May 2, 2003
THIS WEEK: The 24th-ranked Notre Dame rowing team travels to Seattle, Wash., for the prestigious Windermere Cup on Saturday, May 3, on Lake Washington’s Montlake Cut.
While in Seattle, Notre Dame will be facing many of the top programs in both the collegiate ranks and the world. The varsity eight competes against the two-time defending NCAA national champions and top-ranked Washington Huskies and the Belarus National Team, who will travel three women that finished fifth at the 2002 World Championships in Sevelle, Spain. In both the second eight and the varsity four, the Irish will challenge the first-ranked Huskies, 13th-ranked Washington State and 14th-ranked Oregon State.
ABOUT THE WINDERMERE CUP: The Irish will help the University of Washington celebrate its 100th anniversary of rowing. The Windermere races are the feature event of the 34th annual Opening Day Regatta on Lake Washington’s Montlake Cut which will be run in front of an estimated 100,000 fans. The races are held in conjunction with the Seattle Yacht Club’s annual celebration of the opening of yachting season. The regatta is the preliminary event to the yacht club parade, as thousands of spectators annually line the cut, both on land and water, to enjoy the festivities.
The teams competing this weekend will be vying for the engraved Windermere Cup trophy. The Huskies have claimed the last four Windermere Cup trophies and 10 of the last 11. The second varsity eight crews are competing for the Erickson Memorial Cascade Cup, renamed last year in honor of Husky Hall of Fame rower and coach Dick Erickson. The Huskies second varsity eight crew has won all 11 titles since Windermere began sponsoring the Cascade Cup in 1992.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: The Windermere Cup is scheduled to begin Saturday, May 3, at 10:20 a.m. PDT (12:20 p.m. in South Bend) with the Mixed Coxed Four (40+). The following is the schedule of events in which Notre Dame will be rowing.
10:35 a.m. Varsity Four
10:56 a.m. Erickson Cascade Cup
11:25 a.m. Windermere Cup
MEDIA COVERAGE: Saturday’s Windermere Cup races will be broadcast live on KJR AM (950) and KJR FM (95.7). Radio coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. and runs until 12:00 p.m. The races can be heard live on KJR’s website at www.kjram.com or through the link provided to that site on www.und.com.
The races will also be featured in a delayed, one-hour telecast on Fox Sports Net Northwest. The first telecast airs May 11, at 11:00 a.m. Additional telecasts are scheduled for May 13 at 2:00 p.m. and May 18 at 2:00 p.m.
THE CREWS FOR THE WEEKEND: Irish head coach Martin Stone will race the following crews this weekend in Seattle:
First varsity eight – Cassie Markstahler (cox), Natalie Ladine (stroke), Ashlee Warren, Casey Buckstaff, Rachel Polinski, Alice Bartek, Meghan Boyle, Katie Chenoweth, Danielle Protasewich
Second varsity eight – Kathryn Long (cox), Shannon Mohan (stroke), Kerri Murphy, Kathleen Welsh, Meredith Thornburgh, Kati Sedun, Devon Hegeman, Erica Drennen, Melissa Felker
Varsity four – Kacy McCaffrey (cox), Katie McCalden (stroke), Christy Donnelly, Katie O’Hara, Andrea Amoni
Spares – Sarah Keefer, Jacqueline Hazen
ABOUT NOTRE DAME: Notre Dame, ranked 24th in the country, is looking to build upon its success during the 2002 season in which the varsity eight qualified for the NCAA Championships, hoping the entire team will be invited to the 2003 regatta.
The Irish experienced their best weekend of the 2003 season last week at the 2003 BIG EAST Rowing Challenge winning the second varsity eight and both the first and second varsity four events in placing only two points behind in the team competition to 15th-ranked Syracuse.
