Notre Dame rowing enjoyed a productive second weekend of its 2024 season, traveling to both the Lubbers Cup Regatta and the San Diego Crew Classic. The former event, held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, took place on Saturday, while the latter in San Diego, California, carried on to Sunday.
Up the road in Grand Rapids, the two Irish eight-seat boats took Grand Final victories. The first varsity eight posted a Grand Final time of 7 minutes and 46 seconds, besting second-place Northwestern by 10 seconds. That boat featured freshman Esther Prantil-Evans, junior Clodagh McEvoy-Johnston, sophomore Elizabeth Tessen, freshman Eleanor Teglia, freshman Anna Kahl, freshman Emma Hopsicker, senior Audrey Burri, freshman stroke Grace Hartzell and freshman coxswain Joyce Kang.
Notre Dame also claimed first place in the second varsity eight, posting a time of 8:17.7 to edge out Dayton by less than four seconds. This victorious Irish team included senior Emily Chudy, freshman Rory Klocke, sophomore Kyra White, freshman Lilly Keegan, freshman Lily Smith, freshman Reyna Lewis, senior Lauren TerMaat, sophomore stroke Annabelle Williams and freshman coxswain Lily Fratantonio.
The Irish also produced quality results with its four-seat boats. In the Grand Final, Notre Dame’s varsity four A team secured second place, finishing 25 seconds behind Brock with a time of 8:42.70. Next in line, the Notre Dame B team captured third place at 9:07.20 in the same competition.
Out in San Diego, Notre Dame rowed among some of the nation’s best. Teams ranked inside the top 10, such as No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 Washington, No. 4 Texas and No. 7 California, littered the competitive field. Head coach Martin Stone mentioned the Irish needing more speed to compete with such high-profile teams but appreciated how his squad raced nonetheless.
Notre Dame claimed a trio of fifth-place finishes in the final races on Sunday. In the first varsity eight, the Irish posted a time of 6:47.877, finishing between Washington State and San Diego and 24 seconds back of first-place Texas. The second varsity eight saw Notre Dame clock in at 7:19.059, placing between Washington State and SMU and 33 seconds behind first-place Texas.
Rounding out the results, Notre Dame’s rowers finished the first varsity four in 7:53.374, placing just three seconds behind top-ranked Stanford in that race. Texas was once again the winner in the four-seat competition, delivering a time of 7:28.046.
After having the next week off, Notre Dame will compete during each of April’s final two weekends. The Irish will travel to Sarasota, Florida, for the Big Ten Invitational on April 19-20 before heading up the coast to New Jersey to battle Princeton, Columbia and Northeastern on April 27.
