Rowing: Irish rowers miss out on NCAA Championship regatta
By JEFF BALTRUZAK
Assistant Sports Editor
It will take two seconds to read this sentence. And two seconds was all that Irish rowing coach Martin Stone believes separated Notre Dame from a trip to its first NCAA Championship regatta.
"We were the next varsity 8 they were going to take," said Stone, referring to the NCAA selections announced Tuesday. "I think if we had beaten Rutgers in the Big East we would have gone. We were out of it by two seconds."
The Irish finished the 2001 season ranked No. 16 in the USRowing/Collegiate Coaches Rowing Association poll, with the Scarlet Knights checking in at No. 15.
But to focus on being so close to making the NCAA finals would be an injustice to a season that, by all respects, was the finest in Notre Dame rowing's short history as a varsity program.
To start, the program saw Notre Dame in the USRowing poll for the first time in school history on April 4, breaking in at No. 14. The ranking directly followed the first varsity eight's win over traditional powerhouse Michigan State on Mar. 31, when the Irish beat the Spartans twice on a shortened 1200 meter course in East Lansing, Mich.
As for the seniors that saw the program grow from a club sport to a fledgling varsity team to a nationally respected squad, this years' success was especially sweet. Captain coxswains Claire Bula and Erin Kiernicki, as well as rowers Melissa Alberding and Leah Ashe are the only four to have seen the program's seemingly exponential progression.
"It's been an unbelievable transformation," said Bula. "I remember sophomore year when we didn't win a race and now this year I have all these medals on my wall."
With Notre Dame long on youth and short on race experience, Stone found that the seniors' journey in building the program from the ground up was key to their role this season.
"They appreciate the strides we made," said Stone. "They kept the team upbeat, and had the ability to see where we had been."
From the start of the season in the fall, Notre Dame's strides seemed to be more like leaps and bounds. Their first race of the fall season, the Chicago Chase on Oct. 7, saw Notre Dame secure three gold medals and a pair of silvers.
The Irish's early success was indicator of things to come, but for Stone, evidence of the Irish's potential would come later in the fall season.
"After the Head of the Elk, I knew there was a possibility [we would be ranked in the spring]," said Stone.
But Notre Dame's best racing would come in mid-May. Both Stone and Bula — coxswain of the first varsity eight — agreed that the first varsity eight's best race was not their dual race with the Spartans but the semifinals of the Lexus Cup Central Region Championship on May 12.
The Irish lined up with now well-known rival Michigan State, Ohio State, and Texas in the semifinal. Notre Dame has previously finished ahead of the Longhorns in two races at the San Diego Crew Classic April 8.
"It was do or die," said Bula. "We needed to make the finals to have a chance at the NCAAs."
Notre Dame responded in a race where Bula said "everything clicked." blazing to a 6:38.7 finish for the 2000-meter course, beating Texas and finishing just over two seconds behind the winning Buckeyes.
Stone shared Bula's sentiments. "It was pure speed. They put everything together," he said.
Later in the day, the Irish finished fifth in the Grand Final, positioning them for a shot at the NCAA Championships. And though that shot didn't materialize this year, Stone sees benefits from this year's success and knowing that Notre Dame is within striking distance of the top competition in the country.
"We raced against 10 of the top 15 varsity teams, and we were within 10 seconds of most of them," he said.
The Grand Final at the Central Championships would be the last race for the Irish rowers this season. Bula felt that though she wishes she could experience Notre Dame building on the foundation she and her fellow seniors help build, it was an unique experience to be part of the beginning.
"In some ways I wish I could be there," said Bula. "But it's is a great feeling that we helped set the standard for how the program will be, and be part of Notre Dame history being on the first women's rowing varsity team."
All Sports Stories for Friday, May 18, 2001
