No one enjoys waking up at 4:30 every weekday to subject themselves to freezing water and brisk Puget Sound air, which makes up the so-called deathly morning practices for the men’s and women’s crew squads.
But when this sacrifice leads to reaching a historic landmark in Puget Sound athletics, it makes grinding out each morning on the water feel so much sweeter.
Both crew teams captured the Meyer-Lamberth Cups on Saturday, April 13 to complete the Drive for 125 victories across all varsity athletic sports, sweeping the feeble opponent that was Pacific Lutheran.
Though the forecast called forrainy conditions and a stiff headwind, the Loggers remained undaunted by their task.
The men’s squad, led by freshman Sam Friedman (Portland, Ore.), finished ahead of the inferior Lutes by just over twenty seconds with a time of 7:29.8.
The regatta marked the 50th edition of the Meyer Cup, which has traditionally featured the rivalry matchup between Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran.
The women also dominated in their race to win the Lamberth Cup by over 26 seconds against their conference rivals.
Finally, the men’s and women’s novice boats completed the sweep against the Lutes as well.
The men’s Novice 4 team defeated Pacific Lutheran by four seconds, and the women’s Junior Varsity 4 team routed the Lutes by almost a full minute.
Of course the victory was only made sweeter by the fact that it represented the culmination of something that the Puget Sound athletic program has been striving for since the 2012-13 season began.
The Drive for 125 began as a goal, as a way to commemorate the success of a school that had completed 125 years of education, and of the athletics that went hand in hand with that success.
And during that count, the school has seen some remarkable victories, ranging from the wins that keyed volleyball’s deep tournament run, to baseball’s upset win over top-ranked Linfield just a couple of weeks prior.
And for the crew team to be the ones to push the school to the heights is a great honor indeed.
The Loggers will now prepare to compete in the WIRA Championships in Rancho Cordova, CA, which will take place on April 27 and 28.
For more information on the Drive for 125, please visit www.loggerathletics.com.
