Junior Joanna Mulvey was one of three Notre Dame rowers to claim all-ACC honors on Saturday at the ACC Championship

No. 19 Irish Race To Runner-Up Finish At ACC Championship

May 16, 2015

CLEMSON, S.C. — Looking to flip the script of the pre-regatta seeding at the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship on Saturday, the University of Notre Dame rowing team knew that it needed quality finishes to place in the top two teams at the conclusion of racing. Two runner-up results in the first varsity four and first varsity eight helped carry the Irish to a second place overall finish on Lake Hartwell in Notre Dame’s second ACC Championship start.

Virginia claimed its 15th ACC Championship in 16 tries after sweeping all five events on Saturday, earning a total of 99 team points in the victory. Notre Dame earned second place outright with 82 points, followed by Syracuse (73 points), Louisville (72 points) and host Clemson (59 points) to round out the top five in the team standings.

“I thought that all boats raced really well over the weekend,” Notre Dame head coach Martin Stone said. “Starting with practice, getting here and doing what we needed to do, we worked really hard strategizing how to best perform in our races on Saturday. The varsity eight threw down really hard in that second thousand and got through a very good Syracuse varsity eight. That was very good for the team.”

Notre Dame’s first varsity eight lineup of coxswain Reilly Kearney, Carlee Beckler, Sarah Kappers, Hilary Shinnick, Katie Skorcz, University valedictorian Anna Kottkamp, Ailish Sheehan, Alexis Olson and Joanna Mulvey logged a runner-up time of 6:28.60 to outpoint Syracuse (6:31.20) for the top-two finish behind the winning Virginia (6:21.30) entry. Sheehan and Mulvey were both rewarded for their performances by being named to the all-ACC first team. Kearney received second team all-conference honors.

“We’re really proud of how the team responded to the challenges all the way through, and stood up and raced,” Stone said. “They made it and got second. We were not thought to be the second fastest team in this conference coming into the championship, so to get through and be there was good. We went as fast as we could when we were supposed to. For the varsity eight throwing down in the second thousand meters of that race, and the four as well, that was very savvy racing.”

Notre Dame’s first varsity four clocked a runner-up time of 7:18.10 as coxswain Jill Ryan, Bailey Amenabar, Elizabeth Walter, Madelynn Conlin and Treasa O’Tighearnaigh brought the Irish through the line just behind Virginia’s effort of 7:12.30. Syracuse placed third with a time of 7:20.40, with Louisville in fourth at 7:24.00.

The Irish second varsity eight crew of coxswain Alex Techar, Elizabeth Gilbert, Rose Doerfler, Ellen Gleadow, Catherine Wagner, Sarah Russel, Elizabeth Kelley, Gretchen Bruggeman and Madeline Loper completed the course in 6:36.60 in its grand final to finish third overall. Virginia (6:28.80) and Louisville (6:33.30) set the pace as the top two squads.In the second varsity four, coxswain Mikaela Prego, Megan McKeon, Katherine Lumetta, Emily Horton and Meredith Swartz cruised in with a third place time of 7:32.00 in its grand final heat. Notre Dame’s third varsity eight lineup of coxswain Savannah Ryder, Christine McGough, Christine Schindele-Murayama, Kate Trankina, Erin Dolan, Bridget Adam, Moira Hamilton, Clare Scantling and Lauren Matchett placed fourth in its grand final with a time of 6:51.90.

“We knew coming in that we are all striving to get an NCAA bid, so Syracuse seeded second overall in everything and ranked 16th (in the country) looked like they had the inside track to it,” Stone said. “Everybody was throwing everything they had at it, and everybody is kind of at the same point in their training at this point of the year. During the regular season some teams will be training hard, some might be on an off week, so everybody now is at their fastest point of this year.”

Teams eligible for an at-large bid will learn their collective championship fates during the NCAA Championship Selection Show on May 19 at 5 p.m. (ET). The selection proceedings will stream live on NCAA.com.

“We will definitely wait and see,” Stone said. “I think we are on a bubble of the bubble like they talk about, and you can make arguments (in favor of an NCAA bid). We will see how the other conference championships play out over the next 24 hours or so. The finals of the Ivy League is the last one tomorrow that will get to decide it, and we will go from there.”


