching students the value of repurposed goods. 20 Peddie Chronicle
“I’d very much so like to thank you for the books you’ve sent for my fellow soldiers and I. Most of all we’d like to thank you for your support while we are out here away from friends and family. It’s people like you that make our days — especially mail call, it’s the best part of our day! So thank you again.” Angela and the soldiers of Delta Battery, upon receipt of Peddie’s donation from the purge to Books for Soldiers. July 7, 2011