Results - Men's Rowing

April 25-27, 2008

This weekend, the oarsmen of the Notre Dame Rowing Club traveled to Eagle Creek for the perennial Indianapolis Invite, a regatta drawing the best crews of the Midwest. Arriving late Friday afternoon in preparation for Saturday’s morning races, windy conditions that swamped three other crews prevented the Irish from getting in a light row before race day. Fortunately, however, the conditions improved, albeit slightly, overnight affording the Irish an opportunity to row for coveted shirts and medals.

The morning began with preliminary heats in which both the Notre Dame Men’s First Novice 8+ and First Varsity 8+ qualified for afternoon rowing in the Grand Finals, as the Second Varsity 8+ qualified for the Petites.

Water conditions improved and the crews faced calmer water as the day wore on. Following an Official’s break, racing resumed with the Men’s Second Novice 8+ at 12:30, a straight final. Notre Dame’s crew, consisting of Coxswain Chris Bennett, Andrew Seelaus, Cliff Roberts, Peter Mushenheim, Tom Ford, Matt Dobbertien, Colin Parker, Gabe Pham, and Phil Brunner, had a strong start and finished the race in fourth place with a time of 7:09.4. The Men’s 2V8, consisting of, Michael Lehman, Bryce Chung, Brendan McNutt, Taylor Donaldson, Andrew Haynes, Rob Bowen, Stick Cumberworth, Dan Murphy, Yang Chen, Steve Walter, and Tomas Castillo, followed later, winning their Petite Final with a time of 6:44.7, well ahead of Ohio State’s 7:11.7. Scheduled as the final event of the day, the Men’s V8, consisting of Coxswain Julie Lambe, Michael Lutkus, Tom Mazzacavallo, Jake Teitgen, Karol Grzesiak, Nick Kluesner, Andrew Baker, Scott Campbell, and Nick Springer, took fourth place after a terrific sprint that bested Michigan State’s final time of 6:25.4 by two seconds, 6:23.4.

The story of the day, however, was the Men’s First Novice 8+. Consisting of, Coxswain Lisa Folkerth, Stroke Seat Michael Maggart, Kevin Quigley, Chuck Talley, Kurt Krautmann, Greg Flood, Sean Gibbons, Mike Wagner, and Bowman Liam Leyden, they were the top seed entering the day’s racing and confirmed their status in their field best morning row, setting the stage for the highly contested final that was to follow in the afternoon. After a countdown start at 1:30, the Irish asserted their dominance, establishing an early lead, and holding off Marietta during the last 500 meters for what appeared to be the Novice crown. However, after lengthy deliberation stemming from post-race protests, the officials deemed the race void and mandated a re-row. A rarity, the re-row resulted from two separate instances of poor steering on the part of competing crews during the race, neither of which involved Notre Dame. Yet, after a poll of the coaches involved, a majority cast for a re-row that sent all six crews back on the water at 3:30, making it the final race of the day. The Irish found themselves sitting in fifth place off the start and had only reclaimed fourth place at the 1000-meter mark. The Irish rallied in the final 1000 meters, with a sprint in the final 250 that had the crowd on their feet. Yet, the Irish came up short, losing to Purdue by nine tenths of a second with a second place time of 6:29.6.

Despite the obvious disappointment of the Men’s Novice, who painfully endured defeat after apparent victory, the Notre Dame Rowing Club left Eagle Creek, Indiana with their heads held high. The Irish will travel to Oklahoma City over Memorial Day weekend for the American Collegiate Rowing Association’s Club Championship Regatta, the first of its kind.  

April 18-20, 2008

The Notre Dame Men’s Crew team raced Northwestern and Wheaton College on the narrow Northwestern home course this Saturday. The eights focused mainly on Northwestern, while the four man boats took on Wheaton.

The day started off with the men’s varsity 8+ between Notre Dame and Northwestern. Not much time was spent between the two boats as the Irish crew gained a lead early and held on to win the race and the Alumni Blade, a trophy given to the winner of the varsity 8+ race each year between the two teams. In the boat was coxswain Julie Lambe, Michael Lutkus, Tom Mazzacavallo, Jake Teitgen, Karol Grzesiak, Nick Kluesner, Andrew Baker, Scott Campbell, and Nick Springer.

The Irish novice crew also jumped out to an early lead on the Northwestern boat in their race. Coming into the sprint, the Northwestern crew made a strong effort to pull ahead, but the Irish proved too much and held onto for the victory. In that boat were coxswain, Lisa Folkerth, Michael Maggart, Kevin Quigley, Chuck Talley, Kurt Krautmann, Greg Flood, Sean Gibbons, Michael Wagner, and Peter Mushenheim.

A compilation boat of novice and varsity took on the Wheaton top varsity 8+. The boat of coxswain Michael Lehmann, Brendan McNutt, Cliff Roberts, Andrew Haynes, Colin Parker, Matt Dobbertein, Dan Murphy, Steve Walter, and Tomás Castillo dominated the entire race to keep the Irish winning streak alive.

Notre Dame also raced two 4+ boats against Wheaton. The first race of coxswain, Andria Seneviratne, Steve Walter, Phillip Brunner, Andrew Haynes, and Tomás Castillo went out strong but could not keep up with the dominant Wheaton boat and crossed the finish line second. The other boat of coxswain Michael Lehmann, Taylor Donaldson, Steve Cumberworth, Brain Simpson, and Yang Chen, gave a very strong performance and led the entire race.  

April 4-6, 2008

The Notre Dame Rowing Club sent two boats to San Diego this past weekend to compete in the 35th annual San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay. In the sunny San Diego weather, the top boats from all over the country came to compete. The racing was some of the finest ever by Notre Dame boats at one of the country’s premier regattas.

The Notre Dame Novice 8+, consisting of Coxswain Chris Bennett, Stroke Seat Michael Maggart, Kevin Quigley, Chuck Talley, Kurt Krautmann, Greg Flood, Sean Gibbons, Cliff Roberts, and Bowman Liam Leyden, finished 3rd in the Petite Final on Saturday afternoon, 9th overall, in a time of 6:30.25 in the Men’s Collegiate Novice Petite Final, narrowly edging out Sonoma State, 6:30.50, while trailing only Orange Coast College, 6:21.60, and the University of California San Diego, 6:27.98. They finished third in their heat on Saturday morning to qualify for the Petite Final.

The Notre Dame Varsity 8+, consisting of Coxswain Julie Lambe, Stroke Seat Michael Lutkus, Tom Mazzacavallo, Jake Teitgen, Nick Springer, Scott Campbell, Matt Napierski, Nick Kluesner, and Bowman Andrew Baker, also finished 3rd in the Men’s Collegiate Varsity Cal Cup Petite Final, 9th overall. This matched the 9th place finish of last year’s Notre Dame boat, yet this year’s 8 proved to be much more competitive than last year’s.

Notre Dame’s top boat narrowly missed a second place finish, which would have qualified them for the grand final, by a margin of only 0.35 seconds behind University of California Davis in the heat on Saturday morning and was only 1.38 seconds off of the pace set by heat-winner Lehigh. In the Petite Final, it was nip and tuck down the course between the top three boats, Notre Dame, Drexel, and the University of San Diego. Drexel jumped out to an early lead, which they would never relinquish despite a strong challenge from the San Diego and Notre Dame crews in the final 500 meters. Notre Dame and San Diego would battle back and forth with the Notre Dame boat taking a slight advantage heading into the final 400 meters of the 2000 meter race. Unfortunately, San Diego was able to make a push at the finish, which the Irish couldn’t answer, and the race finished: 1st Drexel 6:04.30; 2nd San Diego 6:05.55; 3rd Notre Dame 6:06.41.  

