May 17, 2008
Oak Ridge, Tenn. – Notre Dame will have three of its six boats in Sunday’s Grand Final races at the 2008 Aramark Sprints as part of the Central/South Region Championships being held this weekend on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Notre Dame placed its second varsity eight, novice eight and top open four crew in the Grand Finals, while the varsity eight and varsity four crews will race in the Petite Finals. In addition, the Notre Dame “B” crew will race in the Petite Final of the open four competition.
The varsity eight crew of coxswain Stephanie Szegedi (South Lyon, Mich.), Lauren Buck (Flint, Mich.) Kendra Short (Everett, Wash.), Christine Trezza (Staten Island, N.Y.), Allison Marsh (Mashpee, Mass.), Laura Pearson (Bloomington, Minn.), Mary Quinn (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Julie Sobolewski (Haddonfield, N.J), ranked 18th in the CRCA/US Rowing poll, will go up against Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State, Louisville and Texas in Sunday’s Petite Final. They finished fourth in their semifinal heat after posting a time of 6:40.65. Michigan took top honors in first of two semifinals as its crew won the race in 6:36.10. Michigan State finished second in 6:36.65, while Wisconsin was the final qualifier from the heat for Sunday’s Grand Final with a time of 6:38.05. Louisville finished fifth in the race in 6:51.35, while Iowa was sixth in 7:01.95.
The crew advanced to the semifinal following a second-place finish to No. 6 Tennessee in their preliminary heat. The Irish were just over five seconds behind the Lady Vols winning time of 6:38.10 as they posted a time of 6:43.32. Iowa was third in six-boat field with a time of 6:47.32, followed by Duke (6:53.90), North Carolina (7:06.21) and Eastern Michigan (7:11.44).
Notre Dame’s second varsity eight crew of coxswain Kelsey Otero (Mequon, Wis.), Casey Robinson (Dulles, Va.), Carol Ann Michel (Princeton, N.J.), Emily Crosby (Middletown, N.J.), Kristan Madison (Saginaw, Mich.), Elli Greybar (Western Springs, Ill.), Anni Nowhitney (Ballston Spa, N.Y.), Brittney Kelly (Wexford, Pa.), and Erica Copeland (Marietta, Ga.) had a strong day of racing in were impressive in both of their races. They advanced to Sunday’s Grand Final with a second-place finish in their heat. The Irish finished with a time of 6:47.12, just four seconds under Ohio State’s winning time of 6:43.20. Wisconsin took third in 6:48.31, followed by Minnesota (6:53.86), Louisville (6:57.97) and Texas (7:01.73).
In addition to the Irish, Sunday’s Grand Final will include Michigan State, Virginia, Ohio State, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
The crew advanced to the semifinal round after finishing a close second to Michigan State in the five-boat field of the third heat. Notre Dame registered a time of 6:51.56, while the Spartan was just ahead at 6:49.50. Central Florida was third in 6:54.83, followed by Iowa (6:59.64) and Miami (7:13.31).
The varsity four boat of coxswain Sarah Keithley (Austin, Tex.), Bridget Leone (Garden City, N.Y.), Braegan Padley (Boise, Idaho), Erica Castro-Larsen (Lake Matthews, Calif.) and Mallory Glass (Okemos, Mich.) will go up against Louisville, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Central Florida and Texas in Sunday’s Petite Final.
Notre Dame took fourth in the first of two semifinal heats as the Irish posted a time of 7:56.47. Michigan State was victorious in 7:42.00, followed by Ohio State (7:44.27) and Clemson (7:53.19). Tennessee was fifth in 8:00.91 and Texas was sixth in 8:01.69.
The morning’s opening preliminary round race saw the crew take second to Virginia in the five-boat field. The Cavaliers posted a time of 7:26. 10, while the Irish finished with a time of 7:37.24. Louisville was nine seconds behind in 7:46.44 for third place, followed by Kansas (67:53.42) and SMU (8:22.51).
Notre Dame had two entrants in the open four race. The “A” crew of coxswain Katherine McMackin (Chevy Chase, Md.), Lisa Bunn (Wilsonville, Ore.), Mary Kate McNamara (North Potomac, Md.), Emily Backer (Cannelton, Ind.) and Kellyn Nestor (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) will row in Sunday’s Grand Final against Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State, Virginia “A” and Michigan.
The Irish advanced to the Grand Final following their third-place finish in the second of two semifinal heats on Saturday. Notre Dame posted a time of 7:44.81, behind Michigan State (7:37.00) and Virginia “A” (7:41.56). Virginia “B” took fourth in 7:46.33, followed by Clemson (7:59.20) and Texas (8:01.77).
In the preliminaries, the crew took second in its heat with a time of 7:44.90 as Wisconsin won the race in 7:38.80. Clemson took third in 7:56.28, followed by Central Florida (8:10.23), Kansas (8:14.80) and Iowa (8:19.90).
Notre Dame’s “B” crew of coxswain Rachael Louie (Summitt, N.J.), Neva Lundy (Santa Monica, Calif.), Kaitlin Jackson (West Bloomfield, Mich.), Casey Sullivan (Wilmette, Ill.) and Brittany Burnham (Hilton Head, S.C.) will in the Petite Final against Texas, Indiana, Virginia “B” Clemson and Central Florda. The Irish were fourth in their five-boat semifinal heat as they posted a time of 7:57.96. Ohio State was victorious 7:38.50, followed by Wisconsin (7:39.29) and Michigan (7:48.10). Indiana took fifth in the heat in 8:14.10, while Central Florida was sixth (8:19.42).
Notre Dame advanced to the semifinals after placing third in their preliminary heat with a time of 7:50.26. Ohio State was victorious with a time of 7:36.70, followed by Virginia “A” (7:41.89). Texas recorded a fourth-place time of 7:53.04, while Tennessee “A” was fifth in 7:54.58 and Miami was sixth in 8:09.00.
The novice eight crew of coxswain Jimena DiIorio (Asuncion, Paraguay), Amanda Cosfol (Broomall, Pa.), Megan Keegan (Canton, Ohio), Erika Shults (Virginia Beach, Va.), Mary Theresa DiSipio (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), Katherine Linnemanstons (Milwaukee, Wis.), Stephanie Gretsch (Downers Grove, Ill.), Christina Buckley (Huntington, N.Y.) and Genevieve Malone (Dayton, Ohio) will go up against Clemson, Central Florida, Wisconsin, Virginia and Ohio State in tomorrow’s Grand Final.
The Irish advanced to the gold medal race by taking second in the second of two repechage heats. Notre Dame posted a time of 7:16.73, while Virgina had a winning time of 7:09.80. Michigan State took third in 7:23.51, followed by Kansas (7:24.13), North Carolina “A” (7:30.40) and Texas (7:33.85).
In the morning’s preliminary race, the Irish were third in the seven-boat field as they posted a time of 7:05.31. Central Florida won the race in 6:59.60 and Ohio State was second in 7:04.71. Iowa finished fourth in 7:11.37, followed by Michigan State (7:11.83), North Carolina “B” (7:23.99) and Texas (7:27.70).
“We obviously had mixed results today, but I think that we competed very well overall,” head coach Martin Stone said. “We are excited to have our second varsity eight, novice eight and one of varsity four crews in Sunday’s grand finals. Our varsity eight and varsity four boats came up short in their races today and were very close to getting in the grand finals of their events. We’ll just look to regroup and hope to have a strong day of races from all six of our boats tomorrow.”