Oct. 12, 2004

Notre Dame, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s rowing team posted strong performances on Sunday, October 10 in opening up the fall portion of its 2004-05 schedule at the 19th annual Head of the Rock in Rockford, Ill.

A total of seven boats competed for the Irish in two races. Notre Dame’s women’s eight crews experienced great success among the 39 boats entered in the field. The crew of Maria Romano (River Forest, Ill.), Shannon Mohan (Naperville, Ill.), Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Mary Quinn (Plymouth Meeting, N.Y.), Elizabeth Specht (Berkeleym Calif.), Casey Fairbans (Dandridge, Tenn.), Devon Hegeman (Haddonfield, N.J.), Jenna Redgate (Lusby, Md.) and Pamela Jefson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) took third in the time of 16:01.24, finishing behind Wisconsin (15:43.29) and Minnesota (15:56.97).

Two other Irish boats finished in the top 10. The crew of Maureen Gibbons (Langhorne, Pa.), Meredith Thornburgh (Indianapolis, Ind.), Katie Chenoweth (East Lansing, Mich.), Melissa Felker (Bellevue, Wash.), Rachel Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio), Allison March (Mashpee, Mass.), Sara Kate Hafner (Tampa, Fla.), Katie Sedun (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and Andrea Doud (Redford, Mich.) was sixth in the time of 16:15.02, behind the Wisconsin (16:03.00) and Minnesota (16:06.70) crews.

The boat of Eileen Froehlke (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Jessica Guzik (Annandale, Va.), Anicka Jendry (Chicago, Ill.), Lindsay McQuaid (Beaverton, Ore.), Ashley St. Pierre (Kingston, Ohio), Colleen McCotter (Lutherville, Md.), Kristin Henkel (Manchester, Conn.), Samantha Glass (Deerfield, Ill.) and Tricia Hale (Page, Ariz.) posted a 10th-place finish with a time 16:30.87, behind Minnesota (16:18.82), Purdue (16:20.31) and Iowa (16:30.71).

The crew of Shannon Lettieri (Cairo, N.Y.), Danielle Potts (Avalon, N.J.), Danielle Stealy (Culver, Ind.), Alyssa Close (South Dennis, Mass.), Brittany Burnham (Hilton Head, S.C.), Sarah Shaw (Burlington, Conn.), Meghan Chidsey (Mount Laurel, N.J.) and Ariel Klingaman (Canton, Ohio) took 18th with a time of 16:47.56, while the boat Caitlin Rackish (Williamsport, Pa.), Mary McNamara, Marie Brenner, Julie Sobolewski, Erica Castro-Larsen, Laura Pearson, Kathleen Linzmeier, Jenny Shin and Kaitlin O’Brien was 32nd in 18:11.45.

In the novice eight races, the boat of Aubrey Jarred, Amy Vereecke, Colleen McGue, Danielle Gulis, Laurra Pearson, Kelly Czaja, Colleen Lennon, Christina Gullo and Christine Burke posted an eighth-place finish with a time of 18:24.69 and the crew of Paula Kim, Amy Vereecke, Kaitlin Jackson, Alyssa Teves, Kara Fessler, Meghan Marshall, Colleen McGue, Christina Gullo and Christine Burke posted the 13th fastest time in 18:56.61.

Notre Dame returns to action On Saturday, October 16 when it travels to Toledo, Ohio for the Frogtown Races.