March 28-29, 2008

The Notre Dame Men’s Crew team opened its spring season with a trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they raced Lubber’s Cup Regatta. The team raced in fours and eights in a fast current and unusually warm regatta conditions. The Notre Dame men faced some of the best crews in the northern Indiana and Michigan along with the University of Rochester from New York.

The varsity crew had a disappointing showing in both the fours and the eights. In the eights, the Irish varsity showed a promising performance in a 1000m scrimmage against Michigan before the regatta, but the boat consisting of Michael Lutkus, Tom Mazzacavallo, Jake Teitgen, Nick Springer, Scott Campbell, Matt Napierski, Nick Kluesner, and Andrew Baker, coxed by Julie Lambe, could not repeat the performance and finished 5th in their race. The second varsity of Steve Walter, Tomas Castillo, Andrew Haynes, Karol Grzesiak, Rob Bowen, Dan Murphy, Taylor Donaldson, and Yang Chen, coxed by Michael Lehmann had a strong finish to take 3rd. The first varsity four of took 4th place. The second and third varsity fours took 3rd in each of their respective races. The lightweight four of Steve Walter, Tomas Castillo, Stephen Cumberworth, and Yang Chen also took a 4th place.

The Irish novice boats were the highlight of the Notre Dame performance, taking home a total of 16 medals and one trophy. In the eights, the novice first boat of Michel Maggart, Kevin Quigley, Chuck Talley, Kurt Krautmann, Greg Flood, Sean Gibbons, Clifton Roberts, and Liam Leyden had a dominating performance, winning the race with open water on the next boat and bringing the large, golden cup trophy back to Notre Dame. The second novice boat of Andrew Seelaus, Phil Brunner, Peter Mushenheim, Tom Ford, Brian Simpson, Michael Wagner, Gabe Pham, and Colin Parker took 2nd in their own race. In the fours, the Irish novice continued to show powerful performances, again winning, both the novice A race and the novice B race. The third novice four took 4th place in the B race as well.  

March 14-16, 2008

On the chilly Saturday morning of March 15, the Notre Dame Rowing Club welcomed the Grand Valley State University crew team to the St. Joe’s river for a duel meet. This race was the Irish’s only home regatta of the season. As each team launched two varsity boats and two novice boats for the warm up, fans lined the river and bridges to cheer on their home team.

Instead of rowing a 2000 meter race, the usual distance for the spring season, the boats raced five 1000 meter pieces. Part of the reason for the unusual distance was that the coaches were using these pieces to determine which line up of rowers was most effective, and which boat was fastest. The rowers representing Notre Dame’s varsity team were Michael Lutkus, Tom Mazzacavallo, Jake Teitgen, Nike Springer, Scott Campbell, Matt Napierski, Nike Kluesner, Andrew Baker, Steve Walter, Karol Grzesiak, Andrew Haynes, Tomas Castillo, Rob Bowen, Dan Murphy, Taylor Donaldson, and Yang Chen with Julie Lambe, Michael Lehmann, Andria Seneviratne, and Bryce Chung as coxswains. When the races finished, Grand Valley’s top boat took all five pieces while the Irish’s top boat and Grand Valley’s second boat switched off for 2nd place.

The Irish novice held their own against the mid-western powerhouse winning two of the five races. The line up for the top novice boat was Michael Maggart, Neill Li, Chuck Talley, Kurt Krautmann, Greg Flood, Sean Gibons, Cliff Roberts, Liam Leyden with coxswain Lisa Folkerth. The second novice boat finished close behind Grand Valley’s second novice boat for each of the pieces with the following line up: Andrew Seelaus, Phillip Brunner, Kevin Quigley, Thomas Ford, Peter Mushenheim, Michael Wagner, Gabe Pham, Colin Parker with coxswain, Chris Bennett.  

November 2-4, 2007

On Saturday, November 3, the Notre Dame Men’s Rowing team traveled to Tennessee to participate in the Head of the Hooch for the first time. On a calm, clear day the Irish set their boats on the Chattanooga River to face some stiff competition.

The Irish started the morning off racing in the open 4x race. With no wind and perfect racing temperature the Irish felt ready to race such teams as Grand Valley, Texas, and the US National Team, and they did not disappoint themselves. The first Irish 4, coxed by Julie Lambe with Jake Teitgan, Nick Springer, Scott Campbell, and Matt Napierski finished 3rd behind two Grand Valley boats. Though the US National Team raced among the teams, they were only there as an exhibition team and did not accept the place or the medals. The second 4x came in 10th with Taylor Donaldson, Andrew Baker, Michael Lutkus, and Rob Bowen being coxed by Michael Lehman. The two 4x’s were later put together to form an 8+ coxed by Julie Lambe to race in the Men’s Championship race, again against the US National Team. The 8+ finished 5th, which was high enough to guarantee a top 5 seed next year, if the Irish choose to return to the Hooch.

The Notre Dame Novice crews took over the show in the afternoon racing in two different races. As the wind picked up to a slight breeze in the afternoon, the Irish novice raised up to show the other crews what Notre Dame’s future looks like. The first novice 8+ of Kevin Quigley, Cliff Roberts, Kurt Krautmann, Michael Maggart, Michael Wagner, Greg Flood, Liam Leyden, and Phillip Brunner, coxed by Lisa Folkerth finished in 3rd place in the Men’s Freshman Novice race. Following the first boat the second novice 8+ went and raced in the Men’s College & Club race. Coxed by Chris Bennet, Joe Raupp, Nick DeTrempe, Neill Li, Chick Talley, John Tehoula, James Hinckley, Sean Gibbons, and Dillion Bailey had a finish of 3rd place also. At the days end, the Irish crews walked away with heads high, medals around their neck, and full of anticipation for the following weekend’s home regatta.  

October 5-7, 2007

The Notre Dame Men’s Crew team opened its season in Rockford, Illinois this weekend at the Head of the Rock Regatta. On this hot October day, the men’s crew team faced some of the best schools in the mid-western area such as Michigan, Purdue, and Minnesota. So far this season, the Irish crews have trained mainly in pairs and fours, but competed in the eights as well on Sunday.

The morning opened with two of the four Notre Dame pairs who raced medaling. Scott Campbell and Matt Napierski finished 3rd in 17:34.64, while Nick Kluesner and Taylor Donaldson were just edged out finishing less than a second behind at 17:35.59. The other pairs, consisting of Jake Teitgen and Nick Springer and Tom Mazzacavallo and Andrew Baker finished 6th and 7th in 18:09.17 and 18:18.11 respectively.

The morning continued with the Irish varsity fours racing. Julie Lambe’s boat, consisting of Steve Walter, Tomas Castillo, Rob Bowen, and Yang Chen, had a strong race finishing 4th, just inside medal position with a time of 16:57.8. The other two fours of Michael Lutkus, Steven Cumberworth, Brandon Carroll, and Dan Murphy coxed by Andria Senevirante, and Bryce Chung, Josue Rodriguez, John Dang, and Brian Simpson coxed by Mike Lehmann, finished 12th and 15th, with times of 17:59.28 and 18:52.33.

