April 4, 2004
San Diego, Calif. – Facing the top varsity eight boats in the country, the No. 20 Notre Dame varsity eight crew placed seventh in the Jessop-Whittier Cup final at the San Diego Crew Classic in San Diego on Sunday.
The Irish second varsity eight boat had one of its best races of the season as it placed second in the Petite Final.
The varsity eight crew of Maureen Gibbons (cox), Natalie Ladine, Alice Bartek, Meghan Boyle, Rachel Polinski, Melissa Felker, Katie Chenoweth, Danielle Protasewich and Jacqueline Hazen, which tied for third in its heat on Saturday, crossed the finish line in 7:16.90. California, ranked second nationally, won the race with a time of 6:57.1, followed by No. 10 Washington (7:00.63), No. 14 Tennessee (7:02.68), No. 12 Washington State (7:04.10), Wisconsin (7:06.02) and No. 11 Southern California (7:09.25).
“I was happy with how we raced today; we just were not as fast as yesterday,” head coach Martin Stone said. “Our effort was terrific all weekend and it was just one of those days.”
In the Petite Final, the second varsity eight boat of Kacy McCaffrey (cox), Katie Sedun, Kathleen Welsh, Elizabeth Specht, Jenna Redgate, Jessica Guzik, Andrea Doud, Ashley St. Pierre and Megan Sanders was clocked in 7:12.36, less than five second behind Texas’ winning boat which finished with a time of 7:07.67. UCLA took third in the race in 7:15.66, followed by Stanford (7:18.81), Clemson (7:22.20) and Kansas State (7:23.34).
“Overall, I was pleased with our results this weekend,” Stone said. “Both crews gave us a great effort and something to build on for the rest of the season. We face a very challenging schedule the rest of the way and need to ready.”
Notre Dame returns to action when it travels to Indianapolis, Ind., for the Indiana Classic on Saturday, April 10.