Crew | No. 1 UW men handle No. 2 Cal

The top-ranked Washington men's varsity eight crew handled crosswinds early in the race, then held off a late challenge by second-ranked California on the Montlake Cut on Saturday morning.

As a result, Cal left for home with less luggage — the Golden Bears surrendered the silver Schoch Cup for the first time in three years.

"There is no more storied boat race in this country, including Harvard-Yale, than Washington-California," said Cal coach Stephen Gladstone at the awards ceremony, where both crews basked in the tradition of the race that began in 1903.

Washington and Cal will see each other again at the Pac-10 and national championship regattas.

Cal is the defending national champion and had six returning rowers in the boat.

With about 300 meters to go, the Bears made a move and cut the Huskies' lead to half a boat length.

"I'm on their 4-seat!" Huskies coxswain Katelin Snyder yelled at her oarsmen. "We aren't giving it back!"

The Washington crew reacted quickly.

"We just took off," Snyder said.

The Huskies won by a length, in 5 minutes, 58.3 seconds on the 2,000-meter course. Cal finished in 6:01.9.

The win was Washington's first on home water against Cal since 1997, the last year the Huskies won the national championship.

"The difference? I think the Washington crew managed the conditions very well," said Gladstone, who said his boat was "rocking around pretty badly" in open water where crosswinds were estimated at 8 to 10 knots.

"This was a good win," said UW coach Bob Ernst. "The guys took charge of the race from the beginning. They were intent on winning it."

The victory gives Washington a 67-29-1 advantage in the series. It also gave Snyder the opportunity to discover how cold Lake Washington is in late April. Huskies rowers followed tradition and tossed her in after the awards ceremony.

This is the second time this season the Huskies have defeated a crew ranked No. 2. They dispatched Stanford two weeks ago. Cal had lost to Stanford at the San Diego Crew Classic, then defeated the Cardinal last week.

There was no happy ending for the Huskies women's varsity, which had started the month by losing to Washington State for the second straight year.

The Snake River defeat had been followed by wins over Louisville, ranked Central Florida and Oregon State, but the win streak ended decisively Saturday.

Twelfth-ranked Cal won by open water in 6:47.1 to the 6:53.5 posted by the 11th-ranked Huskies. It was the fourth straight year Cal has defeated the Huskies women and UW coach Eleanor McElvaine is 0 for 4 against Cal's varsity in the dual regatta.

The Huskies had defeated Cal 13 consecutive times in the dual before her appointment prior to the 2004 season.

"We found our rhythm and it would go away and come back," said UW coxswain Alysha Koorji. She also said her boat had "a little trouble handling the wind."

Washington won the men's second varsity and women's novice eight races. Cal won the women's second varsity and varsity four races plus the men's freshman race.

This Saturday the Huskies' varsity crews will race against Purdue and New Zealand's Waikato University in Windermere Cup races, part of the annual celebration of the opening day of yachting season. Racing will begin at 10 a.m. and will be followed by the annual yacht parade through the Montlake Cut.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com

Washington-California dual regatta

At Seattle (Montlake Cut)

2,000 meters

MEN'S VARSITY EIGHT

Washington 5:58.3, California 6:01.9

UW lineup — cox — Katelin Snyder; stroke — Will Crothers; 7 — Heath Allen; 6 — Aljosa Corovic; 5 — Rob Gibson; 4 — David Worley; 3 — Steve Full; 2 — Jessiah Johnson; bow — Max Lang. Cal Lineup — cox — Mike Porter; stroke — Charlie Smith; 7 — Elliot Hayes; 6 — Dainiel Casaca; 5 — Max Wyatt; 4 — David Naughton; 3 — Jan Tize; 2 — Justin Ishida; bow — Marko Marjanovic

Other men's results

Junior varsity eight — 1. Washington 6:05.9; 2. 6:07.8

Freshman eight — 1. California 5:50.6; 2. Washington 5:53.0

WOMEN'S VARSITY EIGHT

California 6:47.1, Washington 6:53.5

UW lineup — cox — Alysha Koorji; stroke — Cara Troelstra; 7 — Jamie Unwin; 6 — Taryn Langlois; 5 — Kim Kennedy; 4 — Andrea Sooter; 3 — Samantha Smith; 2 — Kim Armstrong; bow — Courtney Plitt. Cal lineup — cox — Krista Ellis; stroke — Ali Seders; 7 — Eeva Karppinen; 6 — Megan Smith; 5 — Mara Allen; 4 — Onna Poeter; 3 — Elena Humphreys; 2 — Taryn O'Connell; bow — Lou Kinder

Other women's results

Junior varsity eight — 1. California 6:53.3; 2. Washington 7:02.0. Varsity four — 1. California 7:37.3; 2. Washington 7:39.6. Women's novice eight — 1. Washington 7:02.8; 2. California 7:19.8