UW Varsity 8+ Beats Harvard To Earn Third Straight Benderson Cup

Saturday, March 28

Sarasota, Fla.

7:30 AM PT

University of Washington

Sarasota Invitational – Benderson Cup

the Washington men's rowing team poses with its trophies on the podium at the 2026 Benderson Cup in Sarasota, Fla.

Photo by: Scott Eklund / Red Box Pictures

UW Varsity 8+ Beats Harvard To Earn Third Straight Benderson Cup

March 28, 2026 | Men's Rowing

UW Results Full Regatta Results

SARASOTA, Fla. – The No. 1-ranked Washington men's rowing team earned a dramatic, come-from-behind victory in the varsity eight race to win its third straight Benderson Cup, Saturday at Nathan Benderson Park.

Washington topped a field of six top-10 programs to win the Cup, tying with No. 2 Harvard on points, but winning the tiebreaker based on the varsity eight finish.

Saturdays' races featured six top-10 men's programs racing in first, second, third and fourth varsity eights, with points earned in the top-three race categories. Washington won the first and fourth varsity eights races, and finished second to Harvard in the second and third.

On Friday, Washington's varsity crew had topped Harvard by about a half-length, and held the lead throughout the entire race. On Saturday, however, Harvard took the lead early in the six-boat race, with Washington in second much of the way.

Harvard led by seven-tenths of a second at the 1,000-meter, halfway point, and held a deck-length lead through the third 500. But the defending national champion Huskies, who edged the Crimson in last year's IRA grand final, made a late move, rowing through the Crimson to the finish line.

Washington's varsity eight won the race with at time of 5:45.02, just over 1.5 seconds ahead of the Crimson (5:46.59). Brown was third, followed by Stanford, Northeastern and Yale.

With that result, both UW and Harvard finished with 33 points in the Benderson Cup standings, but Washington was awarded the trophy for the third year in a row, based on the V8+ final.

"We always find it valuable to test our speed this early in the season," said UW head coach Michael Callahan. "The competition was excellent and exactly what we were looking for. We learned a lot of lessons about ourselves and looking forward to getting back to work Monday at Conibear."

The UW men's varsity eight celebrates its win, on the water, at the 2026 Benderson Cup in Sarasota, Fla.

The UW men's varsity eight celebrates its win, on the water, at the 2026 Benderson Cup in Sarasota, Fla.

The second varsity eight race featured a tightly-packed start, with all six crews very close to one another off of the starting dock. But it was Harvard that established the first lead, with UW, which won on Friday, in second. At 1,000 meters, the Crimson held a 1.9-second advantage.

Harvard increased that lead over the third 500, but coming down the stretch, Washington began to track them down in the sprint, nearly pulling even in the final strokes. However, the Crimson held off the Huskies to win in 5:45.01, just ahead of the Huskies, in 5:45.40. Brown was third.

In the third varsity eight final, Washington looked to avenge a loss to Harvard on Friday. Those two went to the front early on, with the Huskies leading a close race over the first half of the race course, leading by a half of a second at 1,000 meters.

Early in the third 500, the Crimson moved to the lead, and, while Washington initially kept it close, Harvard pulled away to win in 5:57.94, just shy of a full length ahead of second-place Washington (6:01.65). Northeastern, Brown, Stanford and Yale finished third through sixth.

The fourth varsity eight race featured the same field as Friday, as not all participating programs brought four crews to Sarasota. The race pitted UW's fourth and fifth varsity eights vs. fourth eights from Harvard and Brown.

On Friday, the two Husky crews finished first and second, but on Friday, Harvard's 4V ran second to the Washington 4V throughout the race.

The Husky 4V8+ won the race with open water back to Harvard, in a time of 6:15.37. The Crimson were five seconds behind, in 6:20.68, with Brown third and the UW 5V8+ boat fourth.

Next weekend, UW will host the Husky Open on Montlake Cut and, the following Saturday, April 11, will travel to Vancouver Lake for a dual regatta vs. Oregon State.

For news, scores, highlights and more, download the Go Huskies app on your mobile device. Follow @washingtrowing on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and TikTok; and @UW_Rowing on X, and subscribe to UW Athletics on YouTube for the latest on the Dawgs.

WASHINGTON LINEUPS

Varsity Eight
Coxswain - Nikita Jacobs
Stroke - Ryan Smith
7 - Klas Ole Lass
6 - Giuseppe Bellomo
5 - Sam Ford
4 - Cameron Tasker
3 - Lucas Andersen
2 - Ben Shortt
Bow - Lyle Donovan

Second Varsity Eight
Coxswain - Anjali Pamurthy
Stroke - Ryan Martin
7 - Ethan Walsh
6 - Rory McDonnell
5 - Povilas Juskevicius
4 - Devan Godfrey
3 - Marley King Smith
2 - Oliver Leach
Bow - Hector Guimet

Third Varsity Eight
Coxswain - Connor Eacker
Stroke - Marc Tennesen
7 - Finn Griskauskas
6 - Zach Brownlee
5 - Byron Richards
4 - Jed Grieve
3 - Luke Collins
2 - Ewan Morrow
Bow - Matteo Belgeri

Fourth Varsity Eight
Coxswain - Victor Bocquet
Stroke - Tobias Bosnes
7 - Colin Phariss
6 - Dimitri Chamitoff
5 - Kiefer Law
4 - Boden Chapek
3 - Lazlo Davis-Rubin
2 - Callan Ogilvie
Bow - Jerry Anderson

Fifth Varsity Eight
Coxswain – Avery Lowe
Stroke - Monte Wood
7 - Thomas Fiorito
6 - Billy Osborne
5 - Dylan West
4 – Will Singleton
3 - Crosby LaMotte
2 - Colin Seng
Bow - Galen Hardy