The varsity eight got back on the winning track April 14, defeating Dayton by over 33 seconds on the St. Joseph River and then placed second at the BIG EAST Rowing Challenge. The Irish have been defeated narrowly by national powers Iowa and Michigan and suffered tough losses to Michigan State, Clemson (by two seconds) and Tennessee.
The second varsity eight has had a good spring with the crew defeating Michigan and Iowa, as well as posting wins against Tennessee, Clemson, North Carolina, Dayton, Indiana and Purdue. Last week, the crew won its first gold medal at the BIG EAST regatta with a convincing victory over the rest of the field.
The fours, under the development of Joe Schlosberg, have continued their success from the fall season and are posted one of the best year’s on record. Both the first and second crew won gold medals at the BIG EAST and the first boat has defeated Michigan, Iowa and Tennessee among others in 2003 while the second four has defeated Michigan State by over 12 seconds and Clemson and North Carolina by over 20 seconds.
The novice crews, under the direction of Pam Mork, have also performed well this spring with wins over Michigan, Iowa and Dayton.
ABOUT WASHINGTON: Celebrating 100 years of Husky rowing, the Washington Huskies have won the last two NCAA varsity eight championships. Washington is coming off of a very successful 2002 season, finishing second place as a team at NCAA. The Huskies have returned to number one this week after defeating then top-ranked California last week. Washington beat California in the final 500-meter stretch of the 2,000-meter course. Washington’s junior varsity finished one boat length ahead of California.
At the San Diego Crew Classic, Washington finished second to California in the varsity eight race, first in the second varsity eight and fourth in the novice eight. At the Washington State Dual Regatta, the Huskies won first in the varsity eight by over six seconds. Washington also finished first in the third varsity eight, novice eight, second novice eight and novice four, while finishing second to Washington State in the second varsity eight and varsity four.
Three members of the Huskies varsity eight are vying for their fourth gold medals this spring at the 2003 NCAA championships. Seniors Lauren Estevenin, Adrienne Hunter and Carrie Stasiak are trying to be the first four-time national champions in Husky history. They have been champions in the varsity four in 2000 and the varsity eight in 2001 and 2002.
ABOUT BELARUS: Three of Belarus’ crew travel to Seattle from the eight that finished fifth in the grand final at the 2002 World Championships in Seville, Spain.
ABOUT OREGON STATE: Oregon State is currently ranked 15th in the country. Two weeks ago, the Beavers rowed against No. 4 Stanford and top-ranked California. Stanford defeated Oregon State in the varsity eight by less than four seconds and the second eight by seven seconds, but the varsity four won by two seconds. Against Cal, the Bears won the first and second eights by five seconds and the varsity four by more than 30 seconds.
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE: Washington State is having a great season as they went undefeated at the Clemson Classic at Lake Hartwell in Clemson, S.C., last weekend. The No. 12 varsity eight defeated two ranked teams, including No. 22 Duke and No. 20 Tennessee. The second varsity eight also swept its competition, although it was a photo finish in the match-up against Tennessee. Five members of the second varsity eight served double duty against Duke on Saturday. Courtney Goodridge, Lori Maricle, Audra Durfey, Angela Manson, and Katie Dahlgren rowed to their second victory of the day in the varsity four event.
DID YOU KNOW: With crowds estimated at over 100,000 for the Windermere Cup, this will mark the biggest crowd to watch any Notre Dame athletic team compete in person during the 2002-03 season, including the nationally-ranked Irish football team. The largest crowd to watch the Irish football team play in 2002 was 91,432 versus USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Nov. 30.
IRISH REWIND AT BIG EAST ROWING CHALLENGE: Last weekend, the Irish finished two points out of first place as a team, racing against Syracuse, West Virginia, Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, Miami, Rutgers and Villanova at the BIG EAST Rowing Challenge. Syracuse, winning its third consecutive team championship, finished with 112 points compared to Notre Dame’s 110.
