No. 17 Notre Dame won four races and finished as the runner-up 10 times over the course of 17 races at the Oak Ridge Invitational this past weekend.
The regatta was hosted by No. 20 Louisville in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at Melton Lake Rowing Venue, and featured some of the nation's top programs, including the Cardinals, No. 4 Virginia and No. 11 Michigan.
Notre Dame jumped out to a strong start, picking up two wins and two runner-up finishes in the morning session of the first day. The Irish earned the two wins over Louisville, Minnesota and West Virginia with their 2nd varsity eight and 3rd varsity four boats. In the afternoon session, Notre Dame competed against Virginia, Kansas and Michigan State and picked up four second-place finishes in its five races.
Day two of the regatta saw the Irish put forth a similar performance, as they picked up two more wins with their 3rd varsity eight and 3rd varsity four and added another four runner-up finishes.
The 3rd varsity eight team — consisting of seniors Megan McKeon and Mairead Dunne, junior Kate Trankina, sophomores Stephanie Dubois, Lauren Matchett and Lauren McKee, freshmen Katie Wiedenhoft and Niijor May and junior coxswain Erin Coscia — defeated Kansas head to head with a time of 7:07.64.
In the 3rd varsity four race, Notre Dame again topped the Jayhawks, as the team of sophomore Lauren Saunee, freshmen Molly Pierce, Evelyn McManus and Kelly Fischer and junior coxswain Samantha Hedrick finished their race in 7:49.89, lowering their time from Saturday morning's session.
Notre Dame now has two weeks of training ahead of it before heading off to Town Lake, Texas, for the Longhorn Invitational on March 25 and 26.
