Huskies turn tide at Redwood Shores

The U.S. hockey team won in 1980. Rocky defeated Apollo Creed. Cal lost to Washington.

No one really believed it could be done. The thought of knocking off Cal's men's varsity eight on its own course after it had not lost a single race since 1998 was too much even for the idle daydream of a Husky rowing fan.

It happened.

Three national championships in their wake and a collection of Olympic rowers in their boat could not match the speed of the Huskies, as they raced into a consistent headwind to record a time of 5:47.4, four-seats ahead of the Golden Bears.

"It's been so long that these guys have been at the top of the food chain," said senior two seat Chris Hawkins. "I think we were just sick of losing. This is something. I honestly don't know how I feel. I'm just elated. I think I'll figure it out about two days from now."

As the adrenaline subsided, and the Huskies realized this was not a dream they would wake up from before another morning practice, the byproduct of the race was even more exciting.

They can beat Cal now.

The crew led from start to finish and executed a race plan so efficient it seemed coxswain Ryan Marks was reading the mind of the coxswain racing beside him.

"One of the biggest things in this race was our counter moves," Marks said. "I could hear their coxswain making calls. We countered every move."

With all the surges of energy, it's amazing the Huskies had even a single calorie to burn in the final few hundred meters. But that is the edge Washington has on a supremely talented boat like Cal's. The team is extremely conditioned and willing to empty the tank whenever Marks asks it to.

"The guys were pumped up for this one. It was like trying to control a bunch of race horses," Marks said. "But that was the key to our race -- we didn't empty our tank too early. We built a solid lead at race pace, and we had enough gas at the end to hold off their late charge."

They had enough gas, but the fuel light definitely came on.

"I thought we were going to tip over in the last 10 strokes," Hawkins admitted. "We were pretty tired."

The Huskies held on though, like pitbull to chew toy, because they needed this race to prove Cal was mortal. The two will race once more at the Pac-10 championships, and barring a disaster, again in the IRA championships in Camden, N.J.

"They would take a seat and we would just push a seat back out," said junior bow seat Kevin Smythe. "Everyone was just so excited going across the line. As much as I could want this to happen, it was hard to comprehend when it actually would."

The varsity eight's masterful display was the first race of the day. As the women's varsity eight sat next at the start line, they could not help but be inspired by their teammates.

"We were so excited for the guys today," said senior Laura Estevenin. "Right before our race, to see them win, was fun. We were pumped."

The Purple and Gold pride continued to pump as the women's varsity won its 12th-straight race over the very competitive Cal boat, with a time of 6:41.6. The Huskies weathered Cal's first 1,000 meters, where Cal typically goes all out in order to hold a lead as they pass by where most of the fans settle at Redwood Shores. They then extended their lead in surgical fashion, by which this boat has defeated every opponent this year.

"You could tell everyone was really tired from the week, but we still moved really well," Estevenin said. "We took our steps and it was obvious we were strong and efficient."

The women's junior-varsity boat followed the same pattern, flexing their muscle to notch their 10th-straight win over Cal. The sun can't shine all the time though, as the novice eight and varsity four dropped their races later Saturday morning.

The men's junior varsity also suffered a loss to Cal, a boat it beat in the San Diego Crew Classic earlier this month by five seconds. But the freshman boat showed its teeth, winning by 15 seconds with about enough open water between it and Cal to fill the Atlantic Ocean.