May 13, 2006
Oak Ridge, Tenn. – The Notre Dame rowing team fielded strong results on the first day of competition at the 2006 Aramark South/Central Regional Championships on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Irish placed four crews in tomorrow’s Grand Finals with the varsity eight and second eight advancing as well as two boats in the open four event. In addition, Notre Dame’s first varsity four and novice eight will be competing in the Petite Finals.
“This was an extremely strong day of competition for us,” Irish head coach Martin Stone said. “I couldn’t have been more pleased with the results from all of our boats. I was proud of how hard our team rowed against some very strong competition and we’re looking forward to coming back and having success in tomorrow’s races.
Notre Dame’s varsity eight crew, which reached an all-time program best of 10th in this week’s Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/US Rowing Poll, of coxswain Maria Romano (River Forest, Ill.), Julie Sobolewski (Haddonfield, N.J.), Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Mary Quinn (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), Laura Pearson (Bloomington, Minn.), Allison Marsh (Mashpee, Mass.), Melissa Felker (Bellevue, Wash.), Megan Boyle (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Sarah Palandech (Lakenheath, United Kingdom) took second in both of their races which enabled them to advance to Sunday’s Grand Final.
Rowing in the third of four heats, the Irish were clocked in 6:51.0, less than two seconds in back of No. 9 Minnesota’s winning time of 6:49.5. Louisville took third in the heat in 6:58.3, while Miami finished fourth (7:01.0) and North Carolina was fifth (7:24.9).
In the semifinal, Notre Dame once again rowed in the third of four heats. Fourth-ranked Ohio State edged out the Irish as the Buckeye boat crossed the finish line in 6:38.30, while Notre Dame posted a time of 6:38.96. Michigan’s varsity eight crew, ranked sixth nationally, took third in 6:39.79, while No. 14 Michigan State was fourth in 6:40.58. Central Florida, 19th in this week’s poll, posted a time of 6:50.25, while Iowa was sixth in 7:09.75.
Notre Dame will be pitted up against Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, No. 20 Wisconsin and Tennessee in tomorrow’s Grand Final.
The Irish second varsity eight crew of coxswain Eileen Froehlke (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Sarah Kate Hafner (Tampa, Fla.), Pamela Jefson (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Elli Greybar (Western Springs, Ill.), Jessica Guzik (Annandale, Va.), Casey Fairbanks (Dandridge, Tenn.), Danielle Stealy (Culver, Ind.), Andrea Doud (Redford, Mich.) and Kendra Short (Everett, Wash.) rowed in the first of four heats. The Irish finished seven seconds in back of Ohio State’s winning time of 6:51.2 as they posted a second-place finish in 6:58.5. Texas took third in 7:13.9, while Kansas was fourth (7:24.9) and Clemson was fifth (7:51.1).
Rowing in the third of four semifinal heats, Notre Dame took third in 6:53.99, behind Wisconsin (6:50.36) and Michigan (6:52.28). Tennessee was fourth in 6:56.31, followed by Louisville (7:09.15) and Duke (7:23.45). In tomorrow’s Grand Final, the Irish will go up against Michigan State, Wisconsin Ohio State, Michigan and Virginia.
Two of Notre Dame’s second varsity four entrants will be in tomorrow’s Grand Final.
The Irish A boat of coxswain Christina Padayhag (Kwajalein, Marshall Islands), Ashley St. Pierre (Kingston, N.H.), Shannon Casssel (Bettendorf, Iowa), Alyssa Close (South Dennis, Mass.) and Kaitlin Jackson (West Bloomfield, Mich.) won heat 3 of the open four with a time of 7:55.3. Texas was second in 8:00.1, followed by Cincinnati (8:02.1), Duke (8:15.4) and North Carolina.
Rowing in the first of two semifinal heats, the Irish were third with a time of 7:59.49, finishing behind Ohio State (7:47.80) and Wisconsin (7:57.05). Michigan took third in 8:02.30, while Louisville (8:15.63) and Duke (8:25.57) were fifth and sixth, respectively.
The Irish B crew of coxswain Kelsey Otero (Mequon, Wis.), Alyssa Teves (Denver, Colo.), Erica Castro-Larsen (Lake Matthews, Calif.), Mary McNamara (North Potomac, Md.) and Kate Sylvia (Tiburon, Calif.) placed third as they opened up the morning rowing in heat two. The Irish posted a time of 7:51.1, nearly eight seconds in back of Tennessee’s winning time of 7:43.8 and five seconds in back of Wisconsin’s time of 7:46.9. Louisville finished fourth in 7:53.2, while Ohio State B took fifth (7:56.4) and Virginia was sixth (8:05.8).
In the second semifinal heat, the Irish again were third as the crossed the course in 8:11.17 as Virginia took first in 8:06.60 and Tennessee placed second in 8:08.80. Texas was fourth in the race with a time of 8:11.78, while Miami was fifth (8:13.13) and Cincinnati finished sixth (8:35.62). Notre Dame’s two open four boats will go up against Wisconsin, Virginia B, Ohio State and Tennessee in tomorrow’s Grand Final.
The Irish varsity four boat of coxswain Sarah Keithley (Austin, Texas), Ankica Jedry (Chicago, Ill.), Lindsay McQuaid (Beaverton, Ore.), Brittany Burnham (Hilton Head, S.C.) and Kristan Madison (Saginaw, Mich.) advanced to the semifinals by finishing third in the second of three heats. Notre Dame posted a time of 7:50.5, behind both Michigan (7:34.1) and Michigan State (7:36.2). Kansas State took fourth in 7:53.2, while Clemson was fifth in 7:55.2) and Kansas was sixth (8:03.7).
Notre Dame then finished fifth in the first of two semifinal heats to put itself into tomorrow’s Petite Final as the Irish posted a time of 8:15.60. Ohio State won the race in 7:55.10, followed by Michigan State (7:58.70), Wisconsin (7:59.80) and Texas (8:06.10). Louisville took sixth in 8:22.30. Competing against Notre Dame in the tomorrow’s first varsity four Petite Final will be Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Tennessee.
Notre Dame’s novice eight crew of crew of coxswain Stephanie Szegedi (South Lyon, Mich.), Mallory Glass (Okemos, Mich.), Laura Petnuch (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Christine Trezza (Staten Island, N.Y.), Lauren Buck (Flint, Mich.), Megan Black (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Anni Nowhitney (Ballston Spa, N.Y.), Danielle Leary (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Erica Copeland (Marietta, Ga.) were fourth among seven boats in the first of two heats. The Irish finished the course in 7:14.2, behind Wisconsin (6:56.7), Michigan (6:59.0) and Virginia (7:06.6). Rounding out the race was Central Florida (7:18.2), North Carolina (7:20.3) and Iowa (7:30.3).
The Irish advanced to the Petite Final by finishing third in repechage 1 with a time of 7:24.42. Michigan won the race in 7:17.70 and was followed by Clemson (7:22.20) in second. Kansas took fourth with a time of 7:30.45, while Iowa was fifth (7:32.43) and Ohio State (7:57.60).
Notre Dame will go up against Iowa, Central Florida, Kansas State, Kansas and North Carolina in Sunday’s Petite Final.
Sunday’s final day of competition gets underway at 9:00 a.m.