The Husky crew teams are making the long road trip to Pullman this weekend to take on Washington State at 9 a.m. Saturday, in their first dual race of the season. Both the men's and women's teams are highly ranked in the USRowing Varsity Eight Collegiate Coaches Poll. The women's team is currently No. 10, and the men are on top of the polls with a No. 1 ranking for the second consecutive week.

Last week saw both the men's and women's boats dominating the waters in the Husky Open. After the previous weekend's intra-squad Class Day races, the UW's top crews took the day off. Even without their participation, though, the Huskies won six of the seven races, including five races in which UW teams placed both first and second.

In the women's featured event, the varsity four race, the Huskies' top varsity four crew finished first with a time of 7:22.7, and their novice four finished second at 7:25.0. The crew from Washington State came in third with a time of 7:34.8. This was a reversal of last year's NCAA championships, in which the Cougars placed fourth and the Huskies fifth.

Women's coach Eleanor McElvaine knows that her rowers have their work cut out for them going into their first dual race.

"Last weekend, we kicked off with a smaller event, and this will be our first big race," she said. "We're going to have to row our best."

Rowing in Pullman could prove an additional challenge for the Huskies, as the Snake River, where the race will take place, is known for its tricky weather conditions.

"It's windy there," McElvaine said. "A number of races have been blown off in the past. We're just hoping to have decent weather and to be able to compete."

McElvaine was encouraged by the performance of her teams last weekend, but feels there is still much room for improvement going into the Washington State race.

"We have a lot of work to do," she said. "But I feel good about the rowers' positive attitude that they need to have to be able to do that work."

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