Notre Dame competed in a series of races Saturday against No. 4 Ohio State and No. 15 Michigan State at Griggs Reservoir in Columbus, Ohio, as part of the ACC-Big Ten Double Dual. Although the Irish were unable to top the Buckeyes, they rowed their way to a trio of head-to-head wins against the Spartans.
In the morning session of the day’s events, the Irish competed against the Buckeyes in seven races — the varsity eight, second varsity eight, novice eight, second novice eight, varsity four, second varsity four and third varsity four — but failed to lock up a victory in any one of them. They competed against the Buckeyes head-to-head in all but two races, as Michigan State joined the two programs in the third varsity four and second novice eight races in the morning, with the Irish managing to beat out the Spartans but trail the Buckeyes in both races.
In the afternoon session, Notre Dame largely went head-to-head with Michigan State. The Irish picked up three wins in the same seven events in which they competed with Ohio State earlier in the day while finishing second in the other four.
The Irish wins came in the varsity eight, varsity four and second varsity four races. In the varsity four race, the boat of seniors Stephanie Dubois, Jeanne Farnan and Lauren McKee and junior Ashley Young — with freshman coxswain Colleen Visnic — topped the Spartans boat by three seconds with a time of 7:18.6. In the second varsity four race, the Irish boat of senior Elizabeth Walter, sophomores Caroline Hills and Allegra Sodi and freshman Analisa Pines — with freshman coxswain Mary Ryan — topped the Spartans boat by nearly 24 seconds with a time of 7:17.8.
The strongest performance of the day by the Irish came in the afternoon’s varsity eight race. The boat of seniors Erin Dolan, Treasa O’Tighearnaigh, Lauren Saunee and Christine Schindele-Murayama, juniors Evelyn McManus and Laura Migliore and sophomores Emily Stinebaugh and Julia Randall — with senior coxswain Reilly Kearney — beat out boats from Michigan State and San Diego for first place with a time of 6:23.6. The performance earned the boat the first ACC Rowing Crew of the Week honors a Notre Dame boat has received this season, as the conference announced the honors Tuesday.
In its other races during the afternoon, Notre Dame finished no worse than second. In the second varsity eight race, the Irish finished less than one second behind Michigan State — but beat out San Diego by 15 seconds — with a time of 6:38.53. The third varsity four and second novice eight boats for Notre Dame fell to Ohio State but beat out Michigan State in their races. In the novice eight event, Michigan State topped the Irish in a head-to-head race by approximately nine seconds.
Next up for Notre Dame on the water will be the Dale England Cup in Bloomington, Indiana. Competition is scheduled for Saturday.