The afternoon started with the Novice 8+ event. Coach Justin Price had been preparing the Irish’s largest novice class for their first regatta for the past couple weeks, and the results showed all of the hard work. The first novice boat of Kevin Quigley, Cliff Roberts, Kurt Krautmann, Michael Maggart, Michael Wagner, Greg Flood, Liam Leyden, and Phillip Brunner, coxed by Chris Bennett placed 1st for the first time in Irish history with a time of 16:27.78. The second and third novice boats of Joe Raupp, Nick DeTrempe, Neill Li, Chick Talley, John Tehoula, James Hinckley, Sean Gibbons, and Dillion Bailey, coxed by Lisa Folkerth and Andrew Seelaus, Peter Mushenheim, Bernardo Garcia, Thomas Ford, Billy Sheilds, Martin Colianni, Erik Gernant, and Parker Ranger, coxed by Paige Norris finished 5th and 6th with times of 17:37.07 and 17:43.40 respectively.

The day ended with the varsity 8+ race, in which the Irish raced 5 boats. The first varsity 8, coxed by Julie Lambe had Scott Campbell, Tom Mazzacavallo, Jake Teitgen, Nick Springer, Steve Walter, Matt Napierski, Taylor Donaldson, and Nick Kluesner, and finished 4th in 14:52.42. The boat coxed by Andria Senevirante with Michael Lutkus, Yang Chen, Andrew Baker, Rob Bowen, Brandon Carroll, Steve Cumberworth, Dan Murphy, and Tomas Castillo finished 8th in a time of 15:56.01. The first two novice boats also raced in the varsity 8+ finishing 10th and 14th in 17:01.9 and 18:36.84. The Irish also had an boat coxed by Mike Lehmann consisting of Andrew Seelaus, Peter Mushenheim, Josue Rodriguez, Colin Parker, Bernardo Garcia, Dan Lewis, Erik Gernant, and Parker Ranger finishing 13th in 18:06.48  

April 27-29, 2007

Based on their performances through this past weekend, all five of Notre Dame’s boats qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) National Invitational Rowing Championships. This past weekend’s Indianapolis Collegiate Invitational was an ECAC qualifying regatta, and the Notre Dame men turned in stellar performaces.

The qualifying heats were raced in the morning, while the petite and grand finals were held in the afternoon. Radhika Deva’s Varsity 4 of Taylor Donaldson, Josue Rodriguez, Craig Wiborg, and Tomas Castillo raced to a fourth place finish in their morning heats, qualifying for the petite finals.

Notre Dame’s top novice boat of Beth Daley, Steve Walter, Nick Springer, Ben Queen, Mark Brickey, Andrew Haynes, Yang Chen, Tom Kenny, and Jorge Trejo barely missed qualifying for the grand finals, taking fourth in a tightly contested race. Julie Lambe’s 2nd Varsity 8 qualified for the afternoon grand finals by finishing fourth in their morning heat.

Lambe’s crew of Michael Lutkus, Tom Mazzacavallo, Matt Degnan, Andrew Baker, Andrew Matasic, Matt Napierski, Nick Kluesner, and Michael Giordano finished just over two seconds away from second place behind two Michigan boats and a Minnesota boat. The Varsity 8 crew also qualified for the grand finals by taking third in their heat, behind Marietta and Purdue. Notre Dame’s top crew was Gigi Gutierrez, Ray Schleck, Tedd Hawks, Karol Grzesiak, Jake Teitgen, Michael Lucci, Steve Maher, P.J. McAward, and Kane Pithey.

The first final of the afternoon was the 2nd Novice 8. Caitlin Hawryszkow coxed her crew of Brian Simpson, Josh Rodriguez, Conor Binder, Steve Cumberworth, Colin Cimala, Devin Vrabel, Tommy Clarke, and Johnny Dang to a fifth place finish in their final. Deva’s Varsity 4 (7:26.1) dominated the four-boat petite finals, putting nearly nine seconds between themselves and second place Northwestern (7:34.9). The 1st Novice 8 also won their petite final over Dayton, Miami, Butler and Northwestern.

The Notre Dame novice (6:46.9) raced alone to their first place finish, completing the course more than 15 seconds faster than second place Dayton (7:02.9). Julie Lambe’s 2nd Varsity 8 (6:12.3) made a huge improvement over their morning performance, taking second place out of seven in the grand finals. They lost only to national power Michigan (6:12.3) in making the best finish for an Irish crew in recent history in this event.

The Varsity 8 completed the day by also recording a best Notre Dame finish in recent history. They took fifth place (6:16.1) in the grand final, behind Michigan (5:56.5), Marietta (6:02.9), Purdue (6:08.6), and Grand Valley (6:10.9). The Irish finished 11 seconds ahead of sixth place Ohio State.  

April 20-22, 2007

Notre Dame’s varsity and novice crews squared off against Northwestern, Marquette, and North Park Rowing Club at Crystal Lake Park. The racing was over an 1800 meter course on Crystal Lake, located northwest of Chicago.

The novice 4+ set the tone for the regatta by winning the first race of the morning. Andria Seneviratne’s crew of Steve Walter, Nick Springer, Ben Queen, and Mark Brickey edged out Northwestern’s top crew by a margin of 7:16.25 to 7:18.72, while easily leaving behind two Marquette crews and one North Park boat. Radhika Deva’s boat of Craig Wiborg, Tomas Castillo, Andrew Matasic, and Matt Napierski took 4th in the lightweight 4+ event. Notre Dame’s varsity 4+ crew of Mike Lehmann, Ray Schleck, Tedd Hawks, Michael Lucci, and Steve Maher took 3rd in the varsity event, while Gigi Gutierrez, Karol Grzesiak, Jake Teitgen, P.J. McAward, and Taylor Donaldson finished 4th in the same race.

The eight-man Irish crews were the first to the finish line all afternoon. Julie Lambe’s second varsity eight raced Northwestern’s lightweight 8+, which is Northwestern’s fastest eight-man boat. Lambe’s crew of Michael Lutkus, Tom Mazzacavallo, Matt Degnan, Andrew Baker, Andrew Matasic, Matt Napierski, Nick Kluesner, and Michael Giordano finished in 6:07.75, leaving the Northwestern lightweights 7 seconds behind. The novice 8+ boat of Beth Daley, Steve Walter, Nick Springer, Ben Queen, Mark Brickey, Andrew Haynes, Yang Chen, Tom Kenny, and Jorge Trejo captured an easy victory in the novice 8+ event. The closest competition for Notre Dame’s first novice boat was Notre Dame’s second novice boat. Caitlin Hawryszkow coxed the second novice boat of Brian Simpson, Josue Rodriguez, Conor Binder, Steven Cumberworth, Colin Cimala, Devin Vrable, Tommy Clarke, and John Deng to second place in that event, leaving Marquette and Northwestern behind from the start of the race. The last race of the day featured Notre Dame’s top two crews in the varsity 8+ event. Gigi Gutierrez’s crew of Ray Schleck, Tedd Hawks, Karol Grzesiak, Jake Teitgen, Michael Lucci, Taylor Donaldson, P.J. McAward, and Steve Maher completed the course in 6:00.31. Julie Lambe coxed nearly the same crew as in her previous race, with Craig Wiborg and Tomas Castillo switched in for Andrew Matasic and Matt Napierski. Lambe’s boat finished 2nd in 6:06.74, while Northwestern’s two boats took 3rd and 4th.  

