:''This article features terminology unique to rowing. For further information see main article Glossary of Rowing Terms'' PLU Crew is the varsity rowing program for Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. The team was founded in 1964 as a joint program with

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

. Today the team consists of Men's and Women's programs for both Varsity and Novice rowers, and competes as a member of the

Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference The Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC) consists of seven NCAA Division II and III member schools in USRowing's Northwest region. Its mission is to provide for the advancement of small college and university rowing within the northwest ...

(NCRC) and Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA). PLU Rowing Blade

History

Following the demise of the PLU-UPS rowing club, Pacific Lutheran rowers formed the Lute Varsity Rowing Club in 1965. PLU Crew first received national notoriety in 1967, when University of Washington requested the return of their old shell the " Husky Clipper," which the Huskies had used to win at the

1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. In exchange, UW arranged for

Green Lake Crew Green Lake Crew (GLC) is a public rowing club in Seattle, Washington (USA), jointly sponsored by the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department and the Rowing Advisory Council. The program is located on the southern shore of Green Lake at the Gr ...

to donate a shell, the "Loyal Shoudy" to the PLU team. Faced with no means of transporting the boat from north Seattle to PLU's home course in south Tacoma, team Commodore/Captain Jim Ojala devised a plan for the team to row the shell from

Lake Union Lake Union is a freshwater lake located entirely within the city limits of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a major part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which carries fresh water from the much larger Lake Washington on the east to ...

, through the

Ballard Locks The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, or Ballard Locks, is a complex of locks at the west end of Salmon Bay in Seattle, Washington's Lake Washington Ship Canal, between the neighborhoods of Ballard to the north and Magnolia to the south. The Ballard ...

and down Puget Sound to the Tacoma Narrows. After several months of endurance training, contacting the Navy and Coast Guard, and obtaining a parade permit to walk the shell through North Seattle from Green Lake to Lake Union, the ten team members prepared to embark on their journey. The stunt resulted in the team receiving coverage of the event from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, as well as national rowing magazine

Rowing News Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

. PLU Crew in the Sixties
/ref>"Way Enough!" Recollections on a Life of Rowing by Stan Pocock, The team received a major setback after its boathouse burnt to the ground in Spring 1975. History After the Boathouse Fire
/ref> In 1998 the team moved up the lake to its new boathouse, located at Harry Todd Park in Tillicum. The team shares the boathouse with UPS and Commencement Bay Rowing Club (CBRC), a Masters and Juniors program. The team's last red cedar shell, the Marjory Anderson, was refurbished in 2004, and was located for display in the new college bookstore beginning in July 2007.

Meyer-Lamberth Cup

April 13, 2013, marked the fiftieth annual Meyer-Lamberth Cup. The

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

between PLU and cross-town rivals

Rowing is the oldest annual dual regatta on the west coast of the United States. Meyer Cup Results (men's varsity eight) *PLU: 29 wins *UPS: 27 wins Lamberth Cup Results (women's varsity eight) *PLU: 27 wins *UPS: 16 wins

Lightweight Program

PLU's lightweight rowing program have achieved some successes in recent years. In 2002, the Men's Lwt 4+ traveled to the annual Dad Vails Regatta in Philadelphia, winning their event, and consequently a small college championship. 2002 Dad Vail Results
Though the Men's team has not returned to Dad Vails since 2002, they have since won the NCRC title in 2005 NCRC 2005 Results
/ref> and 2007. NCRC 2007 Results
/ref> Not to be outdone, the Women's Lwt4+ won the 2004 WIRA Championships at Lake Natoma, California. They followed up their win with second-place finishes in the event in 2005 and 2006.

Head coaches

*Paul Meyer+ 1964-1965 *J.R. Goerke+ 1965-1966 *Jim Ojala 1966-1969 *Norm Purvis 1969-1970 *Ralph Neils 1971-1972 *?? 1972-1973 *?? 1973-1974 *Dave Peterson 1974-1985 *Bob Trondsen(M)/Elise Lindborg(W) 1986 *Jeff Glenn(M)/Elise Lindborg(W) 1987 *Doug Herland 1988-1991 *Doug Nelson 1991-2000 *Sarah Halstead 2001-2002 *Tone Lawver 2002-2011 *Thomas Schlenker 2012-2014 ++ *Tara Brunsfield(M)2014-2015 ++ *Lori Cark(M)2015-2016 *Dave Harvey(M)2016-Present ++ *Andy Foltz(W) 2015-Present ++ ++ denotes a non-PLU graduate

All-Americans

*1993 *Brian Erstguard '93 *2004 *Lauren Rutledge '04 *2005 *Katie Schlepp '06, *2006 *Katie Schlepp '06 *Erin Wolf '06 *2007 *Amber Iverson '09 *2008 *Kat Jenkins '09 *2009 *Kat Jenkins '09 *2010 *n/a *2011 *Abby Smith '12 *2016 *Hannah Peterson '19 *2017 *Hannah Peterson '19 *2018 *Hannah Peterson '19 *2019 *Hannah Peterson '19 *Madeline Woods '20

National Team Members

*Sarah Jones '93, competitor in the Women's 8+ at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and in the 2- at the

2004 Athens Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. *

Doug Herland Douglas "Doug" John Herland (August 19, 1951 – March 26, 1991) was a 1984 Summer Olympics bronze medal Winner, coxing the Men's Pair with coxswain (2+) event. Following his successes at the Olympics, Herland began the "Freedom on the ...

'73, Bronze medalist coxswain in the M2+ at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. *Bjorn Larsen '03, Silver medalist in the ML4- at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

. *Elise Linborg '84, competitor at the

1996 Atlanta Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta ...

Current Fleet

*Beauty and the Beast: 2- -vespoli *Lorraine: 2- -vespoli *Grødprinsess Anne (aka "The Frog"): Novice 4+ vespoli ultralight series *Scott Laio: Men's Lt4+ Pocock K series *Paul Hoseth (aka "Våt Drøm"): Men's 8+ Vespoli Mill. series *Doug "Herly" Herland: Women's Novice 8+ Pocock K series *Kristin Shay Paulson: Women's 4+ Vespoli Mill. series *Stille-Intensitet: Women's 8+ Pocock K series *TNT: Women's Lt4+ (Prototype for the

Pocock Pocock is a surname, and may refer to: *Andrew Pocock (born 1955), British High Commissioner to Nigeria * Barbara Pocock, one of the candidates of the 2022 Australian federal election * Bill Pocock (1884–1959), English footballer * Blair Pocock ...

K4+ series of racing shells) *Urokkelig Makt: Women's 8+ Pocock K series *Valborg: Novice 8+ Pocock K series *Valkyrie: Men's 4+ Pocock K series *Idunn: Men's 8+ Pocock K series *The Spirit of '02: Women's 8+ Pocock

Former Fleet

*Gracias San Pedro: 4+ (Prototype Pocock Shell with golf-ball style dimples. Never went into production.) * Husky Clipper: 8+ *Lagprestajon: 8+ *Loyal Shoudy: 8+ *Marjory Anderson: 4+ *Parodi: 8+ *Return of the Sleipner: 8+ *Sleipner: 8+

References

External links

www.golutes.com/wrowing
Team Homepage 2004-2005 Media Guide 2005-2006 Media Guide 2006-2007 Media Guide 2007-2008 Media Guide PLU Website Row2k.comLCAA - The Lute Crew Alumni Association
{{Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference Crew Rowing clubs in the United States