April 15, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Notre Dame rowing team concluded a successful weekend at the Virginia Invitational, winning four races against Penn and San Diego Sunday on Lake Monticello. Overall, the Irish closed out the weekend with seven wins in their 12 total races.
“I felt we rowed really well on both days of racing,” said Irish head coach Martin Stone. “We won seven of our 12 races over the two days and all but one of our losses came at the hands of the top team in the country, Virginia. We really showed good improvement since our last time out against Ohio State, but we also know we have more tough races next weekend against two highly ranked opponents in USC and Stanford, so there is no time to rest on what we did this weekend.”
Notre Dame took the water with the same crews as Saturday. The varsity eight competed first for the Irish, with the crew of coxswain Abby Meyers, Courtney Gaberino, Morgan Kelley, Stephanie O’Neill, Erin McConnell, Olivia Kacsits, Ailish Sheehan, Erin Boxberger and Molly Bruggeman claiming the victory at 6:40.80. Penn took second in 6:45.70 with San Diego placing third at 7:00.40.
The remaining three races saw the Irish post over nine-second victories in each, with the most dominant performance coming in the varsity four race. The Notre Dame crew of coxswain Danni Schneider, Joanna Poinsatte, Katie Suyo, Stella Willoughby and Kelsey Sekanick turned in the winning time of 7:34.10 with Penn (7:44.80) and San Diego (7:53.70) finishing second and third, respectively.
The second varsity eight, coxed by Christina Dines and crewed by Ingrid Woelfel, Lauren Tharp, Rose Doerfler, Anna Kottkamp, Paige Aiello, Kelsey Haddad, Teresa Blumenstein and Teresa Rubinger, won its heat with a time of 6:50.20. Penn again finished second with a mark of 6:59.00 with San Diego crossing third at 7:08.40.
The day concluded with the third varsity eight race. Notre Dame’s boat of coxswain Leah Corachea, Sarah McShane, Ching-Ting Hwang, Kiersten DeHaven, Elizabeth Linnemanstons, Kelsey Murphy, Valerie Brencher, Anna Sliwinski and Sarah Hart won in 7:04.80 with San Diego (7:13.20) and Penn (7:18.20) finishing second and third, respectively, to end competition.
Notre Dame returns to the water next weekend when it heads west to take on USC and Stanford Saturday in Redwood Shores, Calif.
–ND–