March 30-April 1, 2007

Best Showing Ever by Irish Crews at San Diego Crew Classic

The Notre Dame Rowing Club sent two eight-man crews to San Diego to compete in one of the premiere rowing events on the West Coast. On Saturday at the San Diego Crew Classic, the varsity eight crew of Gigi Gutierrez, Ray Schleck, Tedd Hawks, Karol Grzesiak, Jake Teitgen, Michael Lucci, Steve Maher, P.J. McAward, and Kane Pithey finished third in their preliminary heat, qualifying for the Petite Final. The Irish (6:11.07) finished behind UCLA (6:04.40) and UC Davis (6:08.43), while upsetting the higher-seeded crews from Texas (6:15.22) and University of San Diego (6:11.77), along with Sonoma State (6:23.84) and San Diego State (6:33.69). Later on in the morning, the second varsity eight (6:46.67) of Julie Lambe, Michael Lutkus, T.R. Mazzacavallo, Matthew Degnan, Andrew Baker, Andrew Matasic, Matt Napierski, Nick Kluesner and Michael Giordano finished second in their preliminary heat, losing only to Cal (6:17.60) while beating UC Irvine (6:55.39), Santa Clara (7:14.77), and USC (7:10.70). Remarkably, the Irish boat was able to settle in at 30 stokes per minute with no real challenge for second from the other crews. The second place finish sent the Irish crew to Grand Final, marking the first time that any NDRC boat has done so.

Sunday’s racing kicked off with the varsity Petite Final in which the Irish (6:27.71) finished third, just four seconds behind winner USC. Although the race was not as well rowed as the heats, the finish represents the highest for an NDRC varsity eight at the Crew Classic. In the second varsity Grand Final, the Irish crew was lined up between Oregon State and UC Davis, two varsity programs. Over the first 500 meters, Cal got out to a comfortable lead that they would maintain all race, while the Oregon State Beavers opened up a five seat advantage over the Irish, who were neck and neck with the UC Davis Crew. By the 1000 meter mark, the Irish had fallen to fourth, with the Beavers opening up nearly a seven seat advantage and UC Davis jumping out to a three seat cushion over the Blue and Gold. The Irish crossed the 1500 meter mark still trailing Oregon State by over half a boat and UC Davis by two seats. With 400 meters remaining, Notre Dame shifted into their sprint, bringing up the stroke rate two beats to a 35. The Fighting Irish sprinted up on Oregon State and finished only 1.6 seconds behind them. The strong UC Davis crew failed to match the Notre Dame sprint, and the Irish edged Davis, securing a third place finish by 0.6 seconds.

Coach Kurt Butler was pleased with his team’s performance, citing the fact that both crews finished several places ahead of their seeded positions. He was especially pleased by the second varsity boat’s performance, which made the first medal-position finish by an Irish crew in San Diego.

While NDRC’s top two crews were racing in San Diego, the remainder of the team raced in Grand Rapids at the Lubbers Cup Regatta. Notre Dame’s novice 8 finished fifth behind the highly talented crews from Grand Valley, Michigan, Western Ontario, and Michigan State. The novice eight broke down into fours to compete later in the morning. The first novice four finished 4th behind Grand Valley, Michigan, and Western Ontario, while finishing ahead of Michigan State and Northern Michigan. The second novice four finished third behind Grand Valley and Michigan’s second N4+s, but ahead of the third N4+s from those same schools. Notre Dame’s lightweight 4+ achieved the best finish of the day, taking second in the lightweight event. They beat Grand Valley’s second LW4+, Northern Michigan, and Michigan while losing only to Grand Valley’s first LW4+.  

March 23-25, 2007

The Notre Dame and Grand Valley State Rowing Clubs competed in a series of races on Saturday. On the varsity level, Notre Dame’s first and second varsity eights raced their counterparts from Grand Valley’s team. Three of the four race pieces in which the two varsity boats from each school competed were followed by a race of lightweight four-man boats. Notre Dame’s lightweight four raced against two Grand Valley lightweight fours. The day concluded with three races in which two Notre Dame and two Grand Valley novice boats competed. The day began with a thick fog blanketing the race course.

The races started at Grand Valley’s boathouse, and were rowed the equivalent of 1500 meters against the very strong current of the Grand River. In the first three varsity races, the Grand Valley boats edged out their Notre Dame counterparts, with the Notre Dame boats finishing second and fourth on each of those pieces. On the final piece, Gigi Gutierrez coxed Notre Dame’s first boat (4:40.35) of Ray Schleck, Tedd Hawks, Karol Grzesiak, Jake Teitgen, Michael Lucci, Steve Maher, P.J. McAward, and Kane Pithey to a narrow victory over the Grand Valley (4:40.73) competition. Julie Lambe’s second eight, which had its lineup rotated for seat racing, took fourth place.

Notre Dame’s lightweight four beat both of Grand Valley’s lightweight fours in all three race pieces. Each piece was competitive, and the Irish crew showed its endurance by pulling away in the second half of each piece. Notre Dame’s coxswain duties were rotated between Mike Lehmann and Radhika Deva, and the boat lineup was shuffled between pieces.

The two Irish novice crews raced against the very strong novice from Grand Valley. In each of the three race pieces, the two Irish boats finished 3rd and 4th. Beth Daley, Andria Seneviratne, and Caitlin Hawryszkow each coxed for the Irish crews.

Notre Dame’s novice eights and lightweight fours will compete in Michigan again next weekend at the Lubber’s Cup. The top two Irish eights will travel to San Diego to race in the prestigious San Diego Crew Classic.  

March 10-18, 2007

Irish Crews in Florida for Training and Racing

For the second consecutive year, the men’s crew team held its spring training camp in Miami, Florida. The Notre Dame Rowing Club practiced three times a day out of the Miami Rowing Club boathouse, located on Key Biscayne. The team stayed in Miami and enjoyed training in the cove of Key Biscayne, sometimes rowing alongside the dolphins and manatees that live in the warm coastal waters off southern Florida.

After a week of training in the cove of Key Biscayne, among dolphins and manatees, the Notre Dame Rowing Club traveled north to the small town of Fellsmere to compete in the Governor’s Cup Regatta. The Irish competed against national rowing powers Florida Tech, Columbia University, and Marietta College, who were also at the end of their spring training trips. The racing conditions on Canal 54 were much nicer than the oceanic conditions of Miami, but there was a varying crosswind and tailwind that affected some of the racing. The second varsity eight finished behind Columbia and defeated Florida Tech in their first race. The first and second novice eights repeated their performances from the morning, finishing behind Columbia lightweights and Florida, and Columbia heavyweights, respectively.

The second varsity eight finished third in the grand finals behind two Columbia boats. Finally, the first varsity rowed in the last race of the day with a new boat, which necessitated a lineup adjustment. In a respectable performance, they finished behind Columbia’s 17th ranked varsity eight.
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Inclement weather caused the cancellation of the majority of this weekend’s regattas throughout the Midwest, but Iowa City had perfect racing conditions. Sunday’s Head of the Iowa Regatta hosted its largest attendance in its history, partially due to the cancellation of Elkhart’s Head of the Elk Regatta, which was to be held on the same day. The major schools that competed were Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern, Grand Valley State, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Marquette, Creighton, Chicago, Nebraska, and Notre Dame, along with several midwestern rowing clubs.

