Washington men sweep every race at Pac-10 rowing championships

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — Washington men's crews won every race at the Pac-10 championships Sunday on Lake Natoma outside Sacramento, but things didn't go as well for UW women, who are unlikely to be invited to the NCAA championships.

The Huskies women finished fifth in the women's varsity eight race and fourth overall in the four-event composite standings.

"I don't think we'll be selected," said UW women's coach Bob Ernst, who left his duties as head men's coach to take over the women's program last summer after Eleanor McElvaine was fired.

"If we had won the JV [second varsity] and the varsity would have finished one or two slots higher, then we would have had a shot," he said. "We just got beat by better crews, that's it."

NCAA invitations will be announced Tuesday.

The women's varsity eight finished the 2,000-meter course fifth in 6:49.6, behind winner California (6:38.8), Stanford, Washington State and USC. The UW women's four-with-coxswain boat won (7:39.6) but the second varsity eight (JV eight) was fourth and the women's novice eight was second in their races.

Cal amassed 79 points followed by Stanford with 61, WSU 59, Washington 57, Oregon State 51, USC 50 and UCLA 35.

Last year, the UW women finished third overall at the Pac-10 regatta and were one of 12 schools invited to the national regatta. Washington, Brown and Princeton are the only schools to have competed in every NCAA regatta since 1997 when rowing became an NCAA sport.

The top-ranked men's varsity eight was a repeat winner, this time in 5:52.1. Cal was second in 5:53.4.

Huskies crews won the men's second varsity (JV) race in 6:00.9. The UW freshmen had a faster time in winning their race in 5:58.6. The varsity four with coxswain won in 6:47.3.

Gonzaga's women's novice eight was fifth, and the varsity four was sixth.

Western's women's varsity eight was third in a petite final.

Pac-10 Rowing Championships

At Rancho Cordova, Calif

(all races were 2,000 meters)

TEAM SCORES

Men -- 1, Washington, 72. 2, California, 63. 3, Stanford, 42. 4, Oregon State, 42. 5, UCLA, 34. 6, Washington State, 18. 7, USC, 13. 8, Oregon, 4.

Women -- 1, California 79, 2, Stanford, 61. 3, Washington State, 59. 4, Washington, 57. 5, Oregon State, 51. 6, USC, 50. 7, UCLA, 35.

FINALS

Men's Varsity Eight -- 1, UW, 5:52.1. 2, Cal, 5:53.4. 3, Stanford, 5:57.7. 4, OSU, 6:06.8. 5, UCLA, 6:20.9. 6, WSU, 6:27.3. 7, USC, 6:48.6.

Men's Second Varsity Eight -- 1, UW, 6:00.9. 2, Cal, 6:03.7. 3, OSU, 6:15.6. 4, UCLA, 6:39.9.

Men's Freshman Eight -- 1, UW, 5:58.6. 2, Cal, 6:04.8. 3, Stanford, 6:10.1. 4, OSU, 6:20.3. 5, UCLA, 6:47.2. 6, WSU, 6:52.4.

Men's Varsity Four -- 1, UW, 6:47.3. 2, Cal, 6:52.6. 3, Stanford, 6:58.9. 4, USC, 7:03.2. 5, UO, no time.

Women's Varsity Eight -- 1, Cal, 6:38.8. 2, Stanford, 6:42.7. 3, WSU, 6:44.7. 4, USC, 6:46.3. 5, UW, 6:49.6. 6, OSU, 6:52.0.

Women's Second Varsity Eight -- 1, Cal, 6:50.9. 2, OSU, 6:52.3. 3, Stanford, 6:54.6. 4, UW, 6:55.5. 5, WSU, 6:58.5. 6, WSU, 6:59.8.

Women's Novice Eight -- 1, Cal, 7:14.2. 2, UW, 7:21.9. 3, WSU, 7:23.2. 4, OSU, 7:23.6. 5, Gonzaga, 7:34.3. 6, UC Davis, 7:44.9.

Women's Varsity Four -- 1, UW, 7:39.6. 2, Cal, 7:43.0. 3, USC, 7:51.0. 4, UW, 7:53.2. 5, OSU, 7:55.5. 6, Gonzaga, 7:59.3.