No. 19 Beavers To Battle Top Crews In Prestigious Windermere Cup
May 3, 2012
CORVALLIS, Ore. - In its final event before the Pac-12 Championships, the Oregon State men's crew team will travel to Seattle this Saturday, May 5, to participate in the 26th Annual Windermere Cup on Montlake Cut, co-hosted by Windermere Real Estate, the Seattle Yacht Club and the University of Washington.
One of the most unique rowing events in the entire world, the Windermere Cup/Opening Day races are annually attended by thousands of spectators, both on land and in boats along Montlake Cut and Lake Washington. The regatta is the preliminary event to the annual yacht club parade, signaling the beginning of boating season in the Northwest.
"The Windermere Cup is unlike any other rowing race in the country," Oregon State head coach Steve Todd said. "The community comes out to celebrate the start of the boating season and to cheer on all the crews. It's an incredible experience to race through `the Cut' on Opening Day. Our guys need to be ready for anything."
Oregon State's nationally ranked varsity eight will be one of the key participants in this year's featured race. The Beavers, coming in at 19th in the nation in the most recent USRowing Collegiate Poll, will go off at 11:45 a.m. for the Men's Windermere Cup against No. 1 Washington, No. 20 Virginia and the Argentina National Team.
"We are excited that the team from Virginia is out here this week," Todd said of the lineup. "They are a well-prepared bunch and have had great races this season. I expect both our two crews will have quite a race."
Oregon State's V8 lineup will attempt to build on the team's second-place finish on the Charles River in Boston from two weeks ago. On April 21, Dan Thompson (coxswain), Ross Ellingwood, Daniel Werner, Wyatt Worrel, Jorgen Anderson, Bryce Fransen, Clayton Ward, Chris Nofziger and Ty Louis came in behind then-No. 10 Northeastern, but topped Holy Cross by about one seat.
Virginia, just the third club program to be invited to the Windermere Cup, is coming off of a highly successful 2011 campaign that saw the Cavaliers win the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) championship.
Argentina's appearance is just the second by a South American crew and the first from a Spanish-speaking nation. The Argentines recently racked up eight medals at the 2011 Pan-American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, including a bronze in the men's eight race.
The Huskies, the defending national champions, have gone undefeated this spring, winning each race by an open-water margin.
OSU's best finish in the Windermere Cup came in 2009, when the Beavers came in second place (5:52.1), besting Brazil, but falling short of Washington.
At 11:25 a.m., Oregon State's JV8 of Mike Hann (coxswain), Brad Buser, Chase Hooper, Andrew Read, Etienne Mullin, Caleb Aguiar, Scott Mersereau, Julian Dansk and James Shrieve will race against UW and Western Washington for the Men's Erickson Cascade Cup.
Oregon State's only victory in the Cascade Cup came in 1987 and is one of only 10 Opening Day titles not won by Washington's men's junior varsity eight.
The Beavers' F8 will compete at 11:10 a.m. against two Washington crews and their V4 will begin the day for OSU at 10:37 a.m. in lane three of a race against Washington, Loyola Marymount, Pocock Rowing Center and Washington State.
The course for the notable event is Montlake Cut, a 2,000-meter spring that begins from a floating start parallel to the 520 Bridge in Lake Washington and runs east to west through the Montlake Cut and to the finish line near the mouth of Portage Bay in Lake Union.
"Oregon State would like to say a special thank you to the Windermere Real Estate company for their sponsorship of this event," Todd said. "Also thank you to the Seattle Yacht Club and Washington Rowing for their efforts to put together such a special race."
Spectators are encouraged to view the Windermere Cup races from the shores of the Montlake Cut on Saturday. This is a free community event with parking available at surrounding University of Washington lots. Parking in the large Montlake Lot (E-1) is $7. The Montlake Bridge will be closed to traffic from 9:40 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The races begin at 10:20 a.m. and are followed by the boat parade. The Montlake Bridge will be raised and remain open during the boat parade.
For those unable to make the trip, a stream of the finish line will be available on GoHuskies.com.
Lineups
V8 - Windermere Cup (11:45 a.m.)
C: Dan Thompson
8: Ross Ellingwood
7: Daniel Werner
6: Wyatt Worrel
5: Jorgen Anderson
4: Bryce Fransen
3: Clayton Ward
2: Chris Nofziger
1: Ty Louis
JV8 - Cascade Cup (11:25 a.m.)
C: Mike Hann
8: Brad Buser
7: Chase Hooper
6: Andrew Read
5: Etienne Mullin
4: Caleb Aguiar
3: Scott Mersereau
2: Julian Dansk
1: James Shrieve
F8 (11:10 a.m.)
C: Eric Sumner
8: Martin Forde
7: Dylan Nelson
6: Henry Prosser
5: Eric Gustafson
4: Will Gangmark-Strickland
3: John Broc
2: Kyle Wilkins
1: Max Katz
V4 (10:37 a.m.)
C: EmilyAnne Pillari
4: Andrew Satterlee
3: Clark Fisher
2: Henry Stout
1: Nick Aerne
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