April 10, 2005

Indianapolis, Ind. – The Irish varsity and novice crews registered strong performances on Saturday, April 9 with Notre Dame’s novice crews going undefeated in Indianapolis.

Coach Martin Stone’s squad rowed twice during the day in both morning and afternoon sessions. In the morning, the Irish faced Indiana and Purdue and then rowed against Indiana and Louisville in the afternoon.

In the morning’s session, Notre Dame was victorious in all six of their events. The varsity eight crew of coxswain Maureen Gibbons (Langhorne, Pa.), sophomore, Jessica Guzik (Annandale, Va.), freshman Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.), freshman Mary Quinn (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), freshman Allison Marsh, junior Sarah Palandech (Lakenheath, United Kingdom), freshman Julie Sobolewski (Haddonfield, N.J.) and junior Melissa Felker (Bellevue, Wash.) were victorious as they covered the course in 6:56.8. Indiana finished second in 7:03.9, while Purdue was third in 7:21.4.

The second varsity eight shell of sophomore coxswain Maria Romano (River Forest, Ill.), senior Meredith Thornburgh (Indianapolis, Ind.), sophomore Sarah Kate Hafner (Tampa, Fla.), senior Elizabeth Specht (Berkely, Calif.), sophomore Alyssa Close (South Dennis, Mass.), freshman Brittany Burnham (Hilton Head, S.C.), freshman Casey Fairbanks (Dandridge, Tenn.), junior Pamela Jefson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) and junior Andrea Doud (Redford, Mich.) won their race in 7:14.0, followed by Indiana and Purdue.

Notre Dame’s two crews in the varsity four race finished one-two. The boat of senior Caitlin Rackish (Williamsport, Pa.), senior Shannon Mohan (Naperville, Ind.), sophomore Shannon Cassel (Bettendorf, Ia.) and senior Devon Hegeman (Haddonfield, N.J.) crossed the finish line in 8:00.3, while the crew of junior coxswain Shannan Lettieri (Cairo, N.Y.), junior Danielle Stealy (Culver, Ind.), freshman Ankica Jedry (Chicago, Ill.), freshman Laura Pearson (Bloomington, Ind.) and sophomore Ashley St. Pierre (Kingston, N.H.) was clocked in 8:06.9. Indiana took third in 8:27.0, while Purdue was fourth in 8:51.8.

In the second varsity four racem Notre Dame’s boat of sophomore coxswain Eileen Froehlke (Pittsburgh, Pa.), senior Rachel Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio), freshman Lindsay McQuaid (Beaverton, Ore.), senior Tricia Hale (Page, Ariz.) and sophomore Ariel Klingaman (Canton, Ohio) defeated Indiana by 19 second as they finished in 8:21.6, compared to IU’s second-place finishing time of 8:40.7.

Both novice eight boats were victorious in their races. The first novice eight crew of freshman coxswain Christina Padayhag (Kwajalein, Marshall Islands) and freshmen Christina Burke (San Diego, Calif.), Carolyn Sarb (Lisle, Ill.), Kathleen Linzmeier (Coto de Caza, Calif.), Kristan Madison (Saginaw, Mich.), sophomore Meghan Marshall (South Bend, Ind.) and freshmen Jenny Shin (Mercer Island, Wash.), Erica Castro-Larsen (Lake Matthews, Calif.) and Mary McNamara (North Potomac, Md.) finished first with a time of 7:21.3, followed by Purdue 7:31.7 and Indiana (7:33.6).

Notre Dame’s second novice eight boat of freshmen coxswain Ko Un Park (Seoul, Korea), Kaitlin O’Brien (Voorhes, Ind.), Colleen McGue (Hinsdale, Ill.), Amy Vereecke (Walker, Mich.), sophomore Kelly Czaja (Boca Raton, Fla.), freshmen Christina Gullo (Briarcliff, N.Y.), Colleen Beeler (Granger, Ind.), Alyssa Teves (Denver, Colo.) and Marie Brenner (Grand Rapids, Mich.) was by more than a minute in 7:23.5, followed by Purdue (8:24.8) and Butler (8:41.0).

The afternoon session saw the Irish varsity eight crew of Gibbons (coxswain), Guzik. senior Katie Chenoweth (East Lansing, Mich.), Polk, Quinn, Marsh, Palandech, Polinski and Felker take second Louisville. The Cardinal boat finished in 7:06.4, while the Irish crew posted a time of 7:13.2. Indiana took third in 7:18.5.

In the second varsity eight race, the Irish boat of Lettieri (coxswain), Thornburgh, Hafner, Specht, Close, Burnham, Fairbanks, Jefson and Doud was victorious in 7:20.3, followed by Louisville (7:26.4) and Indiana (7:30.7).

In the varisty four race, the morning’s crew of Rackish (coxswain), Mohan, Sedun, Cassel and Hegman finished first competing against four boats as the Irish posted a time of 8:09.8, followed by Louisville (8:15.9), Northwestern (8:25.2) and Indiana (8:34.6).

In the second varsity four race, Notre Dame, two entrants took one-two. The Irish boat of Romano (coxswain), Stealy, Jedry, Pearson land St. Pierre finished first 8:18.2, while the crew of Froehlke (coxswain), Hale, junior Colleen McCotter (Lutherville, Md.), sophomore Meghan Chidsey (Mount Laurel, N.J.) and sophomore Samantha Glass (Deerfield, Mich.) posted a time of 8:26.4. Indiana took third in 8:56.6, while Northwestern was fourth in 9:03.6.

Notre Dame also combined for a one-two finish in the novice eight race. The crew of Padayhag (coxswain), Burke, Sarb, McQuaid, Madison, Linzmeier, Shin, Marshall and McNamara was first in the four-boat race with a time of 7:38.1, while the other Irish shell of frshman coxswain Aubrey Jarred (Chanute, Kan.), O’Brien, McGue, Castro-Larsen, Czaja, Vereecke, Beeler, Gullo and freshman Kaitlin Jackson (West Bloomfield, Mich.) registered a time of 7:46.5, followed by Indiana (7:49.7) and Louisville (8:06.6).