Despite competitive times, No. 9 Notre Dame failed to win a race in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Belleville, Mich. The Irish squared off with No. 3 Ohio State in the morning session and No. 10 Michigan in the afternoon session of their second straight elite regatta.
“I don’t think the effort was there, but we executed a lot of things fairly well,” Irish coach Martin Stone said.
Notre Dame began the day with its novice eight logging a time of 7:41.47, well shy of Ohio State’s 7:19.50. In the third varsity four, Ohio State won with a time of 7:54.70. The Irish grabbed second and third place, however, with times of 8:09.58 and 8:17.09. The closest race of the morning was the first varsity eight, where Ohio State posted the fastest time of the morning, coming in at 6:25.30. Notre Dame, led by senior coxswain Christina Dines, finished at 6:32.06.
“I think we’re just trying to get faster,” Stone said. “The weather hindered us a little bit. But I think there’s something we’ve learned from every race we’ve been in. We just need to put together a great race.”
Notre Dame’s times were more competitive against Michigan in the afternoon. The second varsity four fell to the Wolverines as they came in at 7:39.66, just shy of Michigan’s 7:33.60. The first varsity four race had almost identical times — Michigan clocked in at 7:33.80, while the Irish were not far behind at 7:39.83. The varsity eights, however, were the closes races of the day. Notre Dame’s second varsity eight fell to Michigan, 6:38.80-6:40.04, while the first varsity eight lost by just over three seconds, 6:29.00-6:32.25.
“We had a chance to get to Michigan after they went off the line a little early, but we stalled at the 1200 meter mark and they extended back out,” Stone said. “There was a 40 to 50 second span of the race that we want back that we did not do to well. We’re disappointed that we lost but we’ll try and put it back together this weekend.”
The Irish, who will now have their third regatta in as many weekends, are trying to stay confident.
“We’ve put together some good races against some fast teams,” Stone said. “I’m looking forward to this weekend — I’m positive, and I feel like we have a deep team. Especially compared to other programs around the country.”
The Irish next take to the water this weekend on Lake Lemon in Bloomington, Ind., for the Dale England Cup.
