March 12, 2016
By Russell Dorn
NOTRE DAME, Ind. ââ’¬” After a competitive fall and an exciting winter that saw the program step into its new state-of-the-art boathouse for the first time, the University of Notre Dame women’s rowing team opens the 2016 spring season this weekend at the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational hosted by the University of Louisville in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The Irish find themselves in a usual spot as they wrap up their annual spring break trip. Notre Dame has participated in all five Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational regattas at the Melton Lake Rowing Venue since the first one in 2012. Even prior to its current configuration as the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational, Melton Lake has provided the first competitive challenge of every new Irish campaign during the past 10 years.
A trio of teams ranked in this week’s USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association poll joins the No. 17 Irish at this year’s event, highlighted by defending ACC champion and fourth-ranked Virginia. The 12-team field also features No. 11 Michigan, No. 20 Louisville, Alabama, UCF, Clemson, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
The two-day event features morning and afternoon racing on Saturday (March 12) as well as morning racing on Sunday (March 13). Racing on the 2,000-meter course at the Melton Lake Rowing Venue is slated to begin at 9:14 a.m. (ET) each day, while Saturday’s afternoon session is slated to begin at 3:10 p.m.
Notre Dame will race West Virginia, Louisville & Minnesota in Saturday’s morning session, Kansas, Michigan State and Virginia in the evening session and Michigan and Kansas in Sunday’s single session.
Real-time results for the event will be provided through the Louisville rowing twitter account (@UofLRowing), while final results at the end of each day will be published on Row2K.com and GoCards.com.
Notre Dame is coming off a solid fall that was highlighted by standout performances by both the championship four and championship eight squads at the elite Head of the Charles Regatta.
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For more information on the Notre Dame rowing program, follow the Irish on Facebook (/NDWomensRowing) and Twitter (@NDRowing).
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Russell Dorn, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2011 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame volleyball, rowing and baseball programs. A native of Greenwood, South Carolina, Dorn graduated from Furman University in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in history before earning his master’s degree in sports communications from Georgia State University in 2011.
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