It took the regatta's fastest time, but in less than six minutes the Washington men's rowing team did something Sunday it hadn't done since 1997.
With its victory in the varsity eight, the Huskies completed their men's grand finals sweep in the Pacific-10 Conference Rowing Championships.
Combined with its victory in the women's varsity four, Washington claimed five of eight grand finals in the concluding session of the two-day regatta at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center at Lake Natoma.
Washington claimed the men's title with 72 points, followed by Cal (63) and Stanford (42).
Cal won the women's team title with 79 points, followed by Stanford (61) and Washington State (59).
Rowing is not an NCAA championship sport for men. But the women's teams were competing for qualifying points for the NCAA Division I, II and III championships scheduled for May 30-June 1 at Lake Natoma.
Teams competing in the NCAA championships will be announced Tuesday. Neither UC Davis nor Sac State is expected to receive an invitation.
The UC Davis women's novice eight was the only contingent from among Aggie or Sac State rowers to advance to a grand final (places 1-6).
The Aggies advanced with a third-place finish (7 minutes, 9.4 seconds) in morning heats, then placed sixth (7:44.9) in the final. Cal won in 7:14.2.
Neither UCD or Sac State are in the Pac-10, but were eligible for championship trophies and medals.
Sac State finished second (7:33.8) in the women's novice eight petite (7-12th place) final, fourth (7:19.2) in the women's second varsity eight petite final and fifth (7:10.9) in the women's varsity eight petite final.
The Aggies finished third (7:14.6) in the women's second varsity eight petite final and fourth (7:00.6) in the women's varsity eight petite final.
Cal, which had won seven of the past 10 Pac-10 titles, took an early lead. Washington, which eventually won its seventh consecutive race, wasn't at its best.
The Huskies, who claimed their fourth Pac-10 title since 1998, began to steadily make their move in the second half of the 2,000-meter trek. But Washington didn't assume the lead until the final 150 meters and finished in 5:52.1. Cal was second in 5:53.4, with Stanford third in 5:57.7.
Washