UW stars in Windermere races

The white blades of the Washington Huskies rowers led the way across the finish line in the featured varsity Windermere Cup races Saturday, but the Gonzaga women had a day to remember, too.

The top-ranked Huskies men led wire to wire and rowed the 2,000-meter course from Lake Washington through the Montlake Cut in 5 minutes, 58.89 seconds. It was a businesslike victory by the undefeated crew that rows as if the shell had an outboard motor.

"We had control from the first stroke," said Washington senior Aljosa Corovic.

Purdue was the surprising second-place finisher in 6:09.09, finishing ahead of the University of Waikato of New Zealand (6:13.86).

"I think we surprised a lot of people but we didn't surprise ourselves," said Purdue junior Pat Close.

Crew is a club sport at Purdue, and athletes pay $2,500 a year to row. None of the Boilermakers had rowed before college.

The 16th-ranked Huskies varsity women won in 6:53.22, with Waikatu finishing second (6:56.27) and Purdue third (7:09.58).

It was a good outing by a Washington crew that had endured a rocky April, with a road loss to Washington State and a home loss to California.

"I think it's coming together," said Huskies women's coach Eleanor McElvaine. "We handled the stress of being right next to somebody in a very close race all the way down. They really kept their focus where before they got a little rattled. So I think we've got some confidence. To be able to take a sprint and take a length in the last 200 meters was another huge step for us."

Waikatu made a move on the Huskies with about 650 meters to go.

"Coming into the Cut they were getting closer and I think we decided as a boat that they were not going to come up any further," Huskies senior Liz Simenstad. "I know there was a definite moment when we shifted and took off."

The Gonzaga women's crews had an impressive day in winning all three races they entered. The Bulldogs won the women's junior-varsity race with their varsity crew in 6:56.61, the women's open eight with their JV crew in 6:59.33, and the women's novice eight in 6:57.59. Gonzaga beat the Washington novices by nearly three seconds, 6:57.59 to 7:00.42.

The Bulldogs varsity, which upset Washington State in late March, was slotted in the JV race in keeping with current Windermere Cup policy of having a foreign crew and a non-Northwest collegiate crew in the featured race.

"It's a big day," said Gonzaga coach Glen Putyrae, a former Washington rower who competed in four Opening Day regattas. "Anytime you get to come and race in this venue and be successful, it's pretty exciting."

He was referring to the spectacle of thousands of fans lining the course on boats and on shore for the crew races and the yacht parade that followed. He told his rowers before they hit the water, "This is probably going to be one of the most exciting and most enjoyable races of your life, so go out and have a good time."

The Zags did precisely that.

In the men's junior-varsity race, the Washington freshmen beat the Huskies JV by more than half a length, 6:01.75 to 6:03.8. That was no big surprise to UW coach Bob Ernst, who said, "They ought to be able to.

"By the time you get to the championship part of the season, if you have a shot at winning the national [freshman] championship, they generally beat your JV boat."

Ernst noted that the Huskies crews were performing Saturday after their toughest week of training of this season. They will taper this week in preparation for the Pac-10 championships, next Sunday on the American River in Rancho Cordova, Calif.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com

Opening day regatta

At Seattle (Montake Cut)

2,000 meters

MEN

Varsity eight (Windermere Cup) -- 1, Washington, 5:58.89; 2, Purdue 6:09.09; 3, Waikato-New Zealand, 6:13.86. UW Lineup: cox -- Katelin Snyder; stroke -- Will Crothers; 7 -- Heath Allen; 6 -- Aljosa Corovic; 5 -- Rob Gibson; 4 -- David Worley; 3 -- Steve Full; 2 -- Jessiah Johnson; bow -- Max Lang.

Junior varsity (Erickson Memorial Cascade Cup) -- 1, Washington's No. 1 freshman boat, 6:01.75; 2. Washington JV, 6:03.8; 3, Gonzaga, 6:19.06; 4, Oregon State, 6:30.27.

