UW crew aims for perfection

CHERRY HILL, N.J. — Heading into today's grand final of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships, Washington crew coach Bob Ernst feels like a poker player who has seen everyone's hand.

"I know how fast the other guys go now, don't I?" Ernst said Friday after watching defending champion California gut out a tight semifinal victory over Harvard, Brown and Yale to qualify for today's varsity eight championship race on Cooper River.

Harvard advanced, but its loss to California eliminated the possibility of two unbeatens — Washington and Harvard — vying for the national title.

"Honestly, I wouldn't say we lost [Friday]," Harvard senior oarsman Toby Medaris said. "I think we went out and did what we had to do, and that was to make the final."

A win by Washington today would give the Huskies their first undefeated season and national title since 1997.

"They need to row within themselves," Ernst said, "and not make any foolish mistakes."

On Friday, Washington was not seriously pushed in winning its semifinal in 5 minutes, 37 seconds, beating Princeton and Stanford by two seats.

A few minutes later, California, Harvard and Brown qualified for the six-boat final by finishing within 1.3 seconds of each other.

Yale missed the cut by less than a tenth of a second, even though its time of 5:33.88 was more than three seconds faster than Washington's. In fact, the Huskies' relatively slow showing — they clocked the sixth-fastest time Friday — made some wonder if they are conserving energy for today's race.

"This is a very, very even field," Harvard coach Harry Parker said. "I expect another close race [today], unless somebody's been holding something in reserve. I know we haven't. It's hard to imagine anybody has."

If Washington has an advantage heading into the final, it's that no one on the banks of Cooper River has seen its best race. The same might not be true of Cal, Harvard and Stanford.

"Clearly, Stanford's got some speed, and Princeton did pretty well," said Washington junior Steve Full, who mans the third seat. "Cal and Harvard are tough. There is a lot of speed this year. The grand final is going to be a showdown the whole way down. I don't think anyone is going to give anybody an inch. There are going to be boats taking moves constantly."

Although the Huskies enter as the top seed, California has five returning seniors from the boat that won last year's title.

The last time the Huskies and Cal went head to head, Washington won by a half boat length in the Pac-10 Championships.

"We were able to run with Washington and Harvard, so I'm optimistic," California coach Steve Gladstone said. "My guess is the smart money, the expert money, might go toward the University of Washington. But the crew that rows the best race will prevail."

Ernst said there is very little coaching that can take place between Friday's semifinals and today's championship race. He does not expect the margin of victory to be large.

"It's going to be who's got something left when they get to the final 300 meters," Ernst said. "All the hay's in the barn. All I gotta do is have my boys go out for practice and not hit a tree stump.

"One of the things I think is neat about rowing versus other sports where they vote for a national champion is [today] at this time we'll know who is the best."

Notes

• Four Washington boats will race in today's grand finals. The Huskies' open four, second varsity eight and freshman eight all advanced Friday.

• The Gonzaga men's varsity four advanced to the grand final for the second straight season, finishing second in its semifinal heat.