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Gibbons football off to fresh start as quarterback returns from Israel
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The Cardinal Gibbons School, Baltimore, quarterback Blake Thompson traveled to Israel for four weeks this summer with the Elijah Cummings Youth Program (ECYP), a venture that aims to bridge the gap between the African-American and Jewish cultures. (CR Staff/Owen Sweeney III)
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By Sue Thompson
The Catholic Review
With a new coach in 1987 alum Scott Ripley, the football program at The Cardinal Gibbons School, Baltimore, is ready for a change.
The philosophy of hard work, accountability and the desire to win in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference is shaping a team that has reeled from coaching changes, program challenges and disappointing losses.
With Coach Ripley’s experience in producing winning teams at Gibbons, Loyola Blakefield in Towson and Gilman School, the Crusaders started anew with a regimented summer weight-training program. However, one significant piece to the player puzzle was missing – senior quarterback Blake Thompson.
Thompson was traveling in Israel for four weeks with the Elijah Cummings Youth Program (ECYP), a venture that aims to bridge the gap between African-American and Jewish cultures.
Thompson said he learned of the program through his Hebrew Scripture teacher.
With interest and intrigue, Thompson applied to the acclaimed program, was accepted and has spent the required two years listening to speakers and learning from the Jewish and African-American communities, and participating in community service projects in the Park Heights area. Most recently, he flew into Tel Aviv with 11 other high school students to learn, firsthand, about a world thousands of miles away.
“I learned so much about me,” Thompson said. “We met kids from Ethiopia, The Sudan and Haifa. We each had to give a presentation during the trip. I gave mine on football and the football culture.”
One of the most eye-opening experiences Thompson had was his realization of how happy, lively and light-hearted the Israeli youths were.
While there, Thompson resided at Yemin Orde, a youth village located near Haifa in northern Israel that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. Each ECYP member was paired with teens who hail from more than 22 countries, including Israel, Ethiopia, China and the former Soviet Union, among others. Together, the Israeli and American students interacted with Palestinian and Arab communities, experienced a kibbutz (a collective settlement) and toured the country.
They also attended workshops on diversity, Israeli culture, group dynamics, conflict management and leadership.
Now Thompson and the other program graduates will take the ECYP Class of 2010 under their wings as the program continues to flourish. Thompson will be expected to participate in various speaking engagements about the program over the next year.
With a 3.5 grade point average and an early scholarship offer from Elon University in North Carolina, this could be a big year for the 6-foot-1, 185-pound team leader.
In 2007, Thompson had 111 completions on 208 attempts for 1,846 yards. He threw 19 touchdowns, rushed for 467 yards and walked in 11 scores.
“Blake and the rest of the team know it’s time for a change,” Coach Ripley said. “We are rocking and rolling.”
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Harford County Hurricanes headed to YMCA championships
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Bill Cappuccio of Calvert Hall College High School, Towson, practices the breaststroke for the YMCA’s Long Course National Swimming and Diving competition. (CR Staff/Owen Sweeney III)
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By Sue Thompson
The Catholic Review
With the 2008 Olympic Games just days away, the hype and excitement from Beijing to Baltimore is beginning to mount.
The XXIX Olympiad will offer 28 summer sports to 10,500 athletes from around the world and will strive to embrace the theme of “One World One Dream.”
Yet on a more local level, while Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff are gearing up for record-breaking times and multiple gold medals, so are swimmers from the Harford County Hurricanes, as the YMCA of the USA will host its summer Long Course National Swimming and Diving competition.
The event will run from July 29 through Aug. 1 at the University of Maryland’s Eppley Recreation Center in College Park.
Brian Wilson, a sophomore at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, is one of the eight Hurricane swimmers who have qualified for the YMCA Nationals.
Wilson is a butterflyer with a best time of 57.5 seconds in the 100-meter event and 2 minutes, 7.10 seconds in the 200-meter race. This is Wilson’s first national competition, and he is very excited about the pace of competition and the experience.
“I started swimming at the age of 10,” Wilson said. “It takes a lot of hard work, but I feel so much pride after a good practice and I am really looking forward to the week ahead.”
Billy Cappuccio, another sophomore from Calvert Hall, is also a top-flight member of the Harford County Hurricane team that had put up strong qualifying times this past spring in the 200-meter breaststroke, where his best is 2:45. He will swim three events for the Hurricanes at the YMCA Long Course Nationals.
“I’ve been swimming since I was 4 years old,” Cappuccio said. “I’ve been with the Hurricanes for the past eight years, and I just like the team element and the confidence that my teammates have. We get and give a lot of support.”
Cappuccio, the team jokester, says that swimming is his life. He just takes it day by day and stays focused. He recently received the Carroll Barnes team award for team spirit, commitment to the program and sportsmanship.
The Harford County Hurricanes are committed to building for their future. “We are dedicated to become a premier competitive swimming program in the Central Maryland area,” said Head Coach Larry Dukes, who is in his 10th year with the Hurricanes and is the athletic director at The John Carroll School, Bel Air.
Dukes sees Baltimore as a “hotbed” for swimming talent. He wonders from time to time “who the next Phelps or Hoff will be. There is an incredible level of commitment by the coaches and the swimmers.”
The Hurricanes are known for their ability to develop exceptional swimming talent. But they are also focused on helping each swimmer become the best he or she can be.
Both Wilson and Cappuccio have the same goal; to one day participate in the United States Olympic Trials. There are no grand thoughts of being the next Phelps, however. They just want the experience of swimming against the nation’s best whenever and wherever that opportunity presents itself.
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