By Andrew Benoit
This issue’s Athlete of the Issue is Becca Murphy, a member of the Women’s Crew team which won the Meyer Cup for the first time since 2018, beating rivals PLU by over eight seconds. Becca put down the oars and hopped off the boat to answer some questions from The Trail.
Q: This is the first time women’s crew has won the Meyer Cup since 2018. What went right this year for you all to secure the win?
A: To be honest, this year has been quite tumultuous for our team, as we have suffered two team car accidents in the first three weeks of the season and have been battling injuries and illness constantly. But, in a head to head battle with our rivals in which both of us have new head coaches this year, this squad came out on top because of a team we’ve built through trauma bonding, persistence, and honestly the love and respect we hold for each other that has kept us going and kept us pushing, and I couldn’t be prouder of all of us in the program.
Q: What do you think you bring to the team?
A: When I think of our team, I’d like to say I bring a certain energy inside and outside the boat. Although I admit my competitiveness gets the better of me sometimes on race or testing days, my philosophy with any team environment is that when it is kept light and everyone knows they are noticed and included, the team will naturally become better. I generally try to do this by chatting it up with everyone and cracking jokes, trying to keep the team spirits high and keeping people hyped even in the dead of night during weekday morning practices.
Q: The Loggers beat PLU by over eight seconds, how close did that gap feel while you were rowing?
A: Off the start, it was a lot closer of a race than I think our squad thought it would be, but we started to pull away at about 500m in and were able to make our big move on them and got open water going into the 1000m mark. From that, we just held on, and I think with about 300m left we all realized we were going to win it. Honestly, I thought we were going to beat them by more than 8 seconds, but that just means that next time there is that next goal of crossing the finish line with a double-digits lead and solidifying our team’s hard work this season with bigger and bigger wins to hopefully come.
Q: How much of the race is a mental game, as opposed to a physical one?
A: Even though you are pushing yourself as physically hard as you can during the 2k, it is most definitely a mental game over a physical one. At about 1000m in, if you start to think you won’t be able to finish, you’re doing it right. It’s at this point that you have to prove yourself wrong and keep pushing through, if not for you then for your teammates, and just know that it will be over soon.
Q: What is your favorite moment from Logger crew?
A: My personal favorite moment from Logger crew was winning the Varsity 4+ race at the conference championship last spring. Coming into that race as the underdog and even the commentator doubting our ability to win during the race itself, it was a photo finish and just pure joy going over that finish line first, and I’ll never forget that feeling. Fast is fun.
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