Setting the Scene: The Lutes are back on the water on Saturday, racing head-to-head against boathouse rival and 14th-ranked University of Puget Sound for the 47th-annual Lamberth Cup. The two varsity eight boats race at 8:30 a.m. with the Lutes and Loggers also racing varsity four boats at 9:15 a.m.
Lamberth Cup History: The Lutes enjoy a 28-18 edge in the all-time series that dates back to the 1977 season. Puget Sound has won the Cup the previous two seasons, winning the 2,000-meter sprint on American Lake by 36 seconds last spring.
About the Lutes: The Pacific Lutheran University women's rowing team won two races to open up the spring season back on March 8 with a strong showing at the PLU Invitational on American Lake.
The Lutes set the tone in the day's opening race with the varsity eight boat blowing away Northwest Conference rival Pacific University. PLU's top boat of coxswain Louisa Compton and a crew of Adia Carei, Kennadi Jones, Kat Judd, Ashley Teague, Carleigh Templin, Tate Trahan, Riah Heil, and Makayla Hall, glided down the 2,000-meter course in seven minutes, 57.8 seconds— crossing the finish line a comfortable 27 seconds ahead of the rival Boxers.
PLU's second varsity eight came up big in their first race of the day, finishing over 11 seconds ahead of NWC rival Lewis & Clark College. That boat, crewed by coxswain Sylvie Manz and rowers Sophia Pancoast, Sage Miller, Miram Greer, Maddie Anderson, Suzie Roberts, Mackenzie Poppe, Sareena Dhaliwal, and Abby Andrews barreled down the course in 8:55.0 and was second overall to Division II Western Washington University.
The second round of racing saw PLU's varsity eight finish a split second behind Lewis & Clark in a photo finish. The Lutes shaved off 13 seconds from its first 2K of the day, crossing the finish line buoys in 7:44.5 with the Pioneers just a sliver ahead in 7:43.0. Compton was again the coxswain for the 1V with the Spirit of '02 boat crewed by Carei, Jones, Judd, Teague, Templin, Anderson, Heil, and Hall.
The Lutes' second varsity eight claimed a second win of the day over Lewis & Clark, winning the head-to-head race by over eight seconds after clocking a time of 8:42.3. Sarah Hoskins served as coxswain with Pancoast, Trahan, Greer, Miller, Roberts, Poppe, Dhaliwal, and Andrews staffing the oars.
PLU also raced three smaller boats with the varsity four boat finishing third behind Oregon State University and the University of Oregon. Crewed by Carei, Teague, Heil, Hall, and coxswain Compton, the Lutes finished in 8:46.9.
The Lutes' novice four boat was runner-up in their race, finishing in 9:06.2 and holding a comfortable gap on boats from Oregon and Lewis & Clark. Jilma Diaz-Demangue piloted the boat as coxswain with a crew of Judd, Jones, Dhaliwal, and Anderson.
PLU closed the day with a fourth place finish by the open four boat in 9:34.4. Staffing that boat was Hoskins at coxswain along with a crew of Templin, Trahan, Greer, and Poppe.
All-Star Lutes: PLU's varsity eight boat was named the Northwest Conference's Crew of the Week back on March 10 for its performance at the PLU Invitational. It was the first NWC Crew of the Week of the 2025 season and PLU's first time earning the honor since doing so on March 25, 2024.
About the Loggers: Puget Sound is the only West Coast team ranked in the first CRCA Coaches' Poll of the year, sitting 14th in all of NCAA Division III.
The Loggers opened the spring season back at the PLU Invitational, winning varsity eight races over Lewis & Clark and Pacific. Puget Sound clocked a 7:35.4 against the Pioneers, defeating the Oregon rivals by 30.8 seconds while putting a 36.2 second gap on the Boxers, finishing in 7:38.6.
Bow Down to the Lutes!
The PLU baseball team went up to Montlake and earned a historic 3-1 upset of the University of Washington on Tuesday night. It was PLU's first win over the Huskies since 1982 and is the first time this spring a non-D1 school has knocked off a Power 4 program on the diamond.
NWC Preseason Coaches' Poll
Trailblazing NIL the D3 Way: PLU Athletics continues to lead the way nationally in Name, Image, and Likeness, unveiling the Luteville Marketplace last fall through the department's partnership with Opendorse. But don't stay on the sidelines, get involved and connect with PLU student-athletes on the Luteville Marketplace: LINK
The Luteville Marketplace is the first dedicated NIL marketplace in Division III on the Opendorse platform that directly connects student-athletes with fans, supporters, and business partners in an easy to use website.
This spring PLU became just the second Division III school in the nation and the first school in any division in the State of Washington to partner with Athlete's Thread. Athlete's Thread allows every Lute student-athlete to sell customizable gear and jerseys with their name and number and receive monetary compensation for a portion of each sale. Check out the link above to order your gear today!
Stay connected to your favorite teams by downloading the official mobile app of the Pacific Lutheran University athletic department powered by SIDEARM Sports, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more, the new PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Next Regatta:
Mar. 28 at Stockton University (New Jersey)
PLU Non-Discrimination Policy: Pacific Lutheran University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Title IX Coordinator Jennifer Childress-White; 253-535-7361; TitleIX@plu.edu
Credits:
Anneliese Anderson-Caffee