Notre Dame defeated two ranked teams this weekend at the Windermere Real Estate Rowing Classic in Redwood Shores, Calif.During the first day of competition, the varsity-eight crew knocked off No. 5 and two-time defending national champion California and No. 7 Stanford. The No. 16 Irish varsity-eight boat of Maria Roman, Lauren Buck, Meghan Boyle, Christine Trezza, Allison Marsh, Laura Person, Mary Quinn, Amanda Polk and Julie Sobolewski, finished nearly six seconds ahead of the Golden Bears and seven seconds ahead of the Cardinal.The second varsity-eight and varsity-four crew also raced against California, each finishing second in their respective events. The second varsity-eight crew of Eileen Froehlke, Sarah Kate Hafner, Casey Fairbanks, Kristan Madison, Lindsay McQuaid, Ankica Jedry, Elli Greybar, Brittney Kelly and Jessica Guzik completed their race with a time of 7:28:07 following the Bear's winning time of 7:13:25. In its afternoon race, the second varsity-eight rebounded from its loss and beat Stanford by a considerable margin. Notre Dame led from start to finish, achieving a five-second lead in the first 500 meters. The varsity-four crew of Sarah Keithelym Laura Petnuch, Anni Nonwhitney, Shannon Cassel and Mary Kate McNamara also finished ahead of the Cardinal, winning by about 25 seconds. Notre Dame's novice-eight crew of AZ Tice, Lisa Bunn, Casey Sullivan, Emily Backer, Melissa Miller, Kathleen Donahue, Dana Gates, Casey Robinson and Kellyn Nestor continued their remarkable season by remaining undefeated. The novice-eight crew posted a victory over UCLA Friday night, bringing their season record to 7-0. On Sunday the varsity-eight, second varsity-eight, and varsity-four competed against No. 9 UCLA. Notre Dame's varsity-eight boat defeated the Bruins for its third win of the meet. The Irish varsity-four crew continued to dominate with a win over UCLA by a convincing 25 seconds. In their race, the second varsity-eight crew fell to the Bruins, coming in 13 seconds behind the winning boat. "I was very, very happy with today's results," Irish head coach Martin Stone said. "I think we did a great job. The team performed well given that we have battled rough weather conditions [during practice times] for the past two weeks."The next challenge for the Irish comes April 28 when they travel to New Jersey to compete against Princeton and George Washington.
