UW crews won four of their six events including two featured races at the San Diego Crew Classic this weekend.

“It was a great day to be a Husky,” said Women’s Coach Bob Ernst.

This victory marked the ninth time the UW has won both featured races, and the first time it has done so since 1998.

The women’s varsity had the most exciting run to their victory, edging out No. 4 USC by nine-tenths of a second on their way to their record 17th Jessop-Whittier Cup.

“It was close all the way down,” said Ernst. “They’re [USC] the defending Conference Champions, and they [UW] went out to beat them and they did.”

On top of this, the UW women’s varsity boat had to compete in lane 6, putting them farther from the shore and more exposed to wind than the other boats. Despite the disadvantage, UW finished in 6:22.9.

The UW men’s varsity eight beat a competitive field to win their regatta record 14th Copley Cup. They battled Cal for most of the race, eventually pulling ahead at the 500-meter mark.

“I think that we just kinda stayed cool and stuck to the race plan. When it was time to go, we went together and it worked out well,” said senior Heath Allen.

UW finished the race in 5:39.90, followed by Princeton (5:41.80) and Harvard (5:43.89). Cal finished 4th with a time of 5:44.15.

“It was a fast time for this early in the season,” said Allen.

The UW women’s JV team won their race as well, leading their field for the entire race. They defended against a late challenge from Washington State to finish in 6:36.50 and win the race.

The Freshmen Men’s boat rowed neck-and-neck with the California Golden Bears for most of the race. At the 300-meter mark, the UW team pulled away, finishing in 6:01.8, which was enough for the win.

Harvard won the Men’s JV race, edging out the Huskies by a seat with a 5:52.31 victory. The Huskies finished in 5:54.22, followed by Cal with a time of 5:56.68. The Huskies’ effort was good enough to secure them second place.

The Women’s Novice team finished in third place, with a time of 7:09.60, behind Washington State (7:03.90) and San Diego State (7:05.68).

[Reach reporter Zach Ruby at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.]