In their season-opening appearance, the Irish finished last weekend with a total of nine victories at the Oak Ridge/Cardinal Invitational in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
The Irish kicked off the regatta Saturday with four race victories. The first and second varsity eight, varsity four and novice four all posted first-place times.
The varsity eight team, led by senior coxswain Abby Meyers, finished with a time of 6:40.70 and defeated Duke (6:44.80) by more than four seconds. The varsity four posted a time of 7:53.90 to beat Kansas (8:00.40) and Duke (8:01.60). In the second varsity eight race, the Irish bested its opponents by ten seconds and completed the race with a time of 6:55.30.
The novice four team posted a time of 8:31.90 and claimed the fourth victory of the day in a close contest against Buffalo (8:49.20).
In addition to the race victories, the Irish first novice eight, second varsity four and third varsity four were runner-ups in their individual races.
"After the first day of racing, we were very excited for the second day races," freshman coxswain Alex Techar said. "We were ready to get back out there and give it another go."
The Irish did not back down the second day of the Invitational, and the team continued its day-one success by winning five of six races.
Paving the way for the Irish, the novice eight claimed the first victory of the day with a time of 7:15.20 to defeat Virginia (7:21.78) and Kansas (7:31.96).
The varsity eight posted a winning time of 6:39.50 and defeated Louisville (6:43.17) by almost four seconds. The varsity four launch finished victorious with a time of 7:43.20.
The first novice eight took its first win of the spring season with a 7:18.00 time to edge out Louisville (7:19.45).
After a run of close races that resulted in runner-up finishes by less than a second, the novice eight launch was determined to win its race, Techar said.
The second varsity eight secured the final victory for the Irish with a winning time of 6:53.40.
The Irish lost the last race of the day and finished runner-up to Kansas in the second varsity four.
After such a strong appearance both days, the team was proud of its performance, Techar said.
"As a whole team, we did really well," she said. "Everyone did better than expected, especially the freshmen."
Upon their return to St. Joseph's Lake, the Irish look to prepare for their next competition at the end of the- month.
"Everyone is really excited to compete again and continue racing," Techar said.
Notre Dame competes March 30 in East Lansing, Mich., against Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa.
Contact Kit Loughran at kloughr1@nd.edu
