April 7, 2001

San Diego, Calif. - The Notre Dame varsity eight, ranked 14th in the nation, finished third in its heat of the Jessop-Whittier Cup at the prestigious San Diego Crew Classic in San Diego, Calif. With its third-place finish, Notre Dame qualifies for Sunday's finals, as the top three teams and the fastest fourth-place time qualify for the finals.

The Irish team of Katherine Burnett, Diane Price, Becky Luckett, Casey Buckstaff, Michelle Olsgard, Ashlee Warren, Ann Marie Dillhoff, Jayme Szefc and coxswain Claire Bula finished third in heat one with a time of 6:34.70. Second-ranked Washington won the heat in 6:26.03, followed by seventh-ranked California at 6:34.26. #18 Texas was fourth in 6:35.58, while Stanford (6:41.61), 20th-ranked Oregon State (6:44.39) and Duke (6:46.51) rounded out heat one. Ninth-ranked USC was the winner of heat two in 6:28.50, while #12 Virginia was second at 6:33.80 and Clemson was third at 6:35.91. Washington, California, Notre Dame, USC, Virginia, Clemson and Texas all qualified for Sunday's grand final.

The Irish second varsity eight was to compete in the junior varsity race later in the day, but adverse weather conditions have delayed racing in San Diego. Temperatures in San Diego are in the low 50s with rain showers and high winds. The races were delayed when the conditions caused one of the boats to sink during the opening heats of the junior varsity race. All racing is on hold until 5:00 p.m. EST, when a decision on whether to continue will be made.

Weather also canceled Notre Dame's third varsity eight and novice teams from traveling to Des Moines, Iowa, to race against Drake on Saturday. High water on the Des Moines River and winds gusting from 40-50 miles per hour made conditions impossible for the teams to compete.

Jessop-Whittier Cup
(top 3 + fastest 4th place time advance to finals)

Heat A

1. Washington  	6:26.03

2. Cal         	6:34.26

3. Notre Dame  	6:34.70  (Bula, Szefc, Dillhoff, Warren, Olsgard, Buckstaff, Luckett, Price, Burnett)

4. Texas       	6:35.58

5. Stanford    	6:41.61

6. Oregon St.  	6:44.39

7. Duke        	6:46.51


Heat B

1. USC         	6:28.5

2. Virginia    	6:33.80

3. Clemson     	6:35.91

4. Wash. St	6:36.30

5. SD State   	6:47.20

6. Villanova    6:59.12