Prep Crew Endowment Newsletter

Rev. J. Vincent Taggart, SJ

CREW E N D OW M E N T Winter 2021

Rev. J. Vincent Taggart, SJ Beloved Moderator of St. Joseph’s Prep Crew Fr. Taggart was the heartbeat of the Prep for most of three decades, from his arrival in 1970 until his passing in 1996. In that time, Fr. Taggart taught a generation of freshman world history but also traveled to grade schools around the Delaware Valley to introduce the Prep to prospective students. His slide shows were often the first time that these students had ever seen the school.

The Rowing Center at the Gillin Boathouse is named in honor of Fr. Taggart, a tireless proponent of the benefits of Prep Crew. As longtime moderator of the program, Fr. Taggart believed especially in the power that crew had in developing the confidence in each rower. In addition, his morning Masses on the boathouse deck are memories that decades of Prep Crew Families hold dear.

It is appropriate that the Crew Endowment is also named in Fr. Taggart’s memory as it aims to strengthen the program that meant so much to him.

GENEROUS FRIENDS OF PREP CREW HAVE DONATED $1.45M, CLOSE TO OUR $1.75M GOAL!

Rev. J. Vincent Taggart, SJ SJP Crew Endowment Prep Crew has always been more than simply an athletic program.

It is a brotherhood and a formational experience for our student athletes, instilling lifelong lessons of hard work, camaraderie, leadership and dedication to craft.

Because of the incredible intangibles instilled in our rowers, Crew has always been a strategic sport for the Prep, one which facilitates pathways for our student athletes to continue their academic and athletic careers at the top colleges and universities in the country. It is vital that the program continue to reach national and international success to ensure that our rowers continue to receive opportunities at the top college programs in the country.

In order to achieve that success, Prep leadership engaged in a series of conversations with crew alums and parents, to share ideas and dialogue about the future of the program. It became clear through these conversations that the best path forward would be to hire a full-time head coach who can steer the program, recruit new athletes to the team, mentor students and maintain a consistent, engaged presence within the broader daily life at the Prep. Seeing a clear need, while operating on a fixed athletics budget, the Prep embarked on a fundraising campaign to establish The Rev. J. Vincent Taggart SJ Crew Endowment.

The Taggart Crew Endowment will permanently fund the Prep’s head crew coach position, ensuring that the program will always have the ability to attract and retain top coaches. To date, more than $1.45 million in cash and pledges has been raised from Crew alumni, parents and friends on the way to our goal of $1.75 million, at which time it will be permanently endowed, with the investment income it generates yearly supporting the cost of maintaining a full time head crew coaching position at St. Joseph’s Prep.

To learn more about the J. Vincent Taggart, SJ Crew Endowment, or to make a gift or pledge, please contact Andy Quirk ‘99, Director of Major Gifts at 267-238-1348 or aquirk@sjprep.org.

Dear Prep Crew Community, Happy New Year to all of you and I hope this letter finds you well.

While last year left us all feeling the loss of the rowing, racing, community, championships and many other moments on the river that we always look forward to, I am grateful that we were able to keep our team connected with one another. I am also thankful that so many of you have generously donated to the J. Vincent Taggart, SJ Crew Endowment, which has allowed crew to have a full-time head coach and an on-campus presence for our young men. This has given me the opportunity to be available to the team during the school day to advise, counsel on college recruiting, review video, recruit new rowers, and work side by side with my Prep colleagues for the greater good of the school and student body. During this pandemic, that became vital as we were able to create Return to Play protocols that allowed our guys to continue to train so they could feed their passions and feel that normalcy that crew provides them.

The competition in youth rowing in the United States has become extremely intense. Gone are the days of just the Philadelphia and New England schools being the powerhouses. Today, the best programs in the United States are junior rowing clubs that draw from entire regions, not just one school. While many high schools have decided to compete only at the scholastic level, the Prep, as usual, has chosen the more challenging path...to compete on the same level as the top junior clubs in the United States. These programs, as well as our British counterparts, are well funded with full-time coaches and support staff.

The Taggart Crew Endowment allows Prep Crew to not only remain at the top of scholastic rowing in the United States but to achieve parity with the most competitive clubs in the nation and the world.

