Notre Dame opened the 2010-11 season yesterday in Rockford, Ill., with the Head of the Rock Regatta. Featuring six sets of pair-boats, two varsity four-boats, two novice eight-boats and four varsity eight-boats, the Irish finished in third place in the team standings, just behind Big 10 competitors Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Irish coach Martin Stone said that the usual hiccups of a season opener prevented to Irish from finishing higher. However the disappointment of finishing third was tempered by the effort given by the entire squad.
"It was a good job overall, we would just have liked to go faster in a couple events," Stone said. "Everybody competed well, quite a few people rode 2. We just need to develop more aggressiveness."
Stone said the Badgers and Golden Gophers both possess fine squads, and it was their execution which was the difference in the meet.
"Wisconsin and Minnesota beat us," Stone said. "We just need to do a couple things better."
Even so, Stone also said his squad expects to compete for first place, regardless of the competition.
"We came to win, that's what we do at Notre Dame," Stone said.
A promising early-season sign for the defending Big East champions was the performance of the gold and blue novice-8 boats, anchored by freshmen coxswains Christina Dines and Leah Corachea, respectively.
"We won the novice 8, so our first years did well," Stone said.
Integral to the success of the younger rowers is the presence of more experienced girls on Notre Dame's roster.
"It's a good mix," Stone said, referring to the mix of freshmen and upperclassmen. "Obviously we expect the learning curve for the freshmen to be steeper than the older girls."
Next up for the Irish is their home meet against Tulsa on Oct. 29. Events will begin at 4:30 p.m.
