May 14, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 20th-ranked University of Notre Dame rowing team returns to the water this weekend as it heads into the regular season finale at the Oak Ridge Regional. Racing action gets underway at 8:00 a.m. (ET) on Sunday at Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
In what was originally slated to be a dual regatta against Clemson and Virginia, the Oak Ridge Regional will feature nine crews in addition to the Irish in what will be a final tune-up before NCAA selections are announced. The field is made up of Notre Dame, Virginia, Clemson, Rhode Island, Duke, Tulsa, Miami (FL), Central Florida, Oklahoma and BIG EAST foe Louisville.
Racing will consist of varsity eight, varsity four, second varsity eight, second varsity four and third varsity eight competitions. Preliminary heats are slated to begin at 8:00 a.m. with the finals commencing in the afternoon.
Notre Dame will send out the same varsity eight and second varsity eight boats that helped claim the team’s eighth straight BIG EAST Championship. Abby Meyers will cox the varsity eight with a crew of Stephanie Gretsch, Katherine Linnemanstons, Genevieve Malone, Stephanie O’Neill, Olivia Kacsits, Molly Bruggeman, Emily Crosby and Carol Ann Michel. The second varsity eight will be comprised of coxswain Rachael Louie, Katie Suyo, Teresa Blumenstein, Paige Aiello, Kelsey Haddad, Erin McConnell, Megan Keegan, Morgan Kelley and Joanna Poinsatte.
The Irish also send out the same varsity four as the BIG EAST Championships, coxed by Christina Dines with a crew of Kiersten DeHaven, Ching-Ting Hwang, Courtney Gaberino and Teresa Rubinger.
In the second varsity four, the Notre Dame “A” boat will be coxswain Jacqueline Gilhooly along with Sarah McShane, Valerie Brencher, Paige White and Alyce Kanabrocki while the “B” boat will feature coxswain Danni Schneider, Kelsey Murphy, Kathryn Monahan, Sarah Thompson and Stephanie Boggs.
The final Irish boat in the water will be the third varsity eight, which is comprised of coxswain Jacqueline Corey, Julia Lynch, Anna VanEgmond, Nicole Michels, Meghan Salomon, Elizabeth Linnemanstons, Brianna Krafcik and Ingrid Woelfel.
A complete recap of Sunday’s races will be posted on und.com shortly following completion of the regatta.
–ND–