After three weeks off, the Irish had a successful return to action over the weekend in the Virginia Invite at Lake Monticello in Charlottesville, Va.
The event began on Saturday, and Notre Dame's first competition was competition was the novice eight/third varsity eight race against Clemson and Northeastern. Despite a strong effort from a crew led by senior Ching-Ting Hwang, the Irish came in second the race. The Tigers beat out the Irish by a two second margin with a time of 7:04.00.
The highlight of the day was turned in by the varsity four boat. This crew defeated Clemson with an impressive 11-second margin of victory.
The Irish made it two wins in a row when they defeated Clemson again with the second varsity eight boat coxed by sophomore Christina Dines. The next Irish victory came in the varsity eight heat when they defeated the Tigers by two seconds.
The afternoon session on Saturday saw the Irish compete in four races against Northeastern and Virginia. The Irish registered second place finishes in every race.
The Virginia Invite continued Sunday with the Irish facing off against Pennsylvania and San Diego, where they recorded four more wins. Sunday's victories gave the Irish seven wins in 12 total races on the weekend.
The Irish got their first win on the day from the varsity eight crew. The crew won the race with a time of 6:40.80, which was five seconds fast than the second-place Quakers.
The second varsity eight race was also won by the Irish by a nine second margin over Penn. The last race on Sunday also resulted in a Notre Dame victory, as the Irish third varsity eight, led by juniors Sarah McShane and Kelsey Murphy, won the race with a time of 7:04.80.
The Irish now will hope to ride their newfound momentum into their next competition, which will occur next weekend when they take on Stanford and USC in Redwood Shores, Calif.
