March 28, 1998
SEATTLE, Wash. -- The womens senior class claimed its second straight Seattle Times Cup, winning in open water, as Washington kicked off the 1998 racing season with its annual Class Day Regatta on the Montlake Cut Saturday morning. The seniors, who captured the cup for the first time as juniors in 1997, won in decisive fashion with a time of 7 minutes, 5.34 seconds over the 2,000 meter course. The mens sophomore class captured the George M. Varnell Trophy in its class race, with a time of 6:17.12. Our seniors have a lot of experience and also take a great deal of pride in this race, said UW womens coach Jan Harville. They are good leaders for this program and take this race seriously. It sets a good example for our whole program. In the womens varsity/novice challenge, the varsity boat won with a time of 6:55.40, well ahead of the novice boat in 7:00.18. In the mens challenge, the novice boat won in 6:25.79, ahead of the varsity at 6:28.76. The Class Day regatta signals the end of two-a-day spring break practices and the beginning of the collegiate rowing season. The Huskies open the 1998 season at the 23rd annual San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay, April 4-5. Washington will send its mens and womens varsity, junior varsity and womens novice crews to San Diego. Both the Husky varsity men and women will be defending their titles in the premier races of the regatta; with the men aiming for the Copley Cup and the women vying for the Whittier Cup. The men have won the Copley Cup 11 times since 1973. The women will look to extend their streak of six consecutive Whittier Cup victories. Washington will also host the Husky Invitational, April 4, beginning at 7 a.m. on the Montlake Cut. In other class day festivities, Washington announced its 1998 team captains; Denni Nessler (Pleasantville, NJ) for the women and Brett Reisinger (Kent, Wash.) for the men. Mike Chait also received the Holtz Memorial Scholarship trophy for his 3.78 grade point average along with Alina McLauchlan, who had a 3.82 gpa. Rings were presented to the 1997 mens and womens national championship teams.
|
