Washington men's crew looks for repeat Pac-10 title

The top-ranked Washington men's varsity eight will try to defend its Pac-10 rowing title Sunday at the conference regatta on Lake Natoma outside Sacramento.

The Huskies are trying to win back-to-back Pac-10 titles for the first time since 2003-04.

Trailing the No. 1 Huskies in the national crew rankings are Pac-10 opponents No. 7 Stanford, No. 8 California and No. 15 Oregon State.

In women's competition, the Huskies finished sixth in the varsity race last year but were third in the overall team standings. The women's varsity field has seven entries ranked in the top 20: No. 1 California, No. 4 Washington State, No. 10 Stanford, No. 12 USC, No. 14 Oregon State, No. 15 Washington and No. 20 UCLA.

Women will have qualifying heats Sunday morning before the finals but no prelims are necessary to accommodate the men's field.

The Washington women hope to earn an invitation to the NCAA championships May 30 through June 1, again at Lake Natoma.

The men's Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta that constitutes the national championships will be June 5-7 on the Cooper River outside Cherry Hill, N.J.