May 15, 2005
Oak Ridge, Tenn. – The Notre Dame rowing team enjoyed one of its best showings at the Central/South Region Sprints as the Irish finished seventh overall in the 21-team field and fifth among the 11 teams competing from the Central Region.
Notre Dame headed into Sunday’s final day of competition with four of five boats qualified in the Grand Finals. Amongst the four boats in the Grand Finals, the varsity and open four boats took fifth, while the second varsity eight and novice eight crews finished sixth and seventh, respectively. In the Petite Finals, Notre Dame’s varsity eight boat finished third.
Virginia won the overall team competition with 372 points, followed by Ohio State (366), Wisconsin (324), Michigan (317), Tennessee (304), Michigan State (294), Notre Dame (262), Minnesota (231), Indiana (187) and Clemson (180) in the top 10.
In the final Central Region standings, Ohio State finished first with 366, followed by Wisconsin (324), Michigan (317), Michigan State (294), Notre Dame (262), Minnesota (231), Indiana (187), Iowa (144), Cincinnati (77), Kansas (67) and Kansas State (47).
“Overall, this was just a great weekend of racing for us and I couldn’t be more proud of the way we competed,” head coach Martin Stone said. “Our varsity eight and second varsity eight rowed extremely well today and exceeded their seedings. Without question, the Central/South region is the toughest in the country. Today’s close races certainly validate that point and I couldn’t be happier with how well we performed over the past two days.”
The Irish varsity eight crew of coxswain Maureen Gibbons (Langhorne, Pa.), sophomore Jessica Guzik (Annadale, Va.), senior Rachel Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio), freshman Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.), freshman Mary Quinn (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), freshman Allison Marsh (Mashpee, Mass.), junior Melissa Felker (Bellevue, Wash.), senior Katie Chenoweth (East Lansing, Mich.) and junior Sarah Palandech (Lakenheath, United Kingdom) earned an impressive third-place finish in the Petite Finals in one of the day’s most exciting races with 9.83 seconds separating the first and sixth-place boats. Notre Dame posted a time of 6:36.60, just 3.50 seconds in back of No. 15 Minnesota’s first-place time of 6:33.10. Iowa edged out the Irish for second place with a time of 6:36.50, while No. 20 Louisville was fourth in 6:37.42. Indiana finished fifth in 6:39.72, followed by Central Florida (6:42.93).
Notre Dame’s second varsity eight crew of sophomore coxswain Maria Romano (River Forest, Ill.), senior Meredith Thornburgh (Indianapolis, Ind.), freshman Ankica Jedry (Chicago, Ill.), senior Elizabeth Specht (Berkely, Calif.), sophomore Alyssa Close (South Dennis, Mass.), senior Devon Hegeman (Haddonfield, N.J.), junior Andrea Doud (Redford, Mich.), junior Pamela Jefson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) and sophomore Sarah Kate Hafner (Tampa, Fla.) finished sixth in their Grand Final face with a time of 6:52.75. Virginia recorded a winning time of 6:33.30, followed by Ohio State (6:34.12), Michigan State (6:38.96), Michigan (6:39.17) and Wisconsin.
The varsity four crew of senior coxswain Caitlin Rackish (Williamsport, Pa.), senior Shannon Mohan (Naperville, Ill.), senior Kati Sedun (Lake Oswego, Ore.), freshman Casey Fairbanks (Dandridge, Tenn.) and freshman Brittany Burnham (Hilton Head, S.C.) rowed to an impressive fifth-place finish as they finished with a time of 7:40.80, 16.40 seconds in back of Virginia’s winning time of 7:24.40. Michigan State was second in 7:31.94, followed by Wisconsin (7:35.84) and Michigan (7:38.93). Minnesota finished in back of the Irish with a time of 7:42.69.
The open four crew of junior coxswain Shannan Lettieri (Cairo, N.Y.), sophomore Shannon Cassel (Bettendorf, Ia.), junior Danielle Stealy (Culver, Ind.), sophomore Ashley St. Pierre (Kingston, N.H.) and senior Tricia Hale (Page, Ariz.) finished with a time fo 7:49.11, just over 10 seconds in back of first-place Ohio State (7:38.90). Wisconsin was second in 7:40.54, followed by Michigan (7:42.79) and Virginia (7:48.23). Texas earned a sixth-place finish with a time of 7:51.12, while Iowa was seventh in 7:54.33.
The Irish novice eight crew of freshman coxswain Christina Padayhag (Kwajalein, Marshall Islands) and freshmen Julie Sobolewski (Haddonfield, N.J.), Lindsay McQuaid (Beaverton, Ore.), Kristan Madison (Saginaw, Mich.), Laura Pearson (Bloomington, Minn.), Carolyn Sarb (Lisle, Ill.), Kathleen Linzmeier (Coto de Caza, Calif.), Colleen McGue (Hinsdale, Ill.) and sophomore Megan Marshall (South Bend, Ind.) was seventh in its Grand Final among seven boats. In one of the most evenly contested races of the day, just 10.56 seconds separated first and seventh. The Irish crew crossed the finish line in 7:14.56. Michigan won the race in 7:04.00, while Virgnia took second (7:08.12). Ohio State was third in 7:09.38, followed by Clemson (7:11.60), Iowa (7:12.47) and Wisconsin (7:12.77).