WSU women's crew wins spring regatta

Rowing's version of the Apple Cup was won by Washington State for the first time Saturday.

The WSU women's varsity eight used a strong finishing sprint to take the lead with 350 meters to go and beat Washington by 2.1 seconds over the 2,000-meter course ending in the Montlake Cut.

It was the first time a Cougars crew defeated the Huskies' No. 1 boat in the annual spring regatta.

Last November, the Cougars beat the Huskies' top boat for the first time, in the Head of the Lake Regatta. However, crews start one-at-a-time in that event and times determine the winner. Saturday's race was an exciting side-by-side shootout.

The Cougars were clocked in 6 minutes, 45 seconds and the Huskies in 6:47.1. Oregon State was third (6:52.1) and Iowa (7:05.6) fourth.

Women's crews have center stage when Huskies and Cougars compete because men's rowing isn't an intercollegiate sport at WSU. The UW men's varsity eight rowed against Oregon State on Saturday and won by 17 seconds in 6:05.

The Cougars women were delighted but hardly delirious with the triumph, which won't be considered an upset because WSU was ranked No.7 and the Huskies No. 13.

Cougars rower Sarah Lende, a junior from Haines, Alaska, called the win "a huge achievement" but seemed happiest with the way her team rowed.

"They got some seats on us, we got some seats on them," she said. "It kind of went back and forth. We didn't let it stress us out. We were focused."

Lende, fellow Alaskan Laura Griffin and coxswain Kelly O'Brien were the only Americans in the Cougars boat, which has rowers from Poland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The Huskies had three Canadian rowers and the only in-state rower, Andrea Sooter of Bellevue.

Washington coach Eleanor McElvaine, whose father, Herbert, last year built a handsome apple-themed plaque that the Cougars packed home with them Saturday, said the loss "was a bit of a heartbreak." Still, she said it showed improvement from the opener two weeks ago.

The day's fastest time of 6:01 was set in the men's frosh race by the Huskies crew that made UW history last month by becoming the first freshman boat since 1947 to win the men's Class Day Regatta. UW coach Bob Ernst used one word to describe the class Saturday: "Extraordinary."