April 28, 2000
THIS WEEK: The Notre Dame women’s rowing team travels to Annapolis, Md., and Washington D.C. for races. The Irish open the weekend at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, followed by one of the most prestigious regattas of the season at the Georgetown Invitational.
ABOUT THE NAVY RACES: Notre Dame will row again Navy, SMU and MIT in Annapolis. The races will be rowed on the Severn River beginning at 7:45 a.m. The race schedule includes: 7:45 a.m. Varsity Eight 8:00 a.m. Second Varsity Eight 8:15 a.m. Varsity Four 8:30 a.m. Novice Eight
ABOUT THE GEORGETOWN INVITATIONAL: Notre Dame will compete against the other seven BIG EAST Conference schools that sponsor rowing including Georgetown, Syracuse, Rutgers, Connecticut, Miami, West Virginia and Villanova on the waters of the Potomac River at the Georgetown Invitational. The Irish will compete in five races beginning with the Varsity Four preliminaries at 8:30 a.m. Finals will begin at 1:00 p.m. The preliminaries schedule is as follows (Notre Dame races only): 8:30 a.m. Varsity Four 9:30 a.m. Second Varsity Eight 10:00 a.m. Novice Eight 10:40 a.m. Varsity Eight
THE LINEUPS: Head coach Martin Stone has established a consistent lineup for his boats this season using the same lineup the last three races. The lineup for this weekend’s races are the following: Varsity Eight: Claire Bula (cox), Michelle Olsgard, Courtney Mercer, Kristen Vandehey, Katrina Ten Eyck, Lauren Lyons, Amy Braun, Katherine Burnett, Katie Besson Second Varsity Eight: Erin Kiernicki (cox), Megan Feely, Kerri Murphy, Maureen Carr, Elizabeth Nerney, Emily Deye, Allison Bartsh, Joslyn Moreau, Leah Ashe Varsity Four: Cassie Markstahler (cox), Kolleen Myers, Kassie Stuart, Mary Lampe, Sandra Peterson Novice Eight: Erica Drennan, Beth Fruzynski, Elizabeth Jeub, Julia Kelly, Casey Buckstaff, Becky Luckett, Ann Marie Dillhoff, Cassandra Murphy (cox) Second Novice Eight: Pamela Swan, Andrea Amoni, Katherine McCauldren, Laura Aull, Ann Gurucharri, Megan McPherson, Kathyrn Anderson
IRISH REWIND: The Notre Dame rowing team placed seven different boats in the finals of its respective events at the Midwest Rowing Championships. Leading the way for the Irish was the Novice Four. Notre Dame’s Novice Four “A’ captured first in its heat with a time of 7:31.38, and then watched as the Novice Four “B” captured in its heat with a time of 7:36.28, two seconds behind Wisconsin. In the finals, the “A” and “B” teams captured second and fourth, respectively. The women’s Novice Eight team also had success in its opening heat capturing first in 6:34.93. The finals saw the team improve its time by a second and a half and capture third place 4.37 seconds behind Wisconsin. In Second Novice Eight action, the Irish took third in their heat and they finished in fifth in finals bettering their heat team by more than 11 seconds. On the varsity side, both women’s Varsity Eight teams did quite well in their final-only events. The Second Varsity Eight captured third with a time of 6:25.93, 9.10 seconds behind Wisconsin, while the Varsity Eight team finished in fourth with a time of 6:22.69. The women’s Varsity Four boat came in second in their heat with a time of 7:29.38. They nearly matched their heat time in the finals, posting a time of 7:29.79 placing sixth.
HISTORY LESSON: Notre Dame rowing, in only its second season, was granted varsity status in 1996, making it the 26th varsity sport at the University. Martin Stone was hired in ’97 as the first head coach and the Irish competed in their first regatta in 1998. Last season, in the first full year of competition, Notre Dame rowed against a tough schedule, including the prestigious Georgetown Invitational and Midwest Championships, gaining valuable experience. The lightweight eight boat had a great year and finished the season ranked 12th in the nation.
LEAH ASHE NAMED TOP SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Junior Leah Ashe (Orchard Park, N.Y.) was named the top rowing scholar-athlete April 4, at the Academic Excellence Awards Dinner held at the Joyce Center. Ashe is racing in the bow seat of the Second Varsity Eight boat at the SIRA Championships this weekend. Also, freshmen Kathryn Anderson (Bremen, Ill.) and Cassandra Murphy (West Simsbury, Conn.) were cited for having the highest cumulative grade-point averages among first -year students. Senior Katryna Ten Eyck (Keystone, S.D.) was also honored for having a perfect 4.0 GPA during the spring semester in 1999.
THE CAPTAINS: While Martin Stone and the coaching staff are busy finding the right combination for their boats, the have already found the right leadership formula in senior captains Kelly Natter, Elizabeth Nerney and Katrina Ten Eyck.
THE FALL SEASON: The Irish are coming off a solid fall season in which they competed in two regattas. At the Head of the Rock Regatta in Rockford, Ill., Notre Dame was paced by the lightweight four and lightweight eight teams as they both notched third-place finishes. Also, the Irish finished fourth in the open-four race. The rowing team collected even better results at the Head of the Elk Regatta in Elkhart, Ind. Notre Dame’s novice eight and lightweight four boats both took gold medals. Also the women’s open four placed second in both the “A” and the “B” races, while the women’s open eight registered a season-best time.
NOTRE DAME PLAYS HOST TO FIRST VARSITY REGATTA: The Irish competed in their first home varsity regatta Saturday, March 25, against Louisville and Indiana at Margaret Prickett Park in Mishawaka, Ind. Notre Dame was victorious in two of the four races they competed in, winning the Varsity Four and the Varsity Eight. The Irish also placed second in both the First Novice Eight and the Second Novice Eight with times of 6:46.70 and 7:27.20, respectively.
THE POLLS: The Irish lightweight eight boat was ranked 14th in the country in the preseason Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/US Rowing Collegiate Coaches poll, while the open eight boat was unranked in the opening tally. Notre Dame is not racing a lightweight eight boat this season and was unranked in the second poll of the year, released April 5. As of the poll released April 24, Washington is ranked first in the varsity eight boat, while Wisconsin is first in the lightweight eight boat.
UP NEXT: The Irish will travel back to Oak Ridge, Tenn., Friday-Sunday, May 12-14, for the Central Regional Championships. This regatta will have major implications for the 2000 NCAA Rowing Championships held Friday-Sunday, May 26-28, in Camden, N.J.