May 25, 2012
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The University of Notre Dame rowing team saw its varsity four boat qualify for the semifinals Friday at the 2012 NCAA Championships on Mercer Lake. The varsity eight and second varsity eight will both compete in the Third Finals on Sunday.
After missing out on automatic qualifying for the semifinals with a time of 7:32.14 during their preliminary heat, the varsity four boat of coxswain Danni Schneider, Joanna Poinsatte, Kelsey Sekanick, Katie Suyo and Stella Willoughby earned one of the three qualifying berths out of the repechage race. The Irish boating finished second in the repechage, crossing in 7:51.50. Only Michigan (7:50.90) raced a faster 2,000 meters, while Cornell (7:52.24) earned the third and final bid.
The Irish varsity four now takes part in the first of two, six-boat semifinals Saturday. The race is tentatively scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m. (ET) and will see Notre Dame take on the likes of Harvard, Washington, California, Yale and Michigan. The top three times out of each semifinal will advance into the Grand Final Sunday, with the low three times of each heat moving into the Petite Finals.
In varsity eight action, the Irish boating of coxswain Abby Meyers, Courtney Gaberino, Morgan Kelley, Stephanie O’Neill, Olivia Kacsits, Ailish Sheehan, Erin Boxberger and Molly Bruggeman also earned a spot in the repechage after finishing their preliminary heat with the 15th fastest time of 7:04.44. They were unable to advance out of repechage action, however, finishing seventh with a time of 7:07.98. The boat moves into the varsity eight Third Final that will tentatively race at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
Much the same as the varsity eight, the second varsity eight also will take part in the Third Final on Sunday. After finishing 14th with a time of 7:00.60 during preliminary racing, the Irish crew of coxswain Christina Dines, Ingrid Woelfel, Rose Doerfler, Anna Kottkamp, Paige Aiello, Kelsey Haddad, Teresa Blumenstein and Teresa Rubinger narrowly missed out on the semifinals, placing fourth in the repechage at 7:01.08. Stanford claimed the third and final spot in the semis by .02 over Notre Dame, crossing at 7:01.06. The second varsity eight Third Final is scheduled to race at 10:40 a.m. Sunday.
Be sure to check back with UND.com for continuing coverage of the Irish from the 2012 NCAA Championships.
Women’s Division I Varsity Eight Preliminaries:
1. Virginia 6:37.03
2. Michigan 6:38.48
3. USC 6:40.49
4. UCLA 6:41.93
5. Washington 6:43.51
6. Harvard 6:44.18
7. Michigan State 6:46.80
8. Ohio State 6:49.85
9. Brown 6:50.78
10. California 6:52.19
11. Yale 6:52.60
12. Princeton 6:53.48
13. Cornell 6:54.40
14. Wisconsin 7:00.46
15. NOTRE DAME 7:04.44
16. Stanford 7:11.59
Women’s Division I Second Varsity Eight Preliminaries:
1. Ohio State 6:43.97
2. Princeton 6:45.95
3. Washington 6:47.56
4. Michigan 6:50.77
5. California 6:52.49
6. Cornell 6:53.47
7. UCLA 6:54.50
8. Virginia 6:55.04
9. Brown 6:55.22
10. Wisconsin 6:56.18
11. Yale 6:57.78
12. Harvard 6:59.07
13. Stanford 7:00.59
14. NOTRE DAME 7:00.60
15. USC 7:01.65
16. Michigan State 7:03.34
Women’s Division I Varsity Four Preliminaries:
1. Virginia 7:16.70
2. California 7:19.73
3. Ohio State 7:19.94
4. Washington 7:21.32
5. UCLA 7:21.70
6. Princeton 7:23.28
7. Yale 7:25.73
8. Harvard 7:25.78
9. Cornell 7:27.36
10. Wisconsin 7:28.88
11. Stanford 7:30.89
12. NOTRE DAME 7:32.14
13. Michigan 7:32.62
14. Michigan State 7:36.70
15. USC 7:40.16
16. Brown 7:42.7
Women’s Division I Varsity Eight Repechage:
1. Stanford 6:47.31
2. Cornell 6:50.28
3. Yale 6:51.20
4. Michigan State 6:51.55
5. Brown 6:52.46
6. Wisconsin 6:54.30
7. NOTRE DAME 7:07.98
Women’s Division I Second Varsity Eight Repechage:
1. USC 7:00.09
2. Wisconsin 7:00.87
3. Stanford 7:01.06
4. NOTRE DAME 7:01.08
5. Cornell 7:04.42
6. Harvard 7:05.55
7. Michigan State 7:16.24
Women’s Division I Varsity Four Repechage:
1. Michigan 7:50.90
2. NOTRE DAME 7:51.50
3. Cornell 7:52.24
4. Brown 7:58.00
5. Stanford 8:02.48
6. USC 8:06.66
7. Michigan State 8:07.05
–ND–