It is fitting that this endowment is named after Fr. Taggart. His love and passion for Prep Crew is well known. He saw Crew as a place where anyone at the Prep could find their confidence and excel; this would be true not just for elite athletes, but for anyone looking to find their place in the Prep community. With that in mind, to date we have raised $1.45 million towards our ultimate goal of $1.75 million. I am asking you to help us get to the finish line this academic year. This can be accomplished with a five-year commitment paid off annually. Please consider making a gift to allow this program to continue its pursuit of excellence for decades to come.

Thank you for your support and to those of you who have already given to this endowment.

John Fife ‘98 Head Coach

JIM “MACE” THOMPSON ’59 For more than 60 years, Jim “Mace” Thompson has been proudly associated with St. Joseph’s Prep Crew. Because of that, he and his wife Pam have made a generous donation, the largest to the Rev. J. Vincent Taggart, SJ Crew Endowment and among the first. For him though, it is just a small thanks for what the sport has given him.

“There is so much camaraderie in crew, among your own teammates, of course, but also with your competitors,” he said.

“There is a fraternity, an esprit de corps that develops that I have loved being a part of for all of these years.”

Thompson started as a coxswain during his sophomore year.

While he says his teams weren’t always the “best crews, we were decent and had pretty good spirit,” remembering that while the Prep and La Salle were established Programs, other schools were rising. “They started the Flicks during my time so I would say that the week-to-week schedule was excellent. Philadelphia is somewhat unique in having such a thriving rowing community.”

After graduating from the Prep, Thompson went on to Saint Joseph’s College and “retired” from crew until the program needed a coxswain and he was “recruited.” As a physics major, he worried about the time commitment necessary but soon found the same community he had loved while in high school. It worked out for him as he believes his time in crew helped him gain admittance to

Harvard Business School. “It was a great complement to my academics,” he remembers. “There is a heavy time commitment but if you managed it, it was a positive thing.”

He says that the characteristics developed during his time with Prep Crew (teamwork, dedication, ability to handle adversity, etc.) were important to his business career, in which he eventually became the President of Lyman Products Corp in Middletown, CT. He also owned several bars, including Mace’s Crossing on the Parkway, “which became an unofficial clubhouse for the crew teams.”

Thompson reconnected with Prep Crew in the 1980s, and counts former coach Bill Lamb ’79 and many other Prep coaches as friends. He is impressed with current head coach John Fife ’98, whom he met in the 90’s when Fife was a Prep rower. “I have been very impressed by John’s personal commitment to the program and I think that the success the program has had recently represents what he is capable of,” Thompson says. “His heart is in the right place and his energy level is quite impressive.”

Even 60 years after his graduation, Thompson values his time with Prep Crew. “I stay fairly contemporary with what the Prep Crew Program is doing and any major activities, socially and support wise, I want to be involved in it because it means so much to me,” he says.

Though Hill continues to scull, his real connection with the sport comes as a referee, which he has been since 1986. “I’ve learned that I am better in the launch than in a shell,” he says. “I am proud of my work as a referee and rarely get called out for a decision I’ve made. I call them the way I see them and try to be a good judge.”

JAMES HILL ’66 James Hill readily admits that he was not the best Prep rower during his high school days. In fact, he says that he was “the worst rower on a poor team.” When he sees the recent and current success of Prep Crew, he is incredibly proud.

“Seeing how far the program has come, with outstanding coaches such as Bill Lamb, Bruce Konopka, Chuck Crawford, and John Fife at the helm, is amazing and incredibly heartening,” he says.

He also values the commitment that the Prep has made into the Crew Program. He remembers that was not the case in his senior year, when, in the dark days after the fire in 1966 that destroyed 2/3 of the campus, the school didn’t pay for the membership fees at Vesper and the crew was on its own. Clearly, he says, that is no longer the case.

“I am proud to say that the Prep Program is so much better than it was when I was there,” says Hill. “It’s a wonderful program that takes boys and turns them into men. It has done wonders for so many kids. Can’t say enough of how proud I am of the program.”

He is grateful to the Prep for teaching him to row in 1962 and he ergs every day and sculls as much as he can. “Coming up on 60 years on the river and I’ve only gotten worse as a rower, but I am so glad to have rowing in my life,” Hill says.

