Rowing | Huskies surge into title race

CHERRY HILL, N.J. — Riding his mountain bike along the banks of Cooper River, Washington men's crew coach Michael Callahan studied the rhythm and cadence of his varsity eight crew and was impressed with everything he saw.

"I liked that we were aggressive and we were rowing to win," Callahan said after the Huskies breezed into today's Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship title race with Friday's best time (5:39.45) on the 2,000-meter course. "That's what we came here to do, and luckily we did."

Washington's top eight oarsmen and coxswain have remained unchanged during their unbeaten 2008 season, a rarity in college rowing. Callahan, who is in his first year at the varsity level after coaching the freshman team the previous three seasons, said he knows what to expect today from his top boat.

It's the rest of the field that has him a little puzzled.

"There are a lot of cagey coaches out here," Callahan said. "Not that everyone plays possum, but there are experienced coaches here who know what they're doing."

Friday's race wasn't the championship, and "you have to keep that in mind," he said.

Washington's biggest rival, California, posted the second-best time in Friday's semifinals, finishing two seats behind the Huskies with a time of 5:40.09.

Washington has beaten Cal all four times they met this season, including a 1.3-second victory in the Pac-10 Championships in 100-degree heat in Rancho Cordova, Calif., on May 18.

Today's forecast in Cherry Hill calls for high humidity and temperatures in the mid-90s.

The team that may stand the greatest chance of denying Washington its first back-to-back national titles since 1940 and 1941 is perhaps the team they know the least: unbeaten Wisconsin. The Badgers' varsity eight is ranked second in the nation by USRowing and in the latest USRowing poll, the Huskies and Badgers split 18 first-place votes.

Wisconsin advanced to today's championship race by winning its heat in a time of 5:42.24 on Friday. Wisconsin jumped out to an early lead and held off a late burst by Stanford to win by seven-tenths of a second.

"They were able to hold off a challenge, and that tells me they're tough," Callahan said. "They probably have a sprint in them they didn't use [Friday]."

Washington's varsity eight has won 16 straight races, dating to its fifth-place finish in the 2006 IRA championship. The Huskies have won 12 national titles, but it's been 67 years since they last repeated as champions.

Sophomore Simon Taylor, who rows from the No. 5 seat, said today's race is the culmination of an entire season of early-morning workouts and endless pulls on ergometers.

"For the past nine months we spent long hours on the water and on rowing machines," he said. "This is our chance to make it all worthwhile."

Four members of this year's varsity eight — senior Heath Allen, juniors Will Crothers and Jessiah Johnson and junior coxswain Katelin Snyder — were on the Washington boat that won last year's grand final, finishing a full second ahead of second-place Stanford.

Allen, who rows from the stroke position, and Toby Dankbaar, who rows from the second seat, are the only seniors on the boat. Dankbaar's father rowed for the Australian Olympic team and his mother rowed for the Australian national team.

Callahan reached the IRA championship race twice in his college career at Washington, finishing third and second.

"My days are over, and I'm OK with that," he said. "I try to keep reminding myself that this about their experience. I've had mine, and it's time to move away from that.

"I really believe in every one of these guys, and it's up to them. It's in their hands. They own this race. This is their story, and they've earned it."

Note

• All five of Washington's boats qualified for today's grand finals, and four of them advanced by winning their semifinal races. Along with the varsity eight, the Huskies crossed the line first in the second varsity eight, varsity four and freshman four events. The freshman eight also qualified for today's final. Because of the expected heat, today's races will begin about an hour earlier than scheduled, which means the varsity eight grand final should go off at about 9:24 a.m. Pacific time.