Notre Dame had a successful weekend in Bloomington, Ind., earning 118 points and placing first in the Dale England Cup. The Irish finished ahead of Iowa, Indiana and Alabama for the title.
On Lake Mellon - where the race was held - Notre Dame dominated the racing circuit. The Irish faced each of the other three competing schools in dual races. Notre Dame's first varsity eight, second varsity eight, first varsity four and second varsity four boats all earned victories over the two-day event. Senior Kelsey Murphy, a member of the first varsity four, said the Dale England Invitational was a special event for the team.
"The most exciting part was that we had the opportunity to bring the whole team and everyone had a chance to race," Murphy said. "We had big victories over Alabama, Iowa and Indiana who hosted the race."
Iowa finished second in the event, while Indiana and Alabama finished in third and fourth respectively.
"We had some definitive victories," Murphy said. "During some races there were terrible conditions and water was coming into the boat, which made it extremely difficult to race, but we did a great job handling the situation."
Murphy emphasized the special opportunity the Irish had to bring most of the team at the race.
"The most exciting part was just having everyone there," Murphy said. "We could not have done it without the entire team and all the girls."
Now the Irish will shift their attention to one of the most important races of the year, the Big East championships. Murphy said the Irish will work hard to fine tune the boats and get ready.
"We hope to improve our speed a little bit," Murphy said. "Also we just want to continue to work on technique, but at this point we have done most of the work."
Notre Dame will hope to use the momentum gained at the Dale England Cup in the Big East championships, which begin May 19.
Contact Brendan Bell at bbell2@nd.edu
