University of Washington
Oregon State Invitational
UW Wins Four Of Six Races At OSU Classic
April 02, 2016 | Women's Rowing
At Dexter Lake in Oregon, the UW varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four rowed twice each, squaring off on each occasion with fellow 2015 NCAA Championships top-six finisher Stanford. Last year at the NCAAs, the Huskies took fourth while Stanford finished sixth overall. Both schools' varsity eight made the grand final.
Saturday, the Huskies, rowing in their first competitive races of the season, prevailed in both second varsity eight and varsity four races, but Stanford picked up a pair of wins in the varsity eight competition.
"There's a process to a season, and this was the first race against another team," said Conor Bullis, UW's interim women's head coach. " We rely on senior leadership to stay mature through the whole process and to continue to train really hard to find more speed at the end of the year."
The day began with a set of three, two-boat races (varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four) head-to-head against Stanford. The Huskies' V4 opened the morning with an open water victory over Stanford, winning in a time of 7:14.19 to the Cardinal's 7:22.49. In the 2V8, Washington extended a four-seat lead at the halfway point into a second straight open-water victory, with the Huskies' time of 6:30.34 besting Stanford (6:38.87).
In the varsity eight race, it was the Cardinal who earned the win in a very close finish. After a deck-to-deck racing down the course, Stanford finished just 0.65 seconds ahead of the Washington boat, 6:20.85 to 6:21.50.
About five hours later, the same three Husky boats were back in action as they and Stanford were joined by Oklahoma, Central Florida and host Oregon State for three races.
Washington opened that afternoon session with a win in the varsity 4, posting a six-second victory over the Cardinal (7:52.05) with a time of 7:46.20. Those two boats were both more than 30 second ahead of the Sooners, Golden Knights and Beavers, who finished in that order.
The Huskies followed that with a comfortable victory in the second varsity eight race, stretching an open-water lead at the 1,000-meter mark to a 13-second margin over Stanford at the finish line. Washington crossed in 7:05.69 with the Cardinal at 7:18.21. Oklahoma, OSU and UCF were tightly packed in the third-through-fifth positions, with a just over two seconds separating the three.
"I thought that the four and 2V both did a really good job," Bullis said. "I think they came down here ready to pursue their plan and pushed really hard. It was the payoff from a good week of training."
In the Huskies' final race of the day at Dexter Lake, the Cardinal were once again able to edge them out at the finish. Both teams raced to the front in the first half of the course, essentially even at 1,000 meters. However, it was Stanford that won in the sprint, winning the race with a time of 6:52.50, about three-and-a-half seconds ahead of the UW (6.56.09). OSU, Oklahoma and Central Florida rounded out the field.
"I think the 1V had a really good first race and had a lot to develop for the second," Bullis explained. "The headwind in the afternoon cost us in our rhythm and we weren't able to answer back.
"We trained hard this last week," Bullis continued, "and we're going go to continue train hard early in the season so that we can go our fastest by the end of the year."
Husky Open
Washington women won all four of the races in which they competed as part of Saturday's Husky Open. The morning started with a women's novice eights victory over Western Washington and Seattle U. The Huskies also earned comfortable victories in the V8+, 2V8+ and 3V8+.
Next weekend, the Washington women will take on Pac-12 rival Washington State on Montlake Cut in Seattle. After that, on April 23, the Huskies travel to California for the annual dual against the Golden Bears.
Follow Washington Rowing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UW_Rowing for updates and information.
About Washington Rowing
Rowing at University of Washington was established in 1901 with support from the local business community. In 1903, Washington entered its first intercollegiate race and defeated California, starting their storied “Cal Dual” rivalry. From this beginning, UW crews became the champions in the nation, winning the Gold Medal in the Olympics in 1936 as described in the New York Times bestseller The Boys in the Boat. UW has continued its tradition of winning championships and Olympic medals, and today is one of the best university rowing programs in the world. With its state-of-the-art training facility located on the UW campus right on the shores of Lake Washington, surrounded by mountains and in close proximity to the iconic Montlake Cut, Washington Rowing attracts the best men and women student-athletes from the Pacific Northwest and around the world. More information at GoHuskies.com, WashingtonRowing.com and @UW_Rowing.
