UW women's eight wins top prize
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SAN DIEGO — Second place is not part of the curriculum for Coach Jan Harville and the Washington women's crew.
When USC stunned the Huskies at the San Diego Crew Classic a year ago, it was only the fifth time since the race began in 1983 that Washington failed to win the Jessop-Whittier Cup.
No such upsets occurred yesterday on Mission Bay as the Huskies led from the start to earn their 10th victory Jessop-Whittier Cup in 11 years and their 16th overall. USC did not qualify for the final.
The Washington men's varsity eight finished second to Cal, but the Huskies won four of the six premier races.
The Washington women's varsity eight (6 minutes, 24.69 seconds) held off challenges from Ohio State (6:27.62) and California (6:28.94).
"We knew during the third 500 (meters) that Cal and Ohio State were going to make a big move," Huskies senior coxswain Mary Whipple said. "So when they were coming, we knew to just stay focused on us. Don't go focus on them like last year when we gave a little too much focus on USC. When (USC) started to make a move we were doubting ourselves.
"We learned a lesson. So this year we stayed internal and focused on our race plan."
With Whipple and five of the eight rowers returning, the Huskies are well on their way to defending their NCAA title and winning for the fourth time in six years.
"We're confident and we have a lot of trust in each other," Whipple said. "As long as our bow ball crosses first, I don't care whether it's a seat ahead of the others or a whole length."
These Huskies are not a superstitious lot, as they were again in Lane 2, as they were in the loss to USC. Similarities yes, but no déjà vu.
Harville was happy with the performance.
"We got a good start and stayed aggressive," she said.
Meanwhile, in the SDCC Copley Cup, the Cal men's varsity eight won for the fourth consecutive year. The Golden Bears led the Huskies by a half-boat length at 1,000 meters and reached open water with 800 meters left. Cal finished in 5:35.62, approximately 1-1/2 lengths in front of the Huskies (5:40.44). The Western Washington University women's varsity eight placed second (7:04.71) in the San Diego Cup final, finishing slightly more than three seconds behind the University of California, Davis, (7:01.07). The University of Puget Sound finished fourth (7:21.14). Western's men's varsity eight took fourth (6:07.06) in the Cal Cup Grand Final, which was won by Orange Coast (5:59.54).
The Green Lake Crew's junior women's boats placed first (7:15.30) in the Junior JV final, more than two seconds ahead of Marin (Calif.) Rowing, and third (7:15.03) in the Junior championship race.
Notes
• The Huskies swept the junior-varsity races. The women's boat left Virginia in its wake by four seconds, but the UW men came from four seats down to slip past Cal's A team by less than a second. It was the Washington's JV men's third straight win here.
• The Washington JV women also won, as did the UW freshman men.
• Washington State (6:59.2) edged the Huskies (7:00.79) in the women's novice grand final, snapping UW's four-year dominance in the event.