The men’s competition was marked by Wisconsin’s dominance and Notre Dame’s rise to prominence. The Wisconsin men, who finished last season ranked 7th nationally, swept the heavyweight four-man and eight-man events. Notre Dame’s lightweight four of Mike Lehmann (cox) Andrew Matasic, Matt Napierski, Craig Wiborg and Tomas Castillo began the day by finishing 6th in their event. In the Men’s heavyweight 4+ event, Sarah Miceli’s crew of Michael Lucci, Tedd Hawks, Ray Schleck, and Kane Pithey captured 7th, Julie Lambe’s crew of Scotty Campbell, Andrew Baker, Michael Lutkus, and Dan Murphy took 15th, and Radhika Deva’s crew of Taylor Donaldson, Tom Mazzacavallo, Brendan McNutt, and Rob Bowen finished 17th. Wisconsin took the top five places in the event.

The afternoon began with another controversial sculling race for the Notre Dame men, this time with the Irish gaining an advantage due to racing penalties. In the hotly contested Men’s Sculling Double race, Steve Maher and Michael Lucci took the gold medal while Nick Kluesner and Michael Giordano took the silver, finishing just 1.25 seconds behind. There were four boats within fifteen seconds of Maher and Lucci’s top time, and Andrew Baker and Scotty Campbell took 5th in the same event. Matt Degnan and P.J. McAward rowed to a 9th place finish in the Men’s Pair event, and Caitlin Hawryszkow’s Novice 8+ took 15th in their race. The final race of the day was the Men’s 8+ event. Wisconsin took the top four places, and the Notre Dame crew of Gigi Gutierrez (cox), Steve Maher, Michael Lucci, Tedd Hawks, Ray Schleck, Kane Pithey, P.J. McAward, Nick Kluesner, and Michael Giordano finished sixth. Julie Lambe’s crew of Taylor Donaldson, Tom Mazzacavallo, Brendan McNutt, Matt Napierski, Andrew Matasic, Matt Degnan, Craig Wiborg and Tomas Castillo took 11th, while Radhika Deva’s crew took 17th and Andrea Senevirante’s novice crew finished 24th.

October 13-22, 2006

At the end of fall break, twelve Irish rowers along with coxswain Gigi Gutierrez raced in the most prestigious regatta in North America. The experience was a first for all twelve Notre Dame rowers, although Gutierrez had previously raced in the in Boston’s Head of the Charles. Notre Dame entered three boats in two events. The two Irish sculling boats of Nick Kluesner and Michael Giordano along with Steve Maher and Michael Lucci raced in the 23 and under men’s sculling double event. Gigi Gutierrez’s crew of Scotty Campbell, P.J. McAward, Tedd Hawks, Karol Grzesiak, Matt Degnan, Andrew Baker, Kane Pithey, and Ray Schleck raced in the Men’s Collegiate 8+ event.

After having their bids accepted in early September, the Irish crews concentrated their training on the Head of the Charles. Their preparation was completed with two-a-day training over fall break. The training paid off as all three of the crews turned in their best races of the season. Kluesner and Giordano finished 11th in the sculling event after navigating their way down the extremely difficult and winding course. Maher and Lucci were the 10th place finishers, but were pushed back to 16th in the results after receiving time penalties for one instance of aggressively passing another crew and two instances of dangerous steering and racing. Maher and Lucci raced closely with three other boats the entire race, and were involved in minor crashes going both under a bridge that was a part of a turn, and during a 180 degree hairpin turn. Kluesner and Giordano raced a cleaner course in turning in their stellar performance.

Gutierrez’ eight man crew was also involved in dramatic racing. In their sixty boat race, there inevitably was some scrappy steering and racing between several crews. The Irish eight raced incredibly well for the first two and a half miles of the three mile course. After the 180 degree hairpin turn Gutierrez’s crew was preparing to go under the last of six bridge archways at the infamous “dead man’s curve”. Unfortunately for the Irish crew, a Chinese junior national crew from Peking University had been involved in a two boat collision approximately one kilometer before the final bridge. By the time the Peking boat reached the final bridge they sank due to a hole from the crash, leaving a sinking boat, eight Chinese rowers and a coxswain swimming under the only bridge archway that Notre Dame could pass under. The Notre Dame 8+ stopped until the Chinese could get out of the way, and then Notre Dame performed an amazing sprint to catch the boat they had been chasing before they were forced to stop. The unofficial results placed Notre Dame at 32nd in the race. Factoring in the estimated 25-30 second stoppage time, the Irish crew would have finished approximately 16th place and within 5% of the winner’s time. The results are being reviewed to determine whether to move the Notre Dame boat into the range within 5% of the winner’s time, which would grant the Notre Dame 8+ an automatic bid to next year’s race for finishing so well this year.  

October 6-8, 2006

The Notre Dame Rowing Club began its 2006-2007 campaign in Rockford, Illinois this weekend, against a field that included all the major Midwest rowing powers. Although the Irish crews have been training almost exclusively in smaller boats, it was their performance in the eight-man boats that most impressed Coach Kurt Butler.

The racing in the morning began with Matt Degnan and Dan Murphy finishing 9th in 19:53 in a pair. The coxswain pair of Radhika Deva and Julie Lambe finished 22nd in the women’s event with a time of 23:08. Notre Dame’s novice raced for the first time in the Novice 4+ event, and the crew of Matt Dobbertien, Tyler Hulett, Josh Rodriguez, and Yang Chen was coxed by Andria Seneviratne to a 6th place finish in 21:23. The Irish Varsity 4+ crews finished 4th and 7th. The 4th place boat of Karol Grzesiak, Tedd Hawks, Ray Schleck and Kane Pithey was coxed by Sister Sarah Miceli, while Michael Lehmann coxed the 7th place crew of Taylor Donaldson, Tom Mazzacavallo, Brendan McNutt and Bobby Bowen. Notre Dame’s sculling doubles turned in solid performances, taking 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th places. Those doubles were sculled by Michael Giordano with Nick Kluesner (19:07), Andrew Baker with Scotty Campbell (19:36), Andrew Matasic with Matt Napierski (19:43), Steve Maher with Michael Lucci (19:43.3), and Tomas Castillo with Craig Wiborg (20:27). The morning racing ended with a 10th place finish by Tara Morin’s lightweight 4+ crew of Craig Wiborg, Tomas Castillo, Andrew Matasic and veteran lightweight Patrick McAward.

The Novice 8+ began the afternoon with the strongest showing of the day for an Irish crew. Beth Daley’s boat of Alden Golab, Jorge Trejo, Steve Walter, Matt Dobbertien, Ben Queen, Scott Rice, Conor Binder and Mark Brickey took third place to capture the bronze medal in the Novice 8+ event. Four Irish crews rowed in the last race of the day, which was the Varsity 8+ event. They finished 5th, 10th, 12th and 15th. The boats were Gigi Gutierrez’s crew (15:33) of Scott Campbell, Karol Grzesiak, Tedd Hawks, Ray Schleck, Kane Pithey, Andrew Baker, Matt Degnan and Patrick McAward; Julie Lambe’s crew (16:09) of Taylor Donaldson, Tom Mazzacavallo, Brendan McNutt, Matt Napierski, Andrew Matasic, Bobby Bowen, Tomas Castillo and Craig Wiborg; Radhika Deva’s crew (17:04) of Steve Maher, Michael Lucci, Scott Rice, Steve Walter, Josh Rodriguez, Dan Murphy, Nick Kluesner, and Michael Giordano; and Caitlin Hawryszkow’s crew (18:46) of Alden Golab, Jorge Trejo, Ben Queen, Matt Dobbertien, Yang Chen, Tyler Hulett, Conor Bindner, and Mark Brickey.  

