Mills crew after taking second place in Nationals at Lake Merritt in May 1981.
M ills
crew had been on a losing
Turns out she was right. In the second
streak all season. Blistered and sore, the
to the last race of the year, at the North
rowers were discouraged. For the past
West Regionals in Seattle, the Novice 8
eight months, they had been getting
finally pulled off a win by six seconds.
up at 5 am for brutal practices at Lake
The triumph qualified them for Nationals,
Merritt. Louise Sully, sophomore cox-
the nation’s premiere rowing competition
swain and former dancer, would later
and, for the first time in history, Lake
tell the Montclarion newspaper: “You’re
Merritt was set to be the scene.
training every muscle in your body right
Coach Hunsaker reflected on the
down to your fingertips. It’s the most
team’s seemingly unlikely win and made
agonizing, torture-izing thing you can do
a note on her copy of the season’s regatta
to your body.” The entire season totalled
schedule: “The team spent too much time
just 40 minutes of competition, and they
losing all season to make them cocky
were running out of chances to win.
over one big win,” she wrote. “They are
Coach Jennifer Hunsaker would pump
still very hungry, almost with a grudge to
their spirits after every disappointment.
race some of the schools... especially Cal.
Hunsaker, a former Cal rower, had seen
Personally, I won’t call the results, but I
an opportunity to revive the waning crew
think it would be well worth coming to
program at Mills. She cobbled together
see the race.”
a novice crew with no previous rowing
Once the results were in, Yale, the top
experience. Every race was a “learning
contender, won as predicted. But Mills
experience,” she told the team. “You’re
beat Cal by a fraction of a second: 3:24.4
getting faster!” And she meant it.
to 3:24.6.
1981
The regatta comes to Oakland
18
M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly