Maria Romano Women's Rowing Roster
AS A SENIOR: Earned first-team all-Central Region honors from the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) for the second consecutive year … served as coxswain for the varsity eight crew for the second straight year and helped lead Notre Dame to its second straight berth into the team competition of the NCAA Championships … her varsity eight crew placed second in the preliminaries (6:25.67), fourth in the semifinals (6:35.67), and sixth in the petite finals (6:51.04) at the NCAA Championships … led her crew to a third-place finish in the Grand Finals at the Central/South Region Championship (6:34.68, behind Virginia and Ohio State) … led Irish varsity eight boat to its second straight gold medal at the BIG EAST Championships with a preliminary time of 6:41.59 and a finals time of 6:31.85 … coxswain for the top varsity eight boat in a win over Virginia, Princeton, and George Washington with a 6:19.1 time … led the Irish to a first varsity eight boat sweep of the Windemere Classic against California (7:04.46), Stanford (7:17.03), and UCLA (6:46.50) … coxswain for the first varsity eight boat in a second place finish to Clemson while defeating Michigan State and Michigan, posing a 6:54.40 time … coxed Notre Dame to its first varsity eight win of the year, leading the ‘A’ boat to a 6:38.31 time and a win over Alabama, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame[apos]s ‘B’ boat … led the Irish in the first races of the spring against Tennessee and Minnesota … coxswain for the Irish[apos]s varsity eight ‘A’ boat at the Head of the Rock which finished fourth in a 24- boat race … named CRCA National Scholar Athlete … recipient of Christopher Zorich Community Service Award … three-year monogram winner and three-time member of BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team.
AS A JUNIOR: Coxswain of varsity eight boat that produced the most successful season in the program[apos]s history … a first-team CRCA All-Central Region selection … directed crew to seventh-place finish at NCAA Championships after winning Petite Final with a time of 6:47.54 … that finish propelled the Irish to a ninth-place finish overall in team standings … her boat earned first win of the season at the Lubbers Cup with a winning time of 6:25.44 … led the varsity eight to a program-best fourth-place finish in the Grand Final of the Jessop-Whittier Cup at San Diego Crew Classic with a time of 6:58.66 … won two of three varsity eight races at Indiana Classic … earned gold medal in Grand Final at BIG EAST Championship with a winning time of 6:39.62 … won first-ever gold medal in Grand Final at Central/South Region Championships … coxswain of the piece two boat that took seventh against Michigan, Michigan State and Eastern Michigan to open the season … piece three crew finished 11th in a time of 10:33.00 also at the Regatta … impressive third-place finish out of 25 boats at the Head of the Rock in a time of 15:57.58 … coxed the open eight crew who finished in a time of 14:23.8, good enough for fourth place at the Notre Dame Invitational … captured a second-place finish at the Head of the Elk in the open eight-a race finishing in a time of 14:29.23.
AS A SOPHOMORE: Earned her first monogram with the Irish for the 2004-2005 season…coxed the second varsity eight to an end-of-season sixth place finish in the Central/South Region Sprints Grand finals … BIG EAST Academic All-Star … member of the BIG EAST Champion second varsity eight crew (8:23.11) … finished second against Yale and Harvard … defeated Cincinnati … novice eight B crew took second place against the Irish A crew, Purdue, and Louisville … led the second varsity four A crew to first versus Indiana and Northwestern … coxed varsity eight to victory against Indiana and Purdue in a time of 7:14.0 … second place finish versus Tennessee and Michigan State. Coxed the varsity eight to third-place, the highest finish for the Irish at the Head of the Rock, as her eight crew clocked in at 16:01.24 … coxed the open four-b at the Head of the Elk, placing fourth … open eight boat posted a time of 16:28.1 to finish seventh at the Head of the Elk during the fall season.
AS A FRESHMAN: Coxswain for the 2003-04 novice team … placed fourth in the third varsity four against Michigan, Notre Dame A and Michigan State … coxed novice four crew to a first place finish over Indiana by two seconds at the Indiana Crew Classic … finished runner-up in the novice eight behind Boston University, but beat Northwestern by eight seconds … placed third at the BIG EAST Rowing Challenge behind Georgetown and Miami in the novice eight … coxed the novice eight boat to two third-place finishes in the preliminary and semifinal heats, and a sixth place finish in the grand finals of the Central Sprints … in the fall, coxed the novice eight ‘A’ boat to a third place finish behind Purdue and Louisville at the Head of the Eagle.
PREP AND PERSONAL: Seven-time varsity letter winner in three sports (four in cross country, two in track and one in soccer) … served as team captain her senior season in both cross country and track … a member of National Honor Society and peer tutoring … oldest of four children … parents are Peggy and Victor Romano … born April 9, 1985 in Elmhurst. Ill. … enrolled in the College of Science, majoring in biology and science business.