Rev. J. Vincent Taggart, SJ

C R E W E N D OW M E N T Donor List

Mr. Jeffrey Barker ’75, P ’01, ’05 Mr. and Mrs. William J. Barker, P ’09, ’12 Mr. Christopher M. Barone ’97 The Benevity Community Impact Fund Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. Cellucci ’94 Dr. and Mrs. Anthony A. Chiurco ’59 Mr. and Mrs. John F. Connolly, Jr., P ’05, ’07, ’13, ’15 Mr. and Mrs. Mark R. Cullen ’86 The Conestoga Road Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan P. Dever ’89 Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Dever, Jr. ’86 Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth L. Ewell, P ’05 Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. Fallon III ’02 Mr. Marc A. Franzoni ’92 The Gayda Family Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Michael D. Gayda ’72 Mr. and Mrs. Kevin C. Gaynor ’62 Mr. and Mrs. Mark R. Gannon ’09 Dr. and Mrs. Alfred L. Garfall III ’98 Mr. Andrew F. Hakanson ’07 Mr. and Mrs. William F. Henderson, Jr. ’50 Mr. and Mrs. James H. Hill, Jr. ’66 Mr. and Mrs. Stanley P. Jasciewicz ’78 Mr. James H. Kaltenbach ’92 and Dr. Tonya Kaltenbach Mr. Andrew Kelly and Ms. Emily Smith ’00 Mr. and Mrs. Brian P. Kenney ’72, P ’06 Mr. Ryan P. Kirlin ’05 Mr. and Mrs. Sean B. Lamb ’92 Mr. Walter K. Link ’49

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Linquata, P ’20, ’23 Mr. and Mrs. Kevin B. McGowan ’91 Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey T. McKernan ’78, P ’11 Mr. Matthew R. Morano ’97 Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Morinigo, Esq. ’97 Mr. Zakir Murji ’16 Mrs. Mary Murphy, P ’91, ’95 Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Murphy ’91 Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. Murphy ’99 Mr. Thomas J. Murphy ’95 Mr. Thomas A. Noone, Jr. ’76 J. Clark and Marilyn O’Donoghue, P ’10 Mr. Matthew C. O’Donoghue ’10 Mr. and Mrs. Stefan R. Politz ’91 Strott Family Foundation Mr. Kerry J. Quinn ’06 Mr. Martin F. Quinn, Jr. ’02 Mr. Brett Ryan ’98 Mr. and Mrs. Mark Schrieber, P ’21 Dr. Thomas Sergi and Dr. Lynne Sergi, P ’18 Mr. Jeffrey P. Smith ’92 Mr. and Mrs. Timothy E. Sweeney ’78 Dr. and Mrs. Michael K. Taylor ’91 Mr. and Mrs. James F. Thompson ’59 Dr. and Mrs. Andrew C. von Eschenbach ’59 Mr. John P. Votta ’08 Mr. and Mrs. John F. Wachter III ’00 Mr. and Mrs. John F. Wachter, Jr., P ’00 Mr. and Mrs. David R. West P ’12, ’13, ’18

RECENT TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2019 • Stotesbury Cup Regatta

Senior 8 - 1st Place

Lightweight 8 - 1st Place (10th year in a row)

Freshman 8 - 1st Place • SRAA National Championship

Lightweight 8 - 1st Place • USRowing Youth National Championship

Lightweight 8 - 4th Place • Henley Royal Regatta Quarter Finalists (5 sophomores/3 juniors) • Philadelphia City Championship

Varsity 8 - 1st Place

Lightweight 8 - 1st Place

J.V. 8 - 1st Place

Freshman 8 - 1st Place

Novice 8 - 1st Place

Manny Flick Point Trophy winner • Philadelphia Catholic League Championship

(40th in school history)

2018 • Stotesbury Cup Regatta

Lightweight 8 - 1st Place (9th year in a row)

Freshman 8 - 1st Place • SRAA National Championship

Lightweight 8 - 2nd Place

Freshman 8 - 1st Place • Philadelphia City Championship

Varsity 8 - 1st Place

Lightweight 8 - 1st Place

Second 8 - 1st Place

Freshman 8 - 1st Place

Novice 8 - 1st Place

Manny Flick Point Trophy winner

COLLEGE SIGNINGS SINCE 2017

Boston College College of the Holy Cross Cornell University Fairfield University Georgetown University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Princeton University Saint Joseph’s University Syracuse University Temple University United States Coast Guard Academy United States Naval Academy University of Delaware University of Pennsylvania

University of Washington Yale University

For Tom Noone, joining the Crew Team was, at first, a matter of convenience; upperclassmen who drove him to and from Haddonfield, NJ, were members of the team and had talked it up.

