By Guy D. Schoonmaker

The men’s crew team is back from Redwood Shores, Calif. after facing three of the strongest North American boats in the Windemere Classic last weekend.

Northeastern raced head-to-head against the University of British Columbia on Saturday. While Northeastern lost the race 6:35.3 to 6:37.7, coach John Pojednic said losing by only two seconds was an accomplishment because the British Columbia team featured four Canadian Olympians.

“They are not really a college team,” Pojednic said. “They had guys who were a lot older with a lot more experience.”

Northeastern also faced a more prepared University of Washington on Saturday, giving away a length in defeat. Pojednic said the weather conditions were a large reason his team lost by 3.7 seconds to Washington.

“West Coast teams are always the most prepared in the early season,” the coach said. “They are out on the water all year long while we are stuck inside.”

Some very harsh weather conditions also derailed the Huskies on Saturday were

“The racing conditions were really difficult on Saturday,” senior captain Will Miller said. “The headwind was really strong, really difficult to row in.”

Although Sunday proved to be a much calmer and better day for racing, it didn’t bring good fortune for the Huskies. The varsity men fell once again, putting up a time of 5:49.7 to California’s 5:41.7, a difference of about two boat lengths.

“They have been on the water all winter long,” Miller said. “We barely got on the water.”

However Northeastern did corral one victory.

“The story of the week is probably the junior varsity team,” Miller said.

The Huskies eclipsed Washington on Saturday by 1.3 seconds. Last season NU beat out the Washington second varsity boat that took home the national championship last year.

Miller seemed happy with the overall results, but not satisfied.

“We had some strong points and some weak points,” he said. “While the results may have been a little disappointing, we know we still have a lot of room to improve on. We have a lot of work to do, but we are motivated. California and Washington are always worthy opponents, but it was a preseason race, and we will be more prepared next time we meet.”

Pojednic was encouraged by what he saw.

“Those are the most prepared teams this early in the season,” Pojednic said. “The guys really handled themselves well. We were ahead of all of the other teams, and we will be much more prepared when we see California and Washington again in the National Championships.”

When the polls come out on Wednesday, Washington and California will likely be in the top five in the nation, with Northeastern only a couple spots behind.