Head coach Martin Stone looks to lead Notre Dame to its 10th straight BIG EAST Championship

Irish Win Three Races Against Stanford And USC In California

April 22, 2012

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. – The University of Notre Dame rowing team concluded its nonconference racing docket this weekend, earning three race victories against Stanford and USC. The Irish varsity four boat finished a perfect 2-0 on the day.

“I’m really happy with the how the varsity four raced today,” stated Irish head coach Martin Stone. “USC is really good in the first varsity eight and second varsity eight. I am not sure we had great races, but they are really fast. We raced better in the afternoon with our second varsity eight winning against Stanford and our first varsity eight running close through the entire race.”

The Irish sent out their same boatings that competed at the Virginia Invite. Notre Dame took on USC in the morning session, with the varsity eight competing first. The Irish boating of coxswain Abby Meyers, Courtney Gaberino, Morgan Kelley, Stephanie O’Neill, Erin McConnell, Olivia Kacsits, Ailish Sheehan, Erin Boxberger and Molly Bruggeman crossed in 6:32.2 while the Trojans finished in 6:21.2.

In the afternoon session, the varsity eight raced even through 1,000m with Stanford, but the Cardinal pulled away over the final 1,000 to secure the win in 6:28.2 while the Irish crossed just over three seconds later at 6:31.7.

In second varsity eight action, the Irish boating of coxswain Christina Dines, Ingrid Woelfel, Lauren Tharp, Rose Doerfler, Anna Kottkamp, Paige Aiello, Kelsey Haddad, Teresa Blumenstein and Teresa Rubinger fell to USC (6:32.9) in the morning session after finishing in 6:40.1 but bounced back in the afternoon against Stanford (6:41.3) with a winning time of 6:37.8. Much the same as the first varsity eight race, the Irish and Cardinal were side-by-side after 1,000m but the Notre Dame boat pulled away over the final stretch for the victory.

The varsity four boat enjoyed the most successful day of the bunch, securing wins over both USC in the morning and Stanford in the afternoon. The crew of coxswain Danni Schneider, Joanna Poinsatte, Katie Suyo, Stella Willoughby and Kelsey Sekanick won their morning heat in 7:17.84 against the Trojans (7:20.51) before capturing the afternoon heat in 7:28.1 against the Cardinal (7:42.9).

Notre Dame concludes the regular season next weekend when it heads to Indianapolis, Ind., to take part in the BIG EAST Invitational Saturday.

–ND–