The race between the Washington and California crew teams this weekend was every bit as exciting as tradition has led fans to expect. The Montlake Cut was packed with supporters cheering on the Husky men, ranked No. 1 in the nation, to victory over the No. 2-ranked Bears. The men's varsity eight had not defeated Cal in Seattle since 1997.

This race marked the second time this season that the Huskies proved their dominance by defeating the Bears. At the Windermere Rowing Classic in California two weeks ago, the UW defeated then-No. 2 Stanford in the men's varsity eight, junior varsity eight and freshman boats for a resounding victory.

Saturday's win proved much more difficult for the Huskies. In the first men's race of the day, the Cal freshman eight boat rowed past the Huskies with a winning time of 5:50.6 to UW's 5:53.0. Because youngsters of both teams have been phenomenal all season, the freshman race was one of the most competitive of the day.

"Cal and Washington's freshmen teams are light-years ahead of everyone else," UW coach Bob Ernst said. "We have exceptional freshman boats this year; they're really fast."

The junior varsity eight turned the race around by squeaking past the Bears to victory, posting a time of 6:05.9 to Cal's 6:07.8. In the final race of the day, the varsity eight fended off a late move by the Bears to claim the Schoch Cup awarded to the winners of the race.

The No. 11 Husky women had a little more difficulty, losing all but one race to the No. 12 Bears. After the varsity four boat was narrowly defeated in the first race of the day, the freshman in the novice eight boat swept past Cal rowers to a 17-second victory.

The results were reversed in the junior varsity and varsity eight races, however, as California claimed open water victories in both. In the junior varsity race, the Husky women were defeated by nine seconds with a time of 7:02.0 to Cal's 6:53.3, and in the varsity race, the Bears' time of 6:47.0 gave them their fourth consecutive victory over the Huskies.

Reach reporter Risa Pavia at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.