Turns out, “it was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me,” he remembers.

Noone met Ray Del Bianco on the Crew Team and the two remain best friends decades later. He also learned values that have carried over to this day. “The biggest thing you learn is how to extend yourself mentally and physically, well beyond what you thought was possible,” says Noone, who is still involved in the sport today from his home on the Charles River in Watertown, MA. “In other sports, you’re not on the clock the whole time you are competing but as soon as you get in the boat, it’s game on. How you practice shows up on race day. In this sport, there is a total correlation in that.”

He also considers crew as the greatest of all team sports. “Everybody has to pull their weight, it’s a total team effort,” he says. “No one would ever think about calling in sick once the season starts. You don’t ever want to miss practice. There is something about the hard work and all the effort that goes into it. It really binds you with your teammates.”

After the Prep, Noone went to Creighton University, where he promptly co-founded the Crew Program, which is now a varsity women’s sport. He has also stayed connected to the sport through the Prep, twice travelling to Henley to see his alma mater compete (1988 and 1991) and he watched on livestream in 2019 when the Prep had an incredible comeback win over a German Crew on Day 2 at Henley. He also remembers with pride being in Athens, Greece for the 2004 Olympics when Pete Cipollone ’89 was coxswain on the gold-medal winning men’s eight crew.

Noone continues to support Prep Crew. He made a sizable donation to help construct the Gillin Boathouse in the 1990s and has made a generous gift to the Rev. J. Vincent Taggart, SJ Crew Endowment.

He and his family have also endowed a scholarship in memory of his father, Thomas A. Noone, M.D. ‘42.

“The Prep is such a vital place and I support it 100 percent, both the students as well as the Crew Program,” he says. “In my career, I work on computer hardware and software that didn’t exist when I was in high school or college, but the Jesuits taught me how to learn and being in Crew taught me how to persevere.”

He has high hopes for the future of Prep Crew and part of the reason is selfish. “I’m really hoping that the Prep gets back to Henley soon because as soon as I get the Covid vaccine, I would love to go again,” he says with a laugh.

MIKE CELLUCCI ‘94 From there, Cellucci moved along to varsity and became captain, eventually being recruited to row at Syracuse. He still remembers the thrill of being a part of Prep Crew. “At the time, Crew was THE sport at the Prep,” he says fondly. “To get the chance to wear one of those crimson crew jackets was cool.

Being named captain, having the respect of my teammates and doing something that I loved, was incredible and something I will always remember.”

Mike Cellucci’s rowing career began as his basketball career ended. As a freshman, he tried out for basketball but was among the first group cut. Sitting dejectedly in his World History Class the next day, he received advice from Fr. Taggart his history teacher: “Try out for crew.”

Cellucci listened and he joined the Crew Team but had no experience at all. “Freshman year was trying to learn the sport and also a lot of running and fitness,” he said. “I had to push myself and beat that hurdle but it was great. I met guys and made friends.”

The next year, he found himself on the radar of then coach Bill Lamb ’79. “He plugged me for a few spots in fall racing and it went from there,” Cellucci says. “Coach Lamb motivated me in winter training and it just took off. From then on, I was fully in, this was the sport for me.”

After college, he moved to California and felt a bit disconnected from the Crew Team. Recently, he and his teammates returned for the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta and rowed as a group. Coach John Fife ’98 helped them find a coxswain and Cellucci was impressed by his passion. That is one of the reasons Cellucci has decided to support the Crew Endowment.

“It is so important that kids learn to work hard,” he says. “No matter what they do after they leave the Prep, that work ethic will help them. That is a lesson that crew can provide but it only comes from a committed coach and a committed program.”

He says supporting the Endowment was an easy decision.

