Ellington

Another week, another dominant performance by the UW crew team.

The Huskies won 15 of 16 races against OSU and WSU in their first home races of the season. The results were strikingly similar to those from last week’s Stanford Invitational: The men’s team completed a sweep, while the varsity eight accounted for the lone loss on the women’s side.

Men’s crew was sensational once again, going a perfect 10 for 10. The varsity, junior varsity and freshmen eights all cruised to easy victories over the Beavers.

“I saw guys come out who wanted to race, who wanted to perform, and they did that,” UW men’s coach Michael Callahan said. “It was a good day for us.”

Callahan also emphasized the regional significance of Saturday’s races.

“It’s really good for Northwest rowing to have all these teams here, competing really hard on the Montlake Cut,” he said.

The men’s varsity eight battled a tough OSU team and some choppy water on Lake Washington for its second open-water win in as many weeks. They bested the Beavers by a little more than 20 seconds, posting a time of 5:40.57.

Some lesser-known boats also turned in impressive performances Saturday, including the varsity four and the second and third freshmen eights. While last week’s sweep of Stanford only involved the top three boats, Callahan was pleased by how the results showcased the whole program.

“Today is a great day, because everyone in our boathouse gets to race, everyone who competes here every day,” he said.

With Saturday’s races behind them, the men can set their sights squarely on an April 24 meeting with California. Callahan knows that his team is in for a challenge against the Golden Bears, Husky crew’s biggest rival.

“They’re very talented, very deep, well coached. They have an amazing tradition, like we do,” he said. “It’s one of the best rivalries in collegiate rowing, and collegiate athletics.”

The women performed well for the second-straight week, winning five of six races against the No. 14 Cougars.

The women’s varsity eight faltered against a second Pac-10 opponent, losing by 1.4 seconds as WSU took a slight lead in the last 250 meters and preserved it until the finish.

“We don’t have it quite right on the varsity yet,” said women’s head coach Bob Ernst. “We don’t have the right chemistry going. It’s not that the kids aren’t trying — they’re working really hard. It’s just that we don’t have it right yet.”

Ernst even went as far as to compare the varsity boat’s struggles to those of another UW team this year.

“Look at [men’s basketball coach Lorenzo] Romar. His guys were just players until they got it right,” he said.

Ernst expects to continue shaking up his boat lineups over the next two weeks as his team prepares for Cal, but the lower boats give him reason to be optimistic. The women’s program displayed its depth of talent Saturday, and the junior varsity and novice eights looked especially solid.

“I’m so excited about the kids on our team. They’re really, really good,” Ernst said. “We’re just not really, really good in the varsity yet.”

Reach reporter Andrew Gospe at sports@dailyuw.com.