May 13, 2007
Oak Ridge, Tenn. – The Notre Dame rowing team finished fifth overall in the team competition and third in the Central Region at the 2007 Aramark Central/South Region Sprints which were held this weekend on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Irish were bolstered by its varsity eight boat earning a third-place finish in the Grand Finals and two sixth-place finishes by its varsity four and novice eight crews. Notre Dame’s second varsity eight boat finished third in the Petite Finals, while the open four boat took fourth.
Notre Dame scored 341 points to take fifth in the overall team competition that featured 23 teams. Virginia won the overall team championship with 440 points, followed by Ohio State (366), Tennessee (352) and Wisconsin (346). Minnesota was sixth with 339 points, while Michigan (306), Michigan State (301), Central Florida (294) and Louisville (285) rounded out the top 10. In the Central Region standings, Ohio State was first among 13 teams, followed by Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas and Cincinnati.
“I thought we did a very good job today and I am proud of how well we rowed against some of the best competition nationally. I felt that each boat got better every time it raced. This was a very difficult and competitive weekend of rowing, and as I have mentioned on numerous occasions, this is one of the premier collegiate rowing competitions of the entire season.
“We’re in a wait-and-see mode right now until Tuesday to see if we can get a team bid into the NCAAs again this season. I feel that we have a great resume out of region. We’ve traveled all over to face the best competition each week.”
Notre Dame’s No. 3 nationally varsity eight crew of coxswain Maria Romano (River Forest, Ill.), Lauren Buck (Flint, Mich.), Meghan Boyle (Pittsburgh, Calif.), 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.) rowed a strong race in the Grand Final with just over four second separating them from first place. The Irish finished with a time 6:34.68, while No. 5 Virginia won the race with a time of 6:30.40, while No. 12 Ohio State was second in 6:33.92. No. 16 Tennessee took fourth in 6:37.10, followed by No. 7 Minnesota (6:37.86) and No. 11 Central Florida (6:40.76).
The varsity four crew of coxswain Sarah Keithley (Austin, Tex.), Laura Petnuch (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Erica Copeland (Marietta, Ga.), Shannon Cassel (Bettendorf, Iowa) and Mary Kate McNamara (North Potomac, Md.) posted a time of 7:43.95 in its sixth-place finish in the Grand Final. Virginia won the race with a time of 7:22.20, followed by Wisconsin (7:33.81), Ohio State (7:35.82), Minnesota (7:30.07) and Tennessee (7:39.84).
The novice eight boat of coxswain AZ Tice (Woodsbury, Minn.), Lisa Bunn (Wilsonville, Ore.), Casey Sullivan (Wilmettte, Ill.), Emily Backer (Cannelton, Ind.), Breagan Padley (Boise, Idaho), Kathleen Donahue (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Dana Gates (Peoria, Ill.), Casey Robinson (Dulles, Va.) and Kellyn Nestor (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) took sixth in the Grand Finals and finished with a time of 7:07.96. Virginia was the top finisher in the race in 6:51.90, followed by Kansas State (7:00.30) Michigan (7:02.31), Wisconsin (7:05.09) and Michigan State (7:05.62).
Notre Dame’s second varsity eight crew of coxswain Eileen Froehlke (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Anni Nowhitney (Ballston Spa, N.Y.), Mallory Glass (Okemos, Mich.), Brittney Kelly (Wexford, Pa.), Lindsay McQuaid (Beaverton, Ore.), Ankica Jedry (Chicago, Ill.), Jessica Guzik (Annandale, Va.), Elli Greybar (Western Springs, Ill.) and Sarah Kate Hafner (Tampa, Fla.) enjoyed a strong showing with its third-place finish in the Petite Final as the Irish finished with a time of 6:56.43. Ohio State won the race in 6:51.40 and Michigan took second in 6:51.82. Central Fourth finished fourth in 6:59.96, followed by Clemson (7:01.28) and Duke 7:05.87.
The open four crew of coxswain Stephanie Szegedi (South Lyon, Mich.), Alyssa Teves (Denver, Colo.), Bridget Leone (Garden City, N.Y.), Erica Castro-Larsen (Lake Matthews, Calif.) and Brittany Burnham (Hilton Head, S.C.) posted a time of 7:57.01 in the Petite Final to earn a fourth-place finish. Central Florida won the race with a time of 7:44.00 and was followed by Texas (7:51.23) and Ohio State (7:55.42). Indiana earned a fifth-place finish in 8:04.75 while Kansas rounded out the field for sixth place in 8:14.10.