By LESLEY GRAHAM
The women of the Ocean City Beach Patrol rowed, swam, paddled and ran their way to a second place finish at the 2019 Ocean City Women’s Invitational Thursday night. Harvey Cedars took the team title and Cape May rounded out the top three. There was one point differential between each of the top three places.
The races, held at 34th street in Ocean City, included female competitors from 16 South Jersey beach patrols — Harvey Cedars to the north through Cape May in the south.
There were four total events on the evening, each one with a unique twist to the traditional row, swim and paddle that most events are comprised of.
Ocean City’s Invitational has a row swim, paddle pick up, American taplin and surf dash relay.
First up on the evening was the row swim event. Teams of two rowed to their respective lane flag, where the stern rower would jump out and swim into shore, running up the beach to the finish line. The duo of Stephanie Hauck and Samantha Brady of Ocean City took first place, giving Ocean City an early lead.
Stephanie Hauck, a 27-year-old veteran guard, competed in three out of the four events on the evening.
Hauck credits her cross training to being able to be out there and compete at a high level.
“I’ve been training so hard and I feel like I am in some of the best shape I’ve been in. The swimming, paddling and rowing has opened up so many opportunities for me to compete,” Hauck said. “It also directly correlates to my lifeguarding skills, helping me be on the top of my game every day I sit the stand.”
The next event, the paddle pickup, started with a swim to the flag, where the paddler then picked up the swimmer and they both paddled back into shore, and ran the board across the finish line.
Brady paired up with Erin Murphy this time around to help Ocean City to a second place finish in the paddle pick up.
The third event of the evening was the American taplin race. This event, worth more points than the others, combined all disciplines on the evening. It started with a box swim, followed by a short sprint run, an in-and-out paddle course, a second short sprint, finishing with a doubles row box course.
The crew from Cape May crossed the finish line in first place, followed by Harvey Cedars and Atlantic City. Ocean City’s team for the American Taplin included Andrea Teofanova swimming, Kat Soanes running, Erin Murphy paddling, and Stephanie Hauck and Jackalyn Pauling rowing doubles. Ocean City did not score points in the event.
The four woman surf dash really was the final event, finishing off the competition with the most traditional race.
Ocean City’s Erin Murphy, Jackalyn Pauling, Stephanie Hauck and Kat Soanes raced their way to a second place finish, which secured the overall team’s second place finish.
Soanes, a third year guard, raced in the American taplin relay and anchored the surf dash as well. Soanes, who will attend Stockton University in the fall and play soccer, has been enjoying the opportunity to compete for the beach patrol these past few summers.
“Entering my leg on the surf dash, we were in sixth and I just wanted to run through it as fast as I could,” she said.
“As a little girl, I looked up to these competitors on the patrol and now it’s my turn to get out there and race. I take a lot of pride in my small part of it all to make the city proud,” Soanes added.
Race Results:
Row/Swim:
1st – Ocean City (Steph Hauck and Sam Brady)
2nd – Avalon
3rd – Margate
Paddleboard Pickup:
1st – Diamond Beach
2nd – Ocean City (Erin Murphy and Sam Brady)
3rd – Harvey Cedars
American Taplin:
1st – Cape May
2nd – Harvey Cedars
3rd – Atlantic City
Surf Dash:
1st – Longport
2nd – Ocean City (Steph Hauck, Jacklyn Pauling, Kat Soanes and Erin Murphy)
3rd – Harvey Cedars
Overall:
1st – Harvey Cedars 14 points
2nd – Ocean City 13 points
