April 29, 2007
Worcester, MA – The Notre Dame rowing team won an unprecedented fourth consecutive BIG EAST title on Sunday afternoon at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. The Irish claimed victories in three of the six races winning the grand finals of the varsity eight, varsity four and novice four competitions.
Notre Dame finished with 118 point, while Louisville and Syracuse finished with 101 points. Louisville earned second-place by virtue of its second-place finish in the varsity eight race, while the Orange took third. Cincinnati finished fourth with 69 points, followed by Rutgers (66), Connecticut (66), Georgetown (34), Villanova (29) and West Virginia (29).
For the second straight year, head coach Martin Stone and assistants Joe Schlosberg and Marnie Stahl earned the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year award.
“Today was just a tremendous and outstanding effort by everyone,” head coach Martin Stone said. “I can’t say enough about what our kids and the tenacity that they showed. Considering that they rowed some very tough races yesterday (at Princeton) and expended a lot of energy, I thought we were very resilient and focused for today. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort that we showed today.”
Notre Dame’s varsity eight crew of coxswain Maria Romano (River Forest, Ill.), Lauren Buck (Flint, Mich.), Meghan Boyle (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 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.), ranked sixth in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA)/US Rowing poll, defeated its sixth consecutive ranked opponent when it outlasted No. 18 Louisville in the grand final. The Irish finished with a time of 6:31.85, while Louisville was second in 6:35.40. Syracuse took third in the race in 6:46.25, followed by Rutgers (6:48.39), Cincinnati (6:53.32) and Connecticut (6:59.09).
Coupled with their win earlier in day in the trials, the Irish varsity eight crew has now won six consecutive races. Notre Dame advanced grand final winning its morning heat with a time of 6:41.59. The Irish were followed in their heat by Cincinnati (6:53.89), Rutgers (6:59.26), Georgetown (7:05.83) and West Virginia (7:23.84).
Head coach Martin Stone and assistants Joe Schlosberg and Marnie Stahl earned the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year award for the second consecutive year.
|
 |
The varsity four boat of coxswain Eileen Froehlke (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Laura Petnuch (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Erica Copeland (Marietta, Ga.), Shannon Cassel (Bettendorf, Iowa) and Mary Kate McNamara (North Potomac, Md.) earned the gold medal with a three-second victory over West Virginia in the grand final. The Irish crew crossed the finish line in 7:32.43, while the Mountaineers were clocked in 7:35.75. Syracuse took third in 7:45.41, followed by Louisville (7:46.19), Cincinnati (7:53.87) and Connecticut (7:54.70).
Earlier in the day, varsity four won its opening heat in 7:31.08. Connecticut was second in 7:47.66, followed by Louisville (7:50.07), Villanova (8:15.55) and Rutgers (8:21.65).
The third Irish goal medal on the afternoon came from the Notre Dame’s novice four boat of coxswain Katie DeMartini (San Mateo, Calif.), Katherine McMackin (Chevy Chase, Md.), Braegan Padley (Boise, Idaho), Carolina Elizondo (Clarence, N.Y.) and Andrea Archer (Redding, Conn.) finished with a time of 7:49.00, more than three seconds better than second-place Georgetown (7:52.24). West Virginia was third in 8:00.26, while Syracuse was fourth in 8:00.54. Villanova took fifth in 8:21.73, while Louisville was sixth in 8:25.49.
Notre Dame’s second varsity eight crew of coxswain Sarah Keithley (Austin, Texas), Sarah Kate Hafner (Tampa, Fla.), Mallory Glass (Okemos, Mich.), Anni Nowhitney (Ballston Spa, N.Y.), Lindsay McQuaid (Beaverton, Ore.), Ankica Jedry (Chicago, Ill.), Jessica Guzik (Annandale, Va.), Elli Greybar (Western Springs, Ill.) and Brittney Kelly (Wexford, Pa.) was edged out by Louisville in the grand final. Louisville won the race in 6:45.42, while the Irish took second in 6:49.58. Syracuse earned a third-place finish in 6:56.95, followed by Cincinnati (7:04.96), Rutgers (7:07.75) and Connecticut (7:58.80).
Notre Dame’s novice eight crew of coxswain AZ Tice (Woodsbury, Minn.), Lisa Bunn (Wilsonville, Ore.), Casey Sullivan (Wilmettte, Ill.), Emily Backer (Cannelton, Ind.), Melissa Miller (Redding, Calif.), Kathleen Donahue (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Dana Gates (Peoria, Ill.), Casey Robinson (Dulles, Va.) and Kellyn Nestor (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) finished six seconds behind Syracuse in the grand final to finish second in their race. The Orange won the novice eight event with a time of 6:52.15, while the Irish were clocked in 6:58.14. Connecticut took third in 6:58.77, followed by Rutgers (7:00.23), Louisville (7:06.31) and Georgetown (7:11.75).
The Irish novice eight boat advanced to the grand final by winning its heat. Notre Dame finished with a time of 6:56.67 in its morning competition, followed by Rutgers (6:57.56), Connecticut (7:00.63) and Villanova (7:18.19).
The second varsity four boat 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.) earned Notre Dame third second-place finish of the day as the Irish were edged out by first-place Louisville by just under one second. The Cardinals won the race in 7:4.53, while Notre Dame was second in 7:41.64. Syracuse was third in 7:46.14, followed by Cincinnati (8:02.75) and Connecticut (8:07.08).
Notre Dame will be off until May 12-13 when the Irish travel to Oak Ridge, Tenn., for the Central/South Region Championships.