April 28-30, 2006

In a fitting completion to the duel racing season, the men’s crew team swept the 8-man races against Northwestern University on the “straight and narrow” Skokie Canal in Chicago. Saturday’s racing was on the man-made Skokie, which was perfectly straight over the 2000m course, and only wide enough to fit two racing shells. The race tested the ability of the Notre Dame coxswains, who had to negotiate obstacles while avoiding contact with the competing boat and the shore.

The only loss of the day came in the first race as Chip Brady’s lightweight crew of Craig Wiborg, Tomas Castillo, Dan Murphy, and PJ McAward was defeated by a Northwestern four-man crew by a margin of 6:57.7 to 7:07.8. The same four finished the day by defeating Marquette’s crew in a closely contested race. The final margin was just over a boat-length, as the Notre Dame crew won 7:34.0 to 7:37.2.

Notre Dame’s novice eight had a solid day of racing, defeating Northwestern’s two best novice boats. In the first race, Bryce Chung’s crew of (stroke) Andrew Matasic, Tom Mazzacavallo, Brendan McNutt, Ray Schleck, Rob Bowen, Johann deSousa, Taylor Donaldson and Matt Degnan defeated Northwestern’s top novice crew by a margin of 6:34.7 to 6:49.1. The Irish novice faced Northwestern’s second crew later in the day and defeated them 6:27.4 to 7:00.1 in a race that was decided early.

The most competitive race of the day was between Notre Dame’s second varsity eight and Northwestern’s “lightweight” eight. Julie Lambe coxed the crew of (stroke) Scotty Campbell, Michael Lucci, Michael Lutkus, William Blosky, Brandon Carroll, Michael Giordano, Nick Kluesner, and Andrew Baker to a come from behind victory against the Northwestern crew, which has been having a strong season. Only shortly before the race the same Notre Dame crew was coxed by Radhika Deva in a preliminary race against Notre Dame’s first varsity crew. With Lambe against Northwestern, the Irish crew made a strong move in the middle of the race to take the lead and gradually inched their way ahead of Northwestern. With 250 meters to go, the Notre Dame crew pulled away with a powerful sprint to finish with open water on the Northwestern crew, 6:22.4 to 6:26.4.

Notre Dame’s top crew also bested the Northwestern competition. The first varsity eight was coxed by Julie Lambe in both the preliminary race against Notre Dame’s second varsity eight, and in the race against Northwestern’s first varsity eight. Throughout the season the first varsity eight has set the standard for the Irish crews by being stronger than the competition in the second half of the race. Against Northwestern, however, Lambe’s crew of (stroke) Teddy Hawks, Nick Mathew, Jake Teitgen, Karol Grzesiak, Evan Donoghue, Steve Maher, Kane Pithey and Nick Catella took the lead in the first 500 meters and maintained a solid lead on Northwestern throughout the race. The final margin was fairly close at 6:20.7 to 6:27.2, but the Irish crew controlled the race throughout.  

April 21-23, 2006

The Notre Dame men’s rowing club returned to Indianapolis’ Eagle Creek Reservoir this past Saturday to compete in the Indianapolis Invitational. The morning racing featured two Irish eight-man crews racing in qualifying heats, and two more racing in grand finals. In the afternoon, all four of the Notre Dame eight-man crews raced in a final event.

The novice 8 crew of (coxswain) Bryce Chung, (stroke) Karol Grzesiak, Tom Mazzacavallo, Andrew Matasic, Ray Schleck, Brendan McNutt, Matt Napierski, Taylor Donaldson and Rob Bowen finished fourth in their heat to qualify for the petite finals. In the afternoon racing, the novice boat took first in the Petite Final over Northwestern, Miami, and St. Thomas, with Matt Degnan rowing for Karol Grzesiak.

The next event for a Notre Dame crew was the 2nd Varsity 8 grand final. Coxswain Julie Lambe’s boat of (stroke) Scott Campbell, Michael Lucci, Evan Donoghue, William Blosky, Brandon Carroll, Andrew Baker, Nick Kluesner, and Michael Giordano took the bronze medal behind Michigan and St. Joseph’s. The Irish boat (6:45.6) held off Purdue (6:48.5) and Ohio State (6:51.8) to secure the medal. In the afternoon compilation Grand Final, which included the top three finishers from each the 2V8 and the Lightweight 8 races, and the top finisher from the 3V8 race, the boat finished sixth with Michael Lutkus rowing for Brandon Carroll.

The 3rd Varsity 8 of (cox) Tara Morin, (stroke) Matt Degnan, Tomas Castillo, Michael Lutkus, P.J. McAward, Dan Murphy, Johann deSousa, Craig Wiborg and Jordan Frankel also claimed a bronze medal in 7:15.7, just edging out Ohio State (7:17.2). Radhika Deva coxed the boat to 6th in the afternoon compilation Petite Final, with Carroll rowing for Lutkus.

The last races of the morning were the 1st Varsity qualifying heats. Because of the loss of Joe Blakely to a knee injury, the 1st eight had to depend on the yeoman-like effort of Karol Grzesiak, who accommodated the necessary lineup adjustments by rowing in two events. In the first of three heats, the Notre Dame boat of (cox) Gigi Gutierrez, (stroke) Dan Pearson, Nick Mathew, Jake Teitgen, Grzesiak, Teddy Hawks, Steve Maher, Kane Pithey, and Nicky Catella qualified for the grand finals by finishing second to Michigan in their heat, outpacing three other boats. The Varsity 8 finished 7th in the afternoon Grand Final.  

April 7-9, 2006

The Notre Dame men took three out of four races from Midwestern rowing power Purdue University at the April 8th State of Indiana Regatta. The racing, set on the turbulent waters of Eagle Creek Reservoir, included several school versus school challenges for men’s and women’s crews.

In the past five years no Notre Dame men’s crew has taken a race from a Purdue boat in the annual ND-PU challenge. This year’s racing paid witness to the dedication and preparation of each crew on Notre Dame’s team. The racing began with Notre Dame’s Novice 4 of coxswain Radhika Deva, (stroke) Craig Wiborg, Tomas Castillo, Johann deSousa, and Matt Napierski defeating Purdue’s 4-man crew with a time of 7:24. Coming in third was (cox) Tara Morin’s crew of Nick Kluesner, Dan Murphy, Brandon Carroll, and Jordan Frankel, who at 7:39 finished just two seconds behind the Purdue 4. Notre Dame’s powerful Novice 8 of coxswain Bryce Chung, (stroke) Karol Grzesiak, Thomas Mazzacavallo, Andrew Matasic, Ray Schleck, Brendan McNutt, Rob Bowen, Taylor Donaldson, and Matt Degnan led from start to finish and crossed the line in 5:52 with open water and ten seconds between them and the best finisher of Purdue’s three traditionally strong novice crews.