The Irish experienced the its best day ever at the BIG EAST regatta winning the second varsity eight, the varsity four and the second varsity four, while also taking the silver medal in the varsity eight. Previous to this year’s regatta, Notre Dame had only won one race (the 2002 varsity four) at the BIG EAST meet.
In the second varsity eight, the Irish crossed the line in 6:44.40, while Syracuse finished in 6:52.45, outdistancing the Orangewomen by over eight seconds. Boston College was third in 6:55.56.
The varsity four crews continued their excellent seasons as both won gold medals. Notre Dame’s first four won by over 11 seconds finishing in 7:39.10. Boston College was second in 7:50.50 and Syracuse was third in 7:55.00. The second varsity four dominated its race, winning by over 32 seconds. Notre Dame finished with a time of 7:38.63, compared to 8:10.20 for Boston College. Syracuse was third in 8:20.51.
The varsity eight crew finished second to 16th-ranked Syracuse. The Orangewomen took the gold in 6:26.45, while the Irish crossed the line in 6:32.54. Rutgers was third in 6:34.93, while West Virginia, ranked 24th in the nation, was fourth in 6:37.71.
The novice eight crew struggled winning the petite final, but placing seventh overall with Syracuse finishing first. The second novice eight won the bronze medal with third-place finish. Georgetown was first 7:08.12), followed by West Virginia (7:20.41) and Notre Dame (7:24.92).
IRISH IN THE REGIONAL AND NATIONAL POLLS: Notre Dame is ranked fifth as a team in the second regional rankings released April 27. Michigan, which the Irish defeated in eight of 12 races earlier this spring, is first and is followed by Michigan State, Ohio State, Iowa and Notre Dame. In the first varsity eight, Notre Dame is sixth in the region. Michigan is first once again as the top four positions are the same as the team rankings. Minnesota is fifth in the first varsity eight rankings. In the second eight, Notre Dame is fourth, trailing Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan, while the Irish are fourth in the fours behind the Wolverines, Buckeyes and Spartans.
In the latest national poll, Notre Dame is ranked 24th, receiving three votes. Washington is first after defeating California last week. Brown is third, followed by Stanford and Harvard.
Notre Dame is facing its toughest schedule in history as the Irish have already rowed against ranked teams Michigan State, Michigan, Iowa, Syracuse, West Virginia and Tennessee and still have races against Washington, Ohio State, Washington State, Oregon State, Texas, Minnesota and Duke.
Central Regional rankings for April 27, 2003:
Teams
1. Michigan
2. Michigan State
3. Ohio State
4. Iowa
5. Notre Dame
6. Minnesota
Varsity Eight
1. Michigan
2. Michigan State
3. Ohio State
4. Iowa
5. Minnesota
6. Notre Dame
Second Eight
1. Michigan State
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Notre Dame
5. Iowa
6. Wisconsin
Fours
1. Michigan
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan State
4. Notre Dame
5. Iowa
6. Wisconsin
The following is the 2003 CRCA/US Rowing National Poll for April 30, 2003:
1. Washington
2. California
3. Brown
4. Stanford
5. Harvard
6. Princeton
7. Michigan
8. USC
9. Yale
10. Michigan State
11. Ohio State
12. Virginia
13. Washington State
14. Oregon State
15. Syracuse
16. Iowa
17. Texas
18. Tennessee
19. Boston University
20. Cornell
Others receiving votes: Columbia, Duke, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts
WARREN NAMED 2002-03 BIG EAST SCHOLAR-ATHLETE:Senior Ashlee Warren was named the 2002-03 BIG EAST/A?ropostal? Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Notre Dame rower to earn the honor. Warren will receive a $2,000 scholarship for future postgraduate studies, as she will attend medical school in the fall. Warren has a 3.47 grade-point average in pre-medicine/anthropology.
UP NEXT: Notre Dame has next week off for finals before traveling to Oak Ridge, Tenn., May 17-18 for Central Regions. This regatta has major implications on who will receive NCAA Championship bids.