The Irish finished strong with six wins in the four-team regatta Sunday after a rough start in a one-on-one matchup at Ohio State the day before.
The team faced a tough challenge in its Saturday matchup against Ohio State, one of the top teams in the central region. The first race of the day between each team's novice number eight set the tone, with the Irish losing by only seven seconds. Notre Dame had difficulties keeping up with Ohio State and did not win any races.
Despite not notching any victories, the Irish were competitive throughout the day. Both the varsity eight boat and the second varsity eight boat finished seven seconds behind the Buckeyes in their respective head-to-head matchups.
"I definitely think we could have done better against Ohio State and beat them," junior Abby Meyers said. "They are highly ranked. We were a little intimidated and it hurt us."
After a successful previous weekend and a solid week of practice, the Irish were set to challenge the Buckeyes. However, the mental aspect of the races was the difference in the matchup.
"After Ohio State, we learned how much the mental side of it affects as we race," Meyers said. "We had a good week of practice and we were doing really well physically. Then, at Ohio State, we rowed with our emotions and we couldn't pull out the victory."
The next day, the Irish traveled to Indianapolis for their four-team regatta against Indiana, Louisville and Purdue. The Irish put aside what happened against Ohio State and displayed a strong showing with six victories over the course of the day.
Although Notre Dame finished two seconds behind Indiana in the first varsity eight race, the Irish finished with wins in the three varsity four races and the second and third varsity eight races.
"On Sunday, we more worried about our boat and not how fast the other boats were," Meyers said. "We can only control what's going on in our boat so when we focused on the internal parts of racing, we were successful."
The Irish now have 16 wins over the past two weekends. However, they will have to wait another three weeks before their next chance to prove themselves in the Virginia Invitational.
"I think the next three weeks are going to be important for improving our technique and getting better," Meyers said.
Notre Dame will next be in action April 14-15 at the Virginia Invitational in Charlottesville, Va.
Contact Ernst Cleofe at ecleofe@nd.edu
