April 27, 2016

By Russell Dorn

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After clinching the program’s third Dale England Cup in four years Saturday at Lake Lemon, Indiana, the 1^st varsity 8 from the No. 16 University of Notre Dame rowing team has earned Atlantic Coast Conference Crew of the Week honors, the league office announced Tuesday.

Despite ending the regatta in a tie with No. 14 Indiana and Duke at 108 points, the Irish were awarded the victory based on the second tiebreaker, which swung in favor of Notre Dame after the 1^st varsity 8 crew won the final race of the weekend by .85 seconds (6:37.4).

The victory was even more clutch considering that the 1^st varsity 8 had rowed to a second-place finish against the same teams in the morning session (6:46.0).

Notre Dame’s 1st Varsity 8 is composed of coxswain Reilly Kearny (So., San Mateo, California), stroke Joanna Mulvey (Sr., Staatsburg, New York), seven-seat Hillary Shinnick (Jr., Kildorrey County Cork, Ireland), six-seat Elizabeth Kelley (Sr., Windermere, Florida), five-seat Treasa O’Tighearnaigh (So., Powell, Ohio), four-seat Katherine Lumetta (Sr. Chesterfield, Missouri), three-seat Laura Migliore (Fr., Tampa, Florida), two-seat Ellen Gleadow (Sr., Vancouver, British Columbia) and bow Catherine Wagner (Jr., St. Louis, Missouri).

The honor is the second ever for the Irish in the ACC. The 1^st varsity 8 also captured weekly honors after winning the Dale England Cup in 2014.

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Here’s what else is going on in Irish rowing:

ND Rowing Alum Rose Doerfler Earns Fulbright: 2015 Irish rowing alum Rose Doerfler has earned a prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to Taiwan in engineering from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, it was announced last week.

Doerfler will research at Yuan Ze University as part of a project to build devices for detection of genetically modified rice and soy crops.

She is one of over 1,900 U.S. citizens who will teach, conduct research, and provide expertise abroad for the 2016-2017 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields.

With the Irish, Doerfler became one of just three rowers in program history to compete at four consecutive NCAA Championships. She was also a three-time CRCA National Scholar-Athlete selection and earned all-ACC Academic honors as a senior.

She is set to graduate in two weeks with degrees in both chemical engineering and Chinese.

Doerfler’s honor comes on the heels of former teammate Anna Kottkamp becoming the first student-athlete in school history to serve as the valedictorian for her graduating class last year (2014-15).

For more information on the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, please check out http://eca.state.gov/fulbright.

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Speaking Of Academics: Fifteen Irish seniors are all on pace to graduate from Notre Dame in just about two weeks. The ladies will graduate from four different schools, including five from the College of Engineering, four from the College of Science, four from the Mendoza College of Business – the No. 2 undergraduate business school in the country – and two from the College of Arts & Letters.

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Rankings: The Irish check in at No. 16 in the latest Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Poll. Here’s some interesting info from the ACC about Notre Dame in the CRCA poll all-time.

“Notre Dame, which joined the ACC in 2013-14, has appeared in 87 polls dating back to 2004. The Fighting Irish have 16 appearances in the top 10 with their highest ranking (3^rd) coming May 2, 2007. Notre Dame was ranked ninth in the final CRCA poll in 2014, its 10th consecutive top-10 ranking.”

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Olympics Update: Notre Dame still has three rowing alums that are training hard with their sights set on the Rio Olympics this August. Molly Bruggeman, Amanda Polk and Erin Boxberger are all hoping to compete at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland May 22-25.

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What’s Next For The 2015-16 Irish: The Irish and eight other ACC rowing teams will be in action May 13-14 at the 17^th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Rowing Championships, which will be held on Lake Hartwell in Clemson, South Carolina.

The 2016 ACC Rowing Championship finals, which will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 14, will be available live on ESPN3.

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How To Follow The Irish: Facebook (/NDWomensRowing) and Twitter (@NDRowing).

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Russell Dorn, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2011 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame volleyball, rowing and baseball programs. A native of Greenwood, South Carolina, Dorn graduated from Furman University in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in history before earning his master’s degree in sports administration from Georgia State University in 2011.

–ND–