“The values I learned in Prep Crew are a huge part of who I am and helped me to get to where I am today,” says Cellucci, the father of two children and owner of his own property and casualty insurance company in Springfield, PA. “When I was asked, I didn’t think twice.”

row at Princeton University and for the US National Team. He and his wife Woodney are major contributors to the Prep Crew Program. They donated a brand new shell to honor the 2000 Henley Championship Crew and recently gave a significant gift to the Crew Endowment as a tribute to those lessons learned, and in appreciation for the program’s culture.

JOHN WACHTER ’00 John Wachter ’00 learned much about life during his time rowing for Prep Crew. “I could write a short book on lessons drawn from rowing experiences,” he says. “Clearly, the earliest lessons were from my time on the Schuylkill. I quickly learned that self-reliance and solidarity are not mutually exclusive.”

Wachter was part of the 2000 Crew that won the World Championship at the Henley Royal Regatta and he went on to

“The culture of Prep Crew is an intricate mosaic,” he says. “If I could tell you the single character trait that the coaches foster it would be misleading, because I could list dozens of expectations that coaches and teammates come to expect of one another as members of Prep Crew. But when these expectations – small and large – all come together they create the culture that, in many ways, defines Prep Crew.”

Wachter is happy to see the program continue to grow under his old teammate John Fife ’98. “Woodney and I value John’s commitment to shepherding the program, and protecting its culture,” he says. “Prep Rowing is an institution, evidenced by the number of people that support the program and attribute great things in their life to the experiences they had while rowing for SJP. We are happy to support a program that has meant so much.”

Kerry Quinn had a remarkable rowing career...and it might never have happened without legendary Science Teacher Ms. Barbara Brown.

“I chose the Prep because it was an amazing school but I didn’t really have a sport or a club to join,” he says. “I had Ms. Brown for freshman bio and she was saying that the crew team had a shortage of coxswains. I was 5-4, the perfect size for a coxswain, and she was looking right at me. The next day, I went to the Boathouse and began learning how to be a coxswain. Everything was so new to me, it was like learning another language, but it changed my life.”

Quinn spent that first fall as a coxswain for the varsity but then tried out for the freshman team that spring to be with his classmates. He made the team and had great success: a Stotesbury Regatta title with the freshman eight; undefeated sophomore year and Stotesbury title with the JV eight; and being named captain of the team his senior year.

He went on to row lightweight at Cornell University, where he was a part of the program’s third consecutive IRA championship, and spent two summers with the US National Team, where he said his Prep credentials impressed the coaches.

“There is nothing like the Prep program,” he says. “There are very successful college programs, including the lightweight crew at Cornell, and the USA coaches definitely respected that I rowed at Cornell but when they found out I went to the Prep,

that may have mattered more. There is a mystique to Prep in the rowing world that no one else has.”

The values instilled at Gillin Boathouse and on the river continue to this day. “There is a culture with Prep Crew that if you put in the work you will be given the opportunity to achieve and that is how I approach things in my job and my life,” he says. “There is no replacement for putting in the good work. Prep Crew is a great place to learn that.”

He also remembers the cool factor of being a part of the Prep Crew Team. “You have a front row seat at all of these regattas and Stotesbury is held on our home course and literally goes by our boathouse,” he says. “There is an energy around the venue and to be in a spot to win there is incredible.”

Quinn also points out that winning is important but not the sole goal. “Crew is a tough sport. You are training for months and months, six days a week, and it comes down to one four and a half minute race,” he says. “You have to invest in the effort and the work without worrying about the outcome. With Prep Crew, there is a lot of winning but it’s really about the effort, how you are measuring against yourself, what you are putting into it.”

When the Crew Endowment was established, Quinn was an early donor. “I believe so strongly in the purpose and direction of the program,” he says. “John (Fife) becoming the head coach was a big part of it and I felt that when this campaign kicked off, it was a good refreshing time. Anytime I talk about Prep Crew, I am so passionate about it. There is nothing like it and I am really proud that something I feel strongly about and have invested in has achieved so much.”

To make a gift or pledge, please contact Andy Quirk ‘99, Director of Major Gifts at 267-238-1348 or aquirk@sjprep.org.

To make a gift or pledge, please contact Andy Quirk ‘99, Director of Major Gifts at 267-238-1348 or aquirk@sjprep.org.