Notre Dame competed in the Lake Natoma Invitational this past weekend, placing second in six of its 11 races against the regatta’s competitive field in Sacramento, California, on Saturday and Sunday.
Throughout the two days, Notre Dame competed against a field headlined by three of the nation’s top-10 programs: No. 2 California, No. 7 Stanford and No. 8 Brown. The Irish also competed against Sacramento, Alabama and Gonzaga during the weekend.
All six of Notre Dame’s second place finishes came Saturday — the Irish competed in eight races on the day.
The varsity four boat of senior Erin Dolan, junior Gen Johanni, sophomore Allegra Sodi and freshman Katharine Johnson — with freshman coxswain Colleen Visnic — finished second in the day’s first race, beating Gonzaga and Sacramento but finishing 28 seconds behind California with a time of 7:29.2. The same boat also competed in the evening session against Stanford, Alabama and Sacramento, and it placed second again, this time trailing Stanford by 10 seconds with a time of 7:30.8.
The second varsity eight boat of seniors Stephanie Dubois, Elizabeth Gilbert, Lauren Matchett and Meredith Swartz, juniors Evelyn McManus and Ashley Young, sophomore Mara Bhalla and freshman Chloe Hemm — with sophomore coxswain Laura Schoonmaker — also captured a pair of second-place finishes Saturday. In the morning session, the boat beat Gonzaga and Sacramento but finished 16 seconds behind California with a time of 6:44.6. In the evening session, it topped Alabama and Sacramento but finished 12 seconds behind Stanford with a time of 6:45.2.
The varsity eight boat of seniors Lauren Saunee, Christine Schindele-Murayama and Treasa O’Tighearnaigh, juniors Kelly Fischer, Jennifer Groth and Laura Migliore and sophomores Julia Randall and Emily Stinebaugh — with senior coxswain Reilly Kearney — placed second in its evening session race, trailing Stanford by 11 seconds with a time of 6:34.4. It placed third, however, in the morning session behind California and Gonzaga with a time of 6:34.1.
The second varsity four boat of seniors Elizabeth Walter and Jeanne Farnan, sophomore Caroline Hills and freshman Analisa Pines — with freshman coxswain Mary Ryan — earned the sixth and final second-place finish for the Irish. In Saturday’s morning session, the boat finished just two seconds behind Stanford and 19 seconds ahead of Alabama with a time of 7:25.9. In the afternoon session, however, the boat competed in a grand final race with California, Stanford and Brown, finishing last amongst the four competitors.
On Sunday, the other three boats — varsity four, varsity eight and second varsity eight — competed against California, Stanford and Brown. Each boat placed fourth in its respective race to round out the weekend’s competition for Notre Dame.
Up next for the Irish will be head-to-head races with No. 4 Ohio State and Duke on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
