April 28, 2018
High winds and rough water have forced the cancellation of the afternoon racing at the 2018 Dale England Cup Regatta in Bloomington, Indiana, on Saturday, April 28.
With the University of Notre Dame rowing team (ranked 20th in the nation), #14 Indiana, #16 Duke and Penn at the event this season – a day of NCAA Championship-calibur racing ended up as a struggle to just get to the finish line with a eight to 12 mile-per-hour wind gusting to 22 mph.
“We raced tough and we just kept battling,” Irish head coach Martin Stone said after the completion of the mornign session.
“But that might have been the toughest racing environment Notre Dame has faced in 20 years. The staff and I are proud of how the team handled the situation and to see just how hard they raced.”
For the two four-boat races, the teams had such a hard time holding on to the starting boats that the teams attempted to row to a start and maintain and even dispursal at the start, but the conditions proved too challenging for the start to be fair to all four teams.
Here are the results from the morning races:
Varsity Four
Gen Johanni, Lauren McKee, Stephanie Dubois, Jeanne Farnan, Colleen Visnic ( c )
1. Indiana, 6:21.58
2. Notre Dame, 6:33.11
3. Penn, 6:37.55
4. Duke, 7:13.65
Second Varsity Four (no official times recorded)
Mara Bhalla, Analisa Pines, Katharine Johnson, Caroline Hills, Laura Schoonmaker ( c )
1. Indiana
2. Penn
3. Duke
4. Notre Dame
Varsity Eight
Erin Dolan, Treasa O’Tighearnaigh, Laura Migliore, Evelyn McManus, Emily Stinebaugh, Julia Randall, Christine Schindele-Murayama, Lauren Saunee, Reilly Kearney ( c )
1. Penn, 7:30.40
2. Indiana, 7:32.52
3. Notre Dame, 7:34.92
4. Duke, 7:37.43
Second Varsity Eight
Elizabeth Walter, Ashley Young, Allegra Sodi, Jennifer Groth, Kelly Fischer, Meredith Swartz, Lauren Matchett, Elizabeth Gilbert, Mary Ryan ( c )
1. Notre Dame, 7:53.2
Indiana, 7:53.2
3. Penn, 7:53.5
4. Duke, 8:03.1
Next up for the Irish will be the 2018 ACC Championship on Sunday, May 13, 2018 in Clemson, South Carolina.