Irish Race Finish Eighth In ACC Championship, Led By Third Varsity Eight

Clemson, South Carolina – The University of Notre Dame rowing team finished tied for eighth at the 2025 ACC Championships, which wrapped up racing on Saturday, May 17th. The Third Varsity Eight provided the team highlight on Saturday morning, placing second behind Stanford in the Grand Final. 

One of, if not the most competitive rowing conferences in the nation, the ACC featured seven ranked teams and No. 1 Stanford claimed the conference title by sweeping all five grand final races. 

The Second Varsity Eight claimed a victory on Saturday in the consolation final, edging out Clemson on its home water in 6:30.437, just 0.797 ahead of the Tigers.  The Varsity Four also raced well on Saturday, finishing second in the consolation final (7:20.436) behind Virginia (7:20.436) and just edging out SMU (7:20.656). 

Senior Natalie Hoefer was named to the All-ACC Third Team at the conclusion of racing on Saturday. Having earned all-conference honors in 2023 and 2024, Hoefer is the first three-time all-conference Irish rowers since Ailish Sheehan in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Final Standings

1. #1 Stanford – 132
2. #13 Virginia – 106
3. #11 Syracuse – 104
4. #9 California – 102
5. #18 Duke – 89
6. #24 North Carolina – 68
7. #22 Clemson – 67
8. Notre Dame & SMU – 50
9. Louisville – 39
10. Miami FL – 34
11. Boston College – 17

Rankings shown at CRCA/Pocock Top 25 from May 12, 2025. 

Full Results Recap

Varsity Eight 

Natalie Hoefer, Grayson Conway, Amelia Haney, Maggie Newell, Christina Steinki, Neeve Gamble, Emma Hopsicker, Lily Crook, Annamarie Wallis (coxswain)

Heat Two – Friday

1. California, 6:18.966
2. Syracuse, 6:20.879
3. Clemson, 6:28.339
4. Louisville, 6:28.729
5. SMU, 6:33.999
6. Notre Dame, 6:37.769

Final Two – Saturday

1. North Carolina, 6:19.438
2. Louisville, 6:21.818
3. Miami FL, 6:22.325
4. SMU, 6:24.965
5. Notre Dame, 6:27.878
6. Boston College, 6:30.135

Second Varsity Eight

Caroline Johnson, Reece McNutt, Michaela Carroll, Courtney French, Lily Smith, Nora Barth, Julia Clavi, Maya Fister, Margaret Abbott (coxswain)

Heat One – Friday

1. Stanford, 6:16.001
2. Virginia, 6:18.818
3. Duke, 6:33.655
4. North Carolina, 6:47.058
5. Notre Dame, 6:47.058
6. Boston College, 7:03.715

Final 2 – Saturday

1. Notre Dame, 6:30.437
2. Clemson, 6:31.234
3. Louisville, 6:31.850
4. North Carolina, 6:32.827
5. Miami FL, 6:38.464
6. Boston College, 6:52.314

Third Varsity Eight

Caroline Logan, Christina Henning, Elle Kilgannon, Grace Hartzell, Lauren O’Grady, Christina Spira, Scarlett Quinn, Reyna Lewis, Grace Collins (coxswain)

Grand Final – Saturday

1. Stanford, 6:27.126
2. Notre Dame, 6:32.719
3. California, 6:33.889
4. Syracuse, 6:34.433
5. Virginia, 6:34.649
6. North Carolina, 6:38.199

Heat One – Friday

1. Stanford, 6:41.253
2. Virginia, 6:44.304
3. Notre Dame, 6:46.953
4. SMU, 6:58.513
5. Clemson, 7:03.300
6. Louisville, 7:17.364

Varsity Four

Claire Macy, Sara Louser, Elizabeth Tessen, Molly Hackett, Nicolette Cottingham (coxswain)

Heat One – Friday

1. Stanford, 7:01.586
2. Duke, 7:14.322
3. Clemson, 7:17.992
4. Virginia, 7:24.569
5. Notre Dame, 7:25.202
6. Boston College, 7:31.656

Final 2 – Saturday

1. Virginia, 7:13.476
2. Notre Dame, 7:20.436
3. SMU, 7:20.656
4. Boston College, 7:21.059
5. Miami FL, 7:30.646
6. Louisville, 7:31.526

Second Varsity Four

Grace Taylor, Anna Kahl, Victoria Gordon-Brown, Morgan Rice, Joyce Kang (coxswain)

Heat Two – Friday

1. Stanford, 7:15.207
2. North Carolina, 7:25.727
3. Duke, 7:34.820
4. Miami FL, 7:40.240
5. Notre Dame, 7:42.127
6. Louisville, 7:49.340

Final 2 – Saturday

1. Clemson, 7:25.354
2. Miami FL, 7:28.684
3. Louisville, 7:29.904
4. Notre Dame, 7:32.654
5. Boston College, 7:38.001
6. SMU, 7:57.854