The Washington rowing teams battled tough weather conditions this weekend against cross-state rival Washington State, and some handled the adversity better than others. The Husky men swept all of their events, finishing first in all four races. The women's crews also fared well, finishing first in five out of seven races. The women's varsity eight, however, fell to the Cougars for only the second time in program history. The second varsity eight also finished second.

Strong cross winds forced the start times of early afternoon races to be pushed back, and the winds continued throughout the races, creating difficulty for the rowers.

"We had very challenging conditions during all races. There were some big waves," women's coach Eleanor McElvaine said. "Some stepped up and did a good job, and others were taken out of their game."

While the women's crews didn't perform well across the board, the Husky men were dominant in each of their races. The UW placed first and second in both the varsity four and the freshman eight races, and outperformed WSU in the varsity eight race, finishing almost half a minute ahead of the Cougars with a time of 6:19.5. The Husky men's varsity eight boat has been ranked No. 1 in the nation for two consecutive weeks.

The women were also strong in most events. All three novice crews finished first in their races, as the first novice eight finished 29 second ahead of the Cougars with a time of 7:07.27 and the second novice eight clocked in at 8:10.73, defeating WSU by 12 seconds. The third novice eight also took first place, although times were not available because of wind.

The defeat of the first and second varsity eight crews was tough for the women and shows that they need to put in some serious work before next weekend's Windermere Collegiate Crew Classic.

"We're not really happy with the results," McElvaine said. "We're going home to work on it and get faster."

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