Oct. 31, 1999

ELKHART, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s rowing team collected two golds, two silvers and had a solid performance from its open eight boat Sunday at the Head of the Elk Regatta in Elkhart, Ind. The Irish competed in 10 different races, each covering approximately 2.75 miles.

Notre Dame’s novice open eight and lightweight four boats took gold medal today. The novice open eight boat won in a time of 16:08.59, over two seconds ahead of Michigan State who was second with a time of 16:10.97. The Irish’s lightweight four boat won its race by nine seconds, finishing with a time of 16:48.86. Miami (Ohio) was second at 16:57.10.

The women’s open four placed second in both the “A” and the “B” races with the Irish finishing in a time of 16:24.56 in the “A” race and 16:23.50 in the “B” race. Michigan State won the “A” race in a time of 15:48.50 and the “B” race in a time of 16:18.15.

In the women’s open eight event, the Irish had a good showing placing sixth with a season-best time of 14:40.10. Michigan, who qualified for the NCAA Championships as a team last season, finished first in the race with a winning time of 14:05.99. Michigan’s number-two boat was second, followed by Michigan State’s “A” and “B” boats. The Spartans also qualified for the NCAA Championships in 1999. Purdue was fifth in a time of 14:38.73.

Notre Dame took fourth in the women’s novice open eight “A” and “D” races and third and fourth in the novice open eight “C” race. It was an encouraging sign for head coach Martin Stone as many of the athletes were competing in their first-ever regatta.

In the women’s open doubles, Notre Dame claimed fourth through sixth in the event, with the fourth place boat finishing in a time of 19:07.58. It was a significant accomplishment for the Irish as Notre Dame, a second-year rowing program, received its double boats only two weeks ago.

“We did a good job overall,” head coach Martin Stone said. “We picked up speed all the way across the board from the last race. We had a number of good things happen and can take that into our winter training session in preparation for the spring.”

The Irish will now participate in speed-order racing over the next two weeks to determine who will be rowing in what boat for the spring season.

Results from the 1999 Head of the Elk Regatta

Event 6: Women’s Novice 8 (C)

Event 7: Women’s Novice 8 (D)

Event 8.1: Women’s Open 4 ABC

Event 8.2: Women’s Open 4 ABC (B)

Event 16: Women’s Novice 8 (A)

Event 17: Women’s Novice 8 (B)

Event 18: Women’s Lightweight 4 ABC

Event 22 Women’s Open Doubles

Event 24: Women’s Open Eight

Other Notre Dame Results: