April 25, 2008
When her alarm clock goes off every morning at 4:45, senior Christine Porcaro climbs out of bed and gets ready for practice. She heads off to the Steiner/Steinberg Boathouse, completes the two-hour session and is then free to take on the rest of her day. Good thing too, because Porcaro has quite a busy schedule. In addition to being a captain in the Lehigh Rowing program, Porcaro has served as a gryphon for the last three years on Lehigh's campus, culminating with this year where she is the head gryphon. On top of all that, Porcaro has been involved with the theater and she maintains a 3.71 grade point average as a French major.
Asked why she chose rowing, Porcaro responds, "(Rowing) challenges me in a way that no other sport could. You have hopes of what you could look like (when you first start out) when you see other boats and how easy they make it look." She continues, "The experiences that I've gotten through rowing, I never would have gotten elsewhere." With a wide smile she adds, "Race day is my favorite."
With her Lehigh career nearly in the books, it's interesting to look back and realize that Porcaro did not begin college in South Bethlehem. It began in Connecticut at Fairfield University. But, halfway through her freshman year Porcaro decided that Fairfield wasn't the place for her. "I realized that I didn't want to spend the next four years of my life there. I had a good feeling that it wasn't the place for me."
So she quickly began to look elsewhere and was drawn to the wide array of opportunities that Lehigh presented her. "There were so many things in addition to rowing that I could do and that was very appealing. I also loved the campus; I fell in love with it the first time I saw it."
One of those many activities that Lehigh offered to Porcaro was the opportunity to participate in theater. "I was involved with Community Theater throughout high school, and at Lehigh I've had a part in the Vagina Monologues every year. This year I was the narrator."
Porcaro has plans of traveling to France upon graduation and serving as a teacher's assistant teaching English to elementary school students. It won't be the first time she has traveled out of the country. "I went abroad last summer to Italy along with (Lehigh men's rower) Joe Loguidice for two months. We joined a boathouse and would get up every morning and go row. The people there thought we were Italian rowers and would watch us from up on the bridges as we passed."
She continued, "It was nice to see another culture and I was also able to pick up on their language during my trip, so that was another added bonus."
It was during her trip to Italy when Porcaro found out that the Lehigh Rowing program would be under the direction of a new coach upon her return. Former head coach Paul Savell had accepted a similar position at Drexel University, leaving Lehigh's rowers unsure of who would become their new leader.
"I was definitely surprised, and a little upset, too," Porcaro explained. "I'm the type of person who likes to be prepared for things and likes to plan everything, so that caught me off-guard. But I felt better knowing that we didn't have a new person coming in to be head coach." The new coach was former Lehigh assistant Liz Meltzer, who had served on staff for two previous seasons.
"I couldn't have asked for a pair of better captains in Christine Porcaro and Jackie Cross in my first year as head coach," Meltzer explained. "They really helped ease my transition into this role and have exceeded my expectations of what a captain should be."
"Coach Meltzer is very detailed oriented, she's organized and efficient; she's always striving for us to be the same way, on and off the water." Porcaro continued, "I really enjoy knowing what workout we'll be doing before we get out on the water and overall, having Coach Meltzer here has helped us all with the transition."
In her first year as head coach, Meltzer has asked Porcaro to take on an expanded leadership role within the program. But if you ask Porcaro, she just sees it as doing her job. "She asks anything that a coach would of a captain," Porcaro explains. "She wants to be sure of how the team is feeling, what the team thinks of a particular practice or training method, that all of those things are communicated to her."
She adds, "Coach wants to make sure everyone has their spot within the program and to understand that everyone is in this together."
"Christine has done a great job of staying on top of the overall climate of the team," explained Meltzer. "She has a great ability to read the group and stay in-tune with what they're thinking or feeling." She continued, "Christine is always setting an example for others around her and is supportive at the same time. I call her the bricklayer because she simply gets things done."
Meltzer concluded, "Christine and Jackie have been my go-to people this season. I talk to them about ways to keep the team unified, positive and productive. We're certainly going to miss Christine; I know she'll be wildly successful in whatever she chooses to do after graduating."
Being a leader is nothing new to Porcaro who has served as a gryphon for the last three years. "I got involved with being a gryphon because my freshman roommate, Danielle Palencar was going to be one and also my gryphon that year, Chris Diggs, told me that it might be something that I would be interested in," Porcaro explained. "I thought that Chris was a great gryphon, so I thought it was something that I would enjoy."
She continues, "I didn't realize how much I was going to enjoy it until I got to meet
my staff, my Residence Life Coordinator (RLC) and my residents. It has definitely helped me in terms of interacting with people and also trying to resolve conflicts between people, which is very helpful being on a large team."
Porcaro and her teammates are back on the water on Sunday, April 27 when the Mountain Hawks travel to Camden, New Jersey to compete in the 2008 Patriot League Championships. The first race on the Cooper River gets underway at 7:46 AM.
