April 3, 2005
Notre Dame, Ind. – A victory by Notre Dame’s novice eight crew in the Petite Final highlighted the second and final day of competition for the Irish rowing team at the prestigious San Diego Crew Classic at Crown Point Shores Park at Mission Bay.
The varsity eight crew rowed to an impressive second-place finish in the Petite Final of the Jessop-Whittier Cup, while the second varsity eight was third in the Petite Final of that event. In the Grand Final of the Open Eight race, Notre Dame finished fifth.
The novice eight crew comprised of freshman coxswain Christina Padayhag (Kwajalein, Mich.) and freshmen Julie Sobolewski (Haddonfield, N.J.), Lindsay McQuaid (Beaverton, Ore.), Casey Fairbanks (Dandridge, Tenn.), Kathleen Linzmeier (Coto de Caza, Calif.), Carolyn Sarb (Lisle, Ill.), Laura Pearson (Bloomington, Minn.), Kristan Madison (Saginaw, Mich.) and sophomore Megan Marshall (South Bend, Ind.) covered the 2,000-meter course in 7:19.49 to win the Petite Final. USC took second in 7:25.49, followed by Sacramento State (7:29.58), UC-San Diego (7:37.38), UC-Davis (7:37.51) and Loyola-Marymount (7:51.58).
The varsity eight crew of coxswain senior Maureen Gibbons (Langhorne, Pa.), sophomore, Jessica Guzik (Annandale, Va.), senior Rachel Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio), freshman Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.), freshman Mary Quinn (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), freshman Allison Marsh, junior Sarah Palandech (Lakenheath, United Kingdom), senior Kathleen Chenoweth (East Lansing, Mich.) and junior Melissa Felker (Bellevue, Wash.) turned in its fastest performance of the weekend in its second-place finish in the Petite Final. The Irish shell trimmed nearly five seconds off Saturday’s time of 7:03.21 in finishing second to Oregon State (6:57.90) as they crossed the finish line in 6:58.56. Texas was third in the race in 6:59.97, while Loyola-Marymount took fourth in 7:07.82 and Purdue was fifth in 7:08.47.
Notre Dame’s second varsity eight crew of Caitlin Rackish (Williamsport, Pa.), senior Meredith Thornburgh (Indianapolis, Ind.), freshman Ankica (Chicago, Ill.), senior Elizabeth Specht (Berekely, Calif.), sophomore Alyssa Close (South Dennis, Mass.), freshman Brittany Burnham (Hilton Head, S.C.), junior Andrea Doud (Redford, Mich.), junior Pamela Jefson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) and sophomore Sarah Kate Hafner (Tampa, Fla.) finished third in a closely contestes race with a time of 7:11.55. Oregon State won the race in 7:04.5, followed by Tennessee (7:11.55). Miami finished less than a second behind Notre Dame in 7:12.53, followed by Sacramento State and Kansas State (7:16.28).
In the open eight Grand Final, Irish crew of coxswain junior Shannan Lettieri (Cairo, N.Y.), senior Shannon Mohan (Naperville, Ill.), senior Kati Sedun (Lake Oswego, Ore.), sophomore Shannon Cassel (Bettendorf, Iowa), junior Danielle Stealy (Culver, Ind.), senior Kristin Henkel (Manchester, Conn.), senior Devon Hegeman (Haddonfield, N.J.), senior Tricia Hale (Page, Ariz.) and sophomore Ariel Klingaman (Canton, Ohio) took fifth in 7:21.87, finishing behind California (7:04.1), USC Alumni (7:13.07), USC (7:15.53) and California Alumni (7:17.32). San Diego Rowing Club took sixth in 7:22.56.
Notre Dame returns to action on Saturday, April 9 when the Irish travel to Indianapolis, Ind., to row against Indiana and Purdue.