In varsity racing, Notre Dame’s 2nd Varsity 8 battled back and forth with Purdue’s 2nd Varsity 8 and Lightweight 8 crews on an adjusted course. The race finished with (cox) Julie Lambe’s crew of (stroke) Scotty Campbell, P.J. McAward, Evan Donoghue, Michael Lucci, Bill Blosky, Andrew Baker, Michael Lutkus, and Michael Giordano finishing in 5:02 to outdistance Purdue’s best finisher (5:05) by about a boat-length. Notre Dame’s top boat, the 1st Varsity 8 of (cox) Gigi Gutierrez, (stroke) Dan Pearson, Nick Mathew, Jake Teitgen, Joe Blakely, Teddy Hawks, Steve Maher, Kane Pithey, and bowman Nick Catella, suffered the only loss of the day against Purdue’s highly regarded Varsity 8 crew. The Purdue V8 (5:51), which a week ago defeated nationally-ranked Temple University in San Diego, held off the sprint of the fast-charging Notre Dame crew (5:56) to win the race by just more than a boat-length.

Notre Dame’s Varsity 8 stroke seat Dan Pearson commented, “We were greatly encouraged but not satisfied with our team results. Taking three of four races from a program like Purdue is a great step for us, but our Varsity 8 is hungry to catch Purdue’s top boat. We will see them twice more this year, and we intend to do more than just give them a good race. We want to sweep Purdue by beating them with all four boats that we put out to race”. Notre Dame Varsity coach Kurt Butler and Novice coach J.P. Oleksiuk were similarly encouraged and remain optimistic for the second half of the racing season.  

March 31-April 2, 2006

The Notre Dame Men’s Rowing Club traveled to sunny Southern California for the San Diego Crew Classic this weekend. The Varsity squad, consisting of Dan Pearson, Nick Mathew, Jake Teitgen, Joe Blakely, Tedd Hawks, Steve Maher, Kane Pithey, Nick Catella, and Coxswain Gianna Gutierrez, had a strong showing in Saturday’s preliminary races to place them in the Petite Finals on Sunday. The Irish crew finished 4th in the finals, with a time of 6:14:49, after a miraculous comeback sprint, edging out Rollins and UCSB in the final meters.

The Junior Varsity Crew, consisting of Scottie Campbell, PJ McAward, Evan Donoghue, Karol Grzesiak, Michael Lutkus, Michael Giordano, Nicholas H. Kluesner, Daniel Murphy III, and Coxswain Julie Lambè, also represented Notre Dame well in Saturday’s prelims, earning them a top seed in Sunday’s Petite Finals. The Irish Crew jumped to an early lead against Orange Coast and Colorado and finished with open water on the second place crew (6:21:00).

“Both Crews’ performances on Saturday were some of the best in recent history for the Notre Dame Rowing Club,” said Coach Kurt Butler. “In the final 500m sprint, both crews proved themselves as fast or faster than the competition.” This is the first time in the club’s history to progress to Sunday’s Final races, and they look to continue their history-making success in Indianapolis this coming weekend. “The team showed great heart in all four races,” said Captain Nick Mathew, “and I think we are making a name for ourselves in the rowing community.” The team would like to extend a special thanks to the Alumni Club of San Diego who graciously hosted the team, providing food, shelter, and support for both rowers and coach.  

March 24-26, 2006

Notre Dame’s eight-man and four-man crews began their spring racing season in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The crews raced in the traditionally inclement weather conditions and varying river current of the early season Lubbers Cup Regatta. The race course was adjusted to 1700 meters to account for the crews rowing into an unusually strong current. The Notre Dame men squared off against crews from Michigan, Michigan State, Grand Valley State, Western Ontario, Western Michigan, and Northern Michigan.

The novice men’s eight-man crew opened their season of racing in strong form. Coxswain Bryce Chung led his crew of Karol Grzesiak (stroke), T. Riley Mazzacavallo, Andrew Matasic, Ray Schleck, Taylor Donaldson, Matt Napierski, Rob Bowen and Matt Degnan to a third place finish in 6:48 by passing crews throughout the race after a slow start. Notre Dame’s top four man crew of Dan Pearson, Nick Mathew, Karol Grzesiak and Nick Catella was coxed by Gianna Gutierrez to fourth place (7:17) in the Varsity 4A event. Tara Morin coxed the lightweight four of Nick Kluesner, Dan Murphy, P.J. McAward and Jordan Frankel to a fourth place finish in a time of 7:52.

Two Notre Dame boats raced in the Varsity 4B event. Radhika Deva’s crew of Brandon Carroll, Andrew Baker, Brendan McNutt and Michael Giordano took 5th in 7:56, while Julie Lambé’s crew of Teddy Hawks, Steve Maher, Jake Teitgen and Joseph Blakely took fourth in 7:24 after being barely edged out by the Michigan (7:19) and Grand Valley (7:22) crews. Chip Brady’s Novice 4 crew of Andrew Matasic, Johann deSousa, Craig Wiborg and Tomás Castillo placed third in their event in a time of 7:32.

Lambé’s second Varsity 8 crew of Scotty Campbell (stroke), P.J. McAward, Bill Blosky, Andrew Baker, Michael Lutkus, Michael Giordano, Nick Kluesner, and Dan Murphy raced into third place with a powerful sprint, finishing in 6:26. Notre Dame’s first Varsity 8 crew lost to Grand Valley by one second to finish fourth in their event. The oarsmen in the top men’s boat, coxed by Gianna Gutierrez, were Dan Pearson (stroke), Nick Mathew, Jake Teitgen, Joseph Blakely, Teddy Hawks, Steve Maher, Kane Pithey and bowman Nick Catella.  

October 28-30, 2005

The men’s rowing club participated in The Head of the Elk in Elkhart this weekend. Due to a problem with the official scorers, times and results will not be available until Wednesday at the earliest. 

October 7-9, 2005

 “Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death.” With apologies to Grantland Rice, for one afternoon under similar skies at the Head of the Rock in Rockford, IL this weekend, Famine, Pestilence, Destruction, and Death rowed once more, and again proved formidable for the rowing club’s opponents on the water.

Notre Dame’s Dan Pearson and Michael Giordoano dominated the men’s doubles division, claiming 1st in Famine, in the nine boat field, in a time of 17:55.37. Joe Blakey and Bill Blosky finished 3rd, in 18:29.2, in Destruction, Nick Catella and Nick Mathew in Death, and Steve Maher and Michael Lucci in Pestilence, placed 4th and 5th respectively, with times of 18:32.05 and 18:35.69.

The Irish men’s varsity four, coxed by Tara Morin, finished in 18:48.57. In light-weight, varisty men’s four, Nick Kluesner, Dan Murphy III, Pat Seul, and Jordan Frankel, with coxswain Julie Lambe, finished 6th in a field of eleven teams, with a time of 17:47.79. a second entry, coxed by Rebecca Svenson, finished in 19:17.1. Kluesner, Murphy, Matt Degnan, Andrew Gim, Andrew Matasic, Andy Maestro, Tomas Castillo, and Matt Napierski, coxed by Rad Deva, finished 6th among nine teams in the varsity men’s eight division withi a time of 17:00.22.

Matasic, Degnan, Matt Beall, Taylor Donaldson, Ray Schlec, Brendan McNutt, Tom Mazzacavallo, and Karol Grzesiak, coxed by Bryce Chung, placed 5th in the novice men’s eight division, timed in 16:59.8. A second Irish entry, comprised of Blake Jones, Ginn, Phil Pezza, Nick Sinmonson, Rob Bowen, Matt Kolton, John Saucedo, and Johann DeSousa, coxed by Chip Brady crossed the line in 17:52.63.

