April 21, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s rowing team received a couple of honors on Wednesday. The varsity four boat that competed at the Lake Natoma Invitational was named the BIG EAST Crew of the Week for its performance, while the Irish team climbed into the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA)/USRowing Coaches Poll for the first time this season.
The four boat, comprised of Christina Dines (Buffalo, N.Y.), Ching-Ting Hwang (Chesterfield, Mo.), Courtney Gaberino (Pewaukee, Wis.), Teresa Rubinger (Arlington, Va.) and Kiersten DeHaven (Tampa, Fla.) defeated Stanford, whose varsity four boat is ranked No. 6 in the West Region, by more than four seconds and beat Sacramento State by more than 47 seconds, finishing in 7:27.00.
The crew, which was made up of four freshmen, also had a near upset of No. 2 (West Region) California, losing to the Golden Bears by 3.35 seconds, but beating out No. 4 (West Region) Oregon State. The Irish seeded into the Group B finals, defeating No. 5 Tennessee (South Region), but falling to No. 3 Wisconsin (Central Region).
Including the opponent’s varsity four boats being ranked highly within their respective regional rankings, four of the six schools faced in the races (No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 California, No. 12 Wisconsin, No. 19 Tennessee) are nationally-ranked in the CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll (April 20), with Oregon State receiving votes.
As a result of not only the varsity four performance at the Lake Natoma Invite but the strong showings from the varsity eight and second varsity eight, the Irish are ranked for the first time this season.
After receiving votes in each of the first four CRCA/USRowing Coaches polls, Notre received 70 tallies in the most recent installment of the rankings to check in at No. 20 in the nation.
The Irish hope to use the success at the Lake Natoma Invitational as they prepare for the 2011 BIG EAST Championship. The event will be held on May 1 at West Windsor, N.J. Notre Dame enters in search of its eighth straight conference crown.
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