Stotesbury_Cup
The Stotesbury Cup Regatta, sponsored by the Schuylkill Navy, is the world's oldest[1] and largest high school rowing competition.[2] It is held annually in mid-May over a two-day period on the Schuylkill River near Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Competing crews come from schools all over North America, though most hail from the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States.
The regatta has many different events (31 in 2022) in which high school crews compete for various cups and trophies. Events vary by sex, age, weight category, number of rowers, and discipline of rowing (whether sweeping with one oar per rower or sculling with two oars per rower). The regatta takes its name from the Boys Senior Eight race, one of the premier events at the regatta, in which crews of eight oarsmen and one coxswain compete for the Stotesbury Cup. The Stotesbury Cup in turn is named for Edward T. Stotesbury of Philadelphia, a prominent partner at J.P. Morgan & Co. and its Philadelphia affiliate, Drexel & Co. The Girls Senior Eights compete for the Robert Engman Trophy. The regatta has been running boys races since 1927; girls events were added in the mid-1970s. Powerhouse schools in boys events include Episcopal Academy, Christian Brothers Academy, St. Augustine Preparatory School, LaSalle High School, Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, Holy Spirit, Walt Whitman High School (Maryland), Atlantic City High School, St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.), The Haverford School, St. Joseph's Prep, Gonzaga College High School, Winter Park High School, St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute and Roman Catholic High School for Boys.
Currently, St. Joseph's Prep is tied with Washington-Lee H.S. for the most number of wins in the Boys Senior 8+ at 14 each. St. Joseph's Prep additionally is the only school to sweep all the boys 8+ events having done it in 1997, 2008, and 2023. Notable recent performances include those of Episcopal Academy, who, after dominating the Senior and Junior Four division from 2015 to 2016, made the Grand Final in the Boys Senior Eight in 2017. The same year, Gonzaga College High School, winner of the previous five Boys Senior Eight events from 2012 to 2016, was overtaken by Montclair High School for first place in the Boys Senior Eight.[3] Meanwhile, in Girls events, National Cathedral School (Washington, D.C.) has won the Senior Eight category twice (2016-2017) and finished second once (2014) in the last four years.
The Boys Lightweight 8 category for the James R. Muldowney Memorial Trophy has been dominated by St. Joseph's Prep. On May 18, 2019, they won for the 10th consecutive time (2010-2019) and the 20th time in the last 23 years. Mount Saint Joseph Academy has also emerged in recent years with strong showings in the Lightweight Eight and Senior Eight categories and Bishop Eustace Preparatory School won the Senior Eight category for three consecutive years (2007-2009). Merion Mercy Academy having won Silver in 2016 in the Girls Senior Eight won Gold in both the Girls Senior Four and Lightweight Eight in 2017.