Rowing: Notre Dame claims seventh consecutive conference crown
Notre Dame overcame two disappointing races to capture its seventh consecutive Big East title.
Notre Dame overcame two disappointing races to capture its seventh consecutive Big East title.
A Notre Dame team with five all-conference players earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and will take on No. 2-seeded Northwestern tomorrow.
As a team the Irish may have struggled to bring home overall titles this season, finishing sixth at the Big East championships. But many athletes found success individually, setting new records along the way. With a season that extends into the summer, they also still have plenty of opportunity for further growth.
Coming off yet another successful season that saw the program earn its second consecutive MIAA conference title, No. 5 Saint Mary's seems poised to earn a top-five finish in the NCAA Division III Championships.
Entering the 2010 season, Belles coach Erin Sullivan expressed three challenges for her team to accomplish. Sullivan hoped to win 20 or more games, qualify for the MIAA tournament, and have a team grade point average of 3.3 or higher.
With only one senior to rely on, Saint Mary's turned its inexperience into success en route to an appearance in the MIAA tournament semifinals.
A perfect 19-0 home record and a 19-3 in-conference record will give No. 25 Notre Dame a boost heading into the Big East tournament and the rest of the 2010 postseason.
Christine Lux has always put a lot of pressure on herself to do well. She knew her hard work had paid off when she earned third-team All-American honors after her junior campaign, becoming the first Irish All-American since 2006.
Notre Dame failed to finish the regular season above .500 for the third straight season in 2009. This time, it cost former Irish coach Charlie Weis his job.
The Irish will wrap up its season with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament when they face Wisconsin in the first round today. The Irish head into the postseason match after finishing in second place behind Louisville in the Big East championships.
Notre Dame met North Carolina in the College Cup for the third time in four years, and, for the third time in four years, the Tar Heels ended any Irish dreams of a third National Championship.
Notre Dame continued its reign as Big East champion with its 14th consecutive conference title. The streak is the longest active streak in the conference in any league sport.
Under Irish coach Jay Louderback, the trophy case for the women's tennis program has become a bit crowded.
Notre Dame began its 2009 season with a 1-0 exhibition win over Northwestern and ended it with a 3-1 loss to Northwestern in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In between was an up-and-down season, but it proved momentous for the program in a number of ways.
An inconsistent season did not stop Notre Dame from earning its fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.
Heading into the 2009-2010 season, expectations couldn't have been higher for a team laden with talent and experience, but with little to show for it. Notre Dame had not advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament since 2008, the program was breaking in a new home court and the squad featured four starting seniors and a number of questions about the future.
The Irish completed a season laden with challenges, but despite the adversity, managed to put together some strong finishes against top competition. Notre Dame ultimately finished 17th at the NCAA Central Region last Saturday, but still has a season of highlights to reflect upon.
Although both the men's and women's cross country teams started out the 2009 season with back-to-back first places in their first two meets, the end of the season produced different results for the two squads.
Soccer After finishing the season with a record of 4-13-2 (1-6 MIAA) to mark another disappointing campaign, the Belles dismissed head coach Ryan Crabbe in the hopes of changing their recent misfortunes. Saint Mary's now hands over the reins to Michael Joyce to take the program back to excellence.
Despite a slow start to the year, the Irish wrapped up another solid season with a few top finishes as they battled back to enter the NCAA Championship on the right note.