UW women don't make grand final

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RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — Ever since the NCAA began holding a women's rowing championship in 1997, a Washington varsity eight boat has been in the grand final.

Not this year.

In their semifinal race yesterday morning on Lake Natoma, the Huskies varsity eight finished fourth — just one seat shy of Princeton's boat and a lane in today's grand final. The fourth-place finish also effectively ended the Huskies' shot at a team title. The Huskies' second varsity eight and varsity four will row for national titles this morning.

"It hurts like hell," said first-year head coach Eleanor McElvaine, whose varsity eight will row in today's petite final. "Just like most of this season, we didn't have enough speed through the middle (of the course) but we had a great sprint. I was proud of how hard they fought. They fought to the last stroke."

In Washington's semifinal heat, Brown (6 minutes, 33.0 seconds) took first, followed by Pac-10 champion California (6:36.4) and Princeton (6:36.41). Washington completed the 2,000-meter course in 6:37.1.

After the first 1,500 meters, Washington trailed then-third place Cal by slightly more than two seconds but used a blistering sprint over the final 500 meters to make the race close for third. The Huskies had a split time of 1:33.49 over the last 500 meters — the fastest split of any boat over that span — but came up a seat and seven-tenths of a second short.

Last weekend, McElvaine inserted freshmen Andrea Sutter and Cara Troelstra into the varsity eights, and the new lineup registered the fifth-fastest time of the three qualifying heats on Friday.

"We had a hard time settling into a rhythm," said senior Mary Reeves of Dayton, one of only two seniors on the varsity eight crew, along with Yvonneke Stenken of Sacramento, Calif.

"We were still getting used to each other and yesterday we did that and we were better today. But there were four fast boats out there and we all knew that one boat doesn't get to go to the grand final. I just didn't think that boat would be us."

Washington State's varsity eight was second to Michigan State in the third final yesterday to finish 14th at the championships.

The varsity four cruised to a four-second victory over second-place Cal, turning in the third-fastest time of the two repechages. A second-place finish would have earned a spot in the grand final at 10:45 a.m. today but victory was the goal, coxswain Eva Anderson said.

"Plan A was to get first place. There was no Plan B," said Anderson, a sophomore from Lake Forest Park.

The second varsity eight competes for the national title at 11:15 a.m. Among UW's competitors is Washington State, which won its second varsity eight repechage.

The varsity eight petite finals are at 11:45 a.m.

U.S. wins at World Cup

MUNICH, Germany — The United States captured the women's eights at the rowing World Cup.

The Americans were timed in 6 minutes, 30.16 seconds, followed by China at 6:31.13 and world champion Germany at 6:31.95.

The women's team included former UW rowers Mary Whipple and Anna Mickelson, and Seattle's Lianne Nelson.

In the men's eights, two-time world champion Canada held off Germany to win in 5:47.34.