Team Results
— 1. Virginia, 99; 2. Notre Dame, 82; 3. Syracuse, 73; 4. Louisville, 72; 5. Clemson, 59; 6. Boston College, 37; 7. Duke, 36; 8. North Carolina, 22; 9. Miami, 13.

ACC Crew of the Year: Virginia First Varsity Eight
ACC Freshman of the Year: Julia Vander Hoeven, Syracuse
ACC Coach of the Year: Kevin Sauer, Virginia

All-ACC Rowing Team
First Team
Hayley LaFleche, Sr., Virginia (New York, N.Y.)
Lizzy Youngling, Sr., Virginia (Westport, Conn.)
Chandler Lally, Sr., Virginia (Bryn Mawr. Pa.)
Hemingway Benton, Sr., Virginia (Glencoe, Ill.)
Ailish Sheehan, Sr., Notre Dame (Kildare Co., Limerick, Ireland)
Joanna Mulvey, Jr., Notre Dame (Staatsburg, N.Y.)
Deidre Fitzpatrick, Jr., Syracuse (Chesire, Conn.)
Darya Marchanka, Sr., Louisville (Minsk, Belarus)
Samantha Duggan, Sr.,Clemson (Christchurch, New Zealand)

Second Team
Reilly Kearney, Fr., Notre Dame (San Mateo, Calif.)
Maggie Bowman-Jones, Sr., Virginia (Moss Beach, Calif.)
Chelsea Frawley, Fr., Syracuse (Melbourne, Australia)
Katie Nord, Jr., Louisville (Louisville, Ky.)
Milena Heuer, Jr., Clemson (Leer, Germany)
Ellen Burr, Sr., Boston College (Cazenovia, N.Y.)
Claire Vannelli, Sr.Duke (London, Ontario, Canada)
Victoria McGee, Jr., North Carolina (Kernersville, N.C.)
Caitlin White-Parsons, Jr., Miami (Auckland, New Zealand)

First Varsity Eight (Grand Final)
1. Virginia — 6:21.30
2. Notre Dame — 6:28.60 (C) Reilly Kearney, Carlee Beckler, Sarah Kappers, Hilary Shinnick, Katie Skorcz, Anna Kottkamp, Ailish Sheehan, Alexis Olson and Joanna Mulvey
3. Syracuse — 6:31.20
4. Clemson — 6:33.10
5. Louisville — 6:33.40
6. Duke — 6:45.90

Second Varsity Eight (Grand Final)
1. Virginia — 6:28.80
2. Louisville — 6:33.30
3. Notre Dame — 6:36.60 (C) Alex Techar, Elizabeth Gilbert, Rose Doerfler, Ellen Gleadow, Catherine Wagner, Sarah Russel, Elizabeth Kelley, Gretchen Bruggeman and Madeline Loper
4. Syracuse — 6:37.00
5. Clemson — 6:42.70
6. Duke — 6:44.90

First Varsity Four (Grand Final)
1. Virginia — 7:12.30
2. Notre Dame — 7:18.10 (C) Jill Ryan, Bailey Amenabar, Elizabeth Walter, Madelynn Conlin and Treasa O’Tighearnaigh
3. Syracuse — 7:20.40
4. Louisville — 7:24.00
5. Clemson — 7:30.90
6. Boston College — 7:44.10

Second Varsity Four (Grand Final)
1. Virginia — 7:17.00
2. Louisville — 7:30.60
3. Notre Dame — 7:32.00 (C) Mikaela Prego, Megan McKeon, Katherine Lumetta, Emily Horton and Meredith Swartz
4. Syracuse — 7:33.40
5. Clemson — 7:39.60
6. Boston College — 7:47.60

Third Varsity Eight (Grand Final)
1. Virginia — 6:37.00
2. Louisville — 6:43.70
3. Syracuse — 6:50.00
4. Notre Dame — 6:51.90 (C) Savannah Ryder, Christine McGough, Christine Schindele-Murayama, Kate Trankina, Erin Dolan, Bridget Adam, Moira Hamilton, Clare Scantling and Lauren Matchett
5. Clemson — 7:05.30
6. Boston College – 7:10.40

–ND–