In the highly competitive varsity men’s eight division, Kane Pithey, Michael Lucci, Jake Teitgen, Joe Blakely, Nick Catella, Nick Mathew, Steve Maher, and Michjael Giordano, coxed by Gigi Gutierrez, finished 6th among 22 teams, in a time of 15:31.72 The Irish second varsity eight, consisting of Pearson, Grzesiak, Brandon Carroll, Castillo, Michael Lutkus, RJ Tatzel, McNutt, and Ray Schleck, coxed by Lambe, fnished in 16:45.18. The Irish will next compete in the Head of the Elk in Elkhart, on October 30th.

April 8-10, 2005

The Notre Dame men's rowing team enjoyed a great day of racing Saturday at the State of Indiana Crew Classic, in Indianapolis. Teams from all over the area including Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana University and Butler University met for races that tested the mettle of the Hoosier State's finest crews.

In the morning races, the Notre Dame novice crew faced competition from the tough Purdue team. They fell to the Boilermakers, crossing the finish line with a time of 6:59, twenty seconds behind the victors. The Irish redeemed themselves in the afternoon by defeating Northwestern and Butler crews with a time of 7:12 to win the Novice Eight event.

The Varsity squad also struggled against Purdue in the morning, coming in 13 seconds behind the stronger Purdue boat, which had a time of 6:19. The afternoon race was a hard fought battle among Northwestern, Cincinnati and the Irish. Boats battled back and forth through the 2000 meter race course. In the end, Cincinnati was victorioius with a time of 6:41, followed closely by Notre Dame with a 6:45, and Northwestern with a 6:55.

The Irish look forward to facing these crews again in two weeks when they return to Indianapolis for the Indiana Invitation.  

April 1-3, 2005

The Men's Rowing Team headed to the beach to take on some of the most respected crews in the country this weekend at the San Diego Crew Classic. Conditions were sunny and calm as the Irish along with over 100 other colleges and organizations gathered for one of the biggest and most competitive regattas in the country.

In Saturday morning's varsity qualifying race the Irish overcame rudder problems to make it to the afternoon's third final. Throughout the race the team kept up with close competition from Colorado and the UC San Diego. The last five hundred proved difficult when the team's steering failed and they fell behind to sixth place in the heat edging out San Diego State for a spot in the afternoon competition. The Irish ended up with a time of 6:36.7 behind Colorado with a time of 6:19.4 and UCSD and UCL with times of 6:28 and 6:35.0, respectively.

The Junior Varsity Crew's heat was full of some of the toughest competition in their division. The men rocketed out to an early start and held even with Stanford and UCLA through the first thousand meters but fell back during the last half of the race. Despite falling back the Irish posted a strong time of 6:41.75 right behind UCLA with a time of 6:35.6 and UC Davis with a 6:29.

The Varsity's afternoon's varsity final proved to be an exciting conclusion to the team's weekend racing. During the first five hundred meters the Irish fell behind due to a sluggish start and some choppy water. Determination pulled the team up though, and by the thousand meter mark the Irish were even with Santa Clara, Sacramento State, and the University of San Diego. The last five hundred was an all out battle for pride as these crews started their sprints and carried into the finish. "It was intense," said two seat Tedd Hawks, "we really came together during the second five-hundred. Once we started walking we were determined to finish strong." Notre Dame pulled out fourth place in the event with a time of 6:34.4 edging out Santa Clara and Sacramento State but falling to USD and UCSB. UCL won the race with a time of 6:30.0. "It was one of our best races this year," said coxswain Abbie Daugher. "The guys never let up even when we were down."

In Sunday's grand finals California took home the top prize in the varsity race edging out Stanford in an exhilarating performance that was decided by only a two second margin. California finished with a 5:43.3 and Stanford with a 5:45.7. California also won the Junior Varsity grand final with a time of 5:58.10 over Northeastern with a 6:01.49.

As the team heads into the heart of their season they look forward to building on their experiences in San Diego. " After this weekend I'm confident we can compete at nationals this May," said Sophomore Steve Maher. The Irish will take on Northwestern and Purdue next weekend at the State of Indiana meet in Indianapolis.  

March 18-20, 2005

The Notre Dame Men's Rowing Club faced snowy weather and freezing temperatures at the annual Lubber's Cup Regatta in Grand Rapids, Michigan this weekend. Despite the cold weather the Irish kicked off their spring season with a successful showing against tough competition from the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and the University of Western Ontario.

In the men's eight races both the varsity and junior varsity boats did well in the morning preliminary rounds to put them in the petite final in the afternoon. The junior varsity boat had a strong race in the final and improved their time from the morning from a 6:55 to a 6:50 in the 2000 meter race. The varsity boat was inched out in a neck-in-neck race against the University of Western Ontario to take second in the petite final with a time of 6:23. Western Ontario won the petite with a time of 6:20, and the University of Michigan's varsity A boat won overall with a time of 6:11.

The men's novice team also had a strong showing in their first race of the spring season. In the novice final the Irish rowed a great race coming in tenths of a second behind the University of Michigan's C boat and improving almost twenty seconds on their morning preliminary row to post at 7:07. The University of Michigan's novice A boat won the event with a time of 6:40.

The Irish look forward to building on their successes this weekend when they participate in the San Diego Crew Classic on April 2nd and 3rd.

November 6 - 8, 2004

The Notre Dame Men’s Rowing Club finished their season on a high note this Saturday in a regatta against the University of Dayton and the University of Cincinnati in West Carrolton, Ohio.

In the 4000 meter competition the men’s varsity A boat took second place with a time of 12:09 only 4 seconds behind the winning Dayton boat. The B boat had a brilliant race beating the Dayton and Cincinnati B boats and taking fourth place overall. The novice crew had a strong showing as well posting a 13:41 in the A boat and a 14:09 in the B boat. The University of Dayton novice took first place with a time of 12:59.

The afternoon race consisted of a short 1200 meter piece in which Notre Dame dominated in the varsity A and B divisions. Both teams held off tough Cincinnati and Dayton competition to take the top spots. The novice crew posted competitive times for their first sprint of the year taking first place in the B division.

October 8-10, 2004

Sixty club teams descended upon Rockford, IL this weekend for the Head of the Rock Regatta, where the Notre Dame men’s rowing club had a day of great performances. The varsity squad competed in open doubles, open eight, open four and lightweight four events on the 2.75 mile river course.

The highlight of the day was the stellar performance of the lightweight four which came in fourth out of eight teams and medaled with a time of 17:58. The open fours also had a strong showing against intense competition from the University of Michigan, Purdue and Northwestern. Michigan won the event with a time of 15:42.28 and the three Notre Dame boats took 16th, 22nd, and 27th with times of 17:16.19, 18:10.91, and 19:17.91, respectively.

The Irish also pulled competitive times in the men’s double event with Evan Donoghue and Dave Mercante taking 4th place with a time of 17:42. The other men’s doubles had great rows as well putting up scores of 18:37, 18:52, and 18:56 taking 6th, 7th and 8th place. The open eight was a hotly contested race with the University of Michigan claiming the victory with a time of 14:05. The top ND varsity boat was not far behind with a time of 15:02 taking 10th place and the other two boats rowing a 15:40 and 16:31 to take 13th and 20th place.

The Novice Crew had a stellar showing for their first race of the fall season. In the Novice fours the rowers came in with a time of 19:36.12 to take 10th place in a field of strong competitors including the winner, the University of Minnesota. In the eights the men proved to be tough competition with times of 17:29.64 and 18:09.24 to take 12th and 16th places in a field of 23 strong novice boats.

The team had a strong showing and expects to build on their successes at the Head of the Elk race in Elkhart, Indiana on October 31st.