When most people travel to Portland, it is usually by car or bus or some other mode of transportation that follows Interstate 5.
But not five women from the Club Sports crew team. They made their way by water, via the Willamette River.
Freshmen Kristin Hanggi and Sarah Higgibothan, sophomores Amanda Fenton and Brantley Harrison and senior Nicole Sherei all competed in the 115-mile marathon from Corvallis to Portland over the weekend.
The women began at 6 a.m. Saturday, along with six other boats, and rowed 85 miles. Waking up slightly sore on Sunday, the Oregon women rowed the final 30 miles to the finish.
Although they finished sixth out of seven boats — most other boats were made up of masters rowers — Oregon set a collegiate record with its time of 14 hours, 44 minutes. Oregon was the first collegiate boat to compete in a race of that distance and to row for that amount of time.
The women competed throughout the spring season but had never gone anywhere near that distance or rowed for that long.
“We wanted another chance to race together,” Harrison said. “We are all really good friends and didn’t want the season to be over.”
Oregon’s biggest worry wasn’t the distance, but its boat. The boat they raced in was old and needed some polishing before the race; Harrison said nobody had rowed in it in several years.
The women would take rests every 30 minutes for a quick 60-second water break and there were a few rest stops for the boats along the course. But other than that it was straight rowing.
“You just get in a rhythm,” Harrison said. “You had to find a way to keep each other going.”
Harrison said the women would sing songs together as a way to keep each other entertained.
Through it all, the women could not have been happier with their experience.
“It’s hard to describe; it was amazing,” Harrison said.
Jesse Thomas is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.