April 23, 2005
Notre Dame, Ind. – Despite tough rowing conditions due to poor weather conditions, the Notre Dame rowing team won two races against Harvard and Yale in a tri-regatta as a tuneup for Sunday’s BIG EAST Championship in Worcester, Mass. The Irish second varsity four and novice eight boats produced first-place finishes, while three other boats finished second in the five races that were contested on Saturday morning.
“Overall, I was extremely pleased with how we raced,” head coach Martin Stone said. “This was a good day of racing for us because Yale and Harvard have very strong programs. It was a good experience to race against such high-quality competition and an excellent tuneup for tomorrow’s BIG EAST Championship. Tomorrow races will be tightly contested as we look forward to defending our title.”
The Irish varsity eight crew of coxswain Maureen Gibbons (Langhorne, Pa.), sophomore Jessica Guzik (Annandale, Va..) senior Katie Chenoweth (East Lansing, Mich.), freshman Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.), freshman Mary Quinn (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), freshman Allison Marsh (Mashpee, Mass.), junior Sarah Palandech (Lakenheath, United Kingdom), senior Rachel Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio) and junior Melissa Felker (Bellevue, Wash.) got off to a slow start and finished third in posting a time of 6:39.2. With Harvard ranked fourth and Yale ranked eighth, Notre Dame know that Saturday’s race would be very tough. The two teams finished in a dead heat for first as both crossed the finish line with identical times of 6:24.0 as even a photo evidence could not determine the final outcome.
“We didn’t get out very well and this race and that was disappointing” Stone said. “I’m not sure that we are 15 seconds slower that these two boats, but they clearly raced better than we did today.”
Notre Dame took second in the second varsity eight race, finishing six seconds behind Yale’s winning time of 6:39.8. The boat 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.) posted a second-place time of 6:45.8, while Harvard was third in 6:48.8.
“Our second varsity eight boat rowed a great race today,” Stone said. “It was our best second varsity eight race this season. Yale got out on us early, but we were right there with them at the end to make it a very competitive race.”
In the varsity four race, the boat 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.) took second behind Yale. The Elis won the race in 7:26.1, while the Irish registered a time of 7:36.6, followed by Harvard in 7:38.0.
“Our varsity four boat rowed a great race and showed great character.” Stone said. “We didn’t get off strong start, but we able to pass Harvard down the stretch to finish second.”
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.) rowed one of its best races of the season en route to a winning time of 6:50.1. Yale was second with a time of 6:52.9, while Harvard took third in 7:02.5.
The second varsity four/novice four race featured five boats — two varsity and three novice boats. Notre Dame took one-two in the race with the second varsity four boat of junior coxswain Shannan Lettieri (Cairo, N.Y.), junior Danielle Stealy (Culver, Ind.), sophomore Ashley St. Pierre (Kingston, N.H.) and senior Tricia Hale (Page, Ariz.) won the race in 7:39.1, while the novice four crew of freshmen coxswain Ko-Un Park (Seoul, Korea), Christine Burke (San Diego, Calif.), Mary McNamara (North Potomac, Md.), Amy Vereecke (Walker, Ind.) and Colleen Beeler (Granger, Ind.) was second in 7:43.7. Harvard’s second varsity four boat was third (7:52.1), followed by the Crimson novice four crew took fourth in 8:00.7, followed by Yale novice four crew (8:29.2).
“Both of our boats got off well in this race and we just took control from the start.” Stone said.