Freshman eight -- 1, Washington "A," 6:13.41; 2, Oregon State, 6:16.27; 3, Washington "B," 6:33.52; 4, Western Washington, 6:53.69

Open eight -- 1, Washington, 6:18.84; 2, Lake Union Crew, 6:23.66.

Varsity four -- 1, Washington "A" 6:41.47; 2, Washington "B" 6:46.30; 3, Pocock Rowing Center 7:01.25; 4, Washington "C" 7:25.0.

Men's club eight 40-and-over -- 1, Pocock Rowing Center, 6:32.16; 2, Vancouver Rowing Club, 6:45.3; 3, Vashon Island Rowing Club, 7:16.5; 4, Mount Baker Crew, 7:24.17.

Boys high school eight -- 1, Brentwood, 6:11.17; 2, Lakeside School, 6:23.63; 3, Vancouver College, 6:26.56; 4, South Eugene, 6:43.33.

Boys junior club eight -- 1, Mount Baker Crew, 6:08.45; 2, Green Lake Crew, 6:11.48; 3, Cincinnati Junior Rowing club, 6:13.61; 4, Capital, 6:17.41; 5, Marin Rowing, Association, 6:19.36.

WOMEN

Varsity eight (Windermere Cup) -- 1, Washington 6:53.22; 2, Waikato 6:56.27; 3, Purdue 7:09.58. UW Lineup: cox -- Alysha Koorji; stroke -- Cara Troelstra; 7 -- Jamie Unwin; 6 -- Taryn Langlois; 5 -- Kim Kennedy; 4 -- Andrea Sooter; 3 -- Samantha Smith; 2 -- Kim Armstrong; bow -- Courtney Plitt.

Junior varsity (Erickson Memorial Cascade Cup) -- 1, Gonzaga 6:56.61; 2, Washington 6:57.7; 3, Western Washington,, 7:07.83.

Open eight -- 1, Gonzaga 6:59.33; 2, Washington-4th varsity 7:12.5; 3, Western Washington 7:22.16; 4, Washington 2nd novice, 7:44.91.

Varsity four -- 1, Washington "A," 7:31.7; 2, Washington "B," 7:36.88; 3, Washington "C," 7:41.88; 4, Western Washington, 7:57.92; 5, Willamette, 8:03.92.

Novice eight -- 1, Gonzaga, 6:57.59; 2, Washington, 7:00.42.

Eight 30-and-above -- 1, Lake Washington Rowing Club, 7:06.63; 2, Lake Union Crew, 7:10.67; 3, Cascade Rowing, 7:18.73; 4, Green Lake Crew, 7:29.22.

Eight 50-and-above -- 1, Conibear Rowing Club, 7:45.89; 2, Sammamish Rowing Association, 7:50.08; 3, Lake Union Crew, 7:56.75. (Martha's Moms crossed first in 7:45.19 then were disqualified for on-course violation.)

High school eight -- 1, Mount Baker Crew, 7:12.95; 2, Lakeside School, 7:18.06; 3, Holy Names Academy, 7:23.59; 4, Brentwood, 7:25.22.

Girls junior club eight -- 1, Green Lake Crew, 7:02.55; 2, Rose City Rowing, 7:07.49; 3, Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club, 7:07.74; 4, Everett Rowing Association, 7:12.22.

MIXED RACES

Mixed four 40-and-over -- 1, Lake Washington Rowing Club, 7:12.59; 2, Sammamish Rowing Club, 7:23.03; 3, Green Lake Crew, 7:33.88; 4, Pocock Rowing Center, 7:37.23.

Mixed eight 40-and-over -- 1, Willamette Rowing Club, 7:02.2; 2, Corvallis Rowing Club, 7:06.45; 3, Station L Rowing Club, 7:16.72; 4, Olympia Area Rowing, 7:54.

Information in this article, originally published May 6, 2007, was corrected May 8, 2007. A previous version of this story contained a spelling error. The New Zealand crew that raced in Saturday's Windermere Cup was from the University of Waikato, not Waikatu.