Womens Rowing: Irish boats finish strong in tournament
By: CHRISTINE ARMSTRONG
Sports Writer
The womens rowing team secured second and fourth place finishes in its first race of the season Saturday at the Milwaukee River Challenge.
Four varsity eight crews competed for the team, each racing over a 2.2 mile course. Each crew competed in two races, which were done in opposite directions. Iowa's varsity eight finished the meet with of 21:51, just 5 seconds ahead of the Irish's first varsity eight.
The second-place varsity eight crew consists of Cassie Markstahler, Natalie Ladine, Ashlee Warren, Elizabeth Specht, Alice Bartek, Rachel Polinski, Erica Drennen, Kerri Murphy and Kathleen Welsh.
Not far behind, the second varsity eight crew of Kathryn Long, Kati Sedun, Ann Marie Dillhoff, Casey Buckstaff, Becky Luckett, Diane Price, Meredith Thornburgh, Shannon Mohan and Sarah Keefer placed fourth with 22:17. Notre Dame's fourth varsity eight finished 13th, while the third varsity eight came in 20th place.
The rowers were pleased with the overall finish among 27 boats.
"For having only been practicing on the water for less than two weeks, the weekend's race was a great experience," Ladine said. "In all new line-ups, with many rowers new to the varsity squad, we showed just how much potential and depth we have on the team this year,"
The team plans to work off of this weekend's impressive performance.
"It was a fun race allowing us to get some experience that will hopefully put us in a better position going into the rest of our fall races." Welsh said.
The loss to Iowa may be disappointing for the Irish, but the squad will be looking forward to meeting the Hawkeyes again later in the season.
"I thought everyone raced hard this weekend," Warren said. "The top two eights both placed behind Iowa, but we will see them again when we race at Rockford so they will definitely be one of the teams we will be looking to beat in three weeks,"
The team will take on Kansas this Saturday and Sunday. The races will be held in Mishawaka and will begin at the Notre Dame boathouse located on the St. Joseph River.
All Sports Stories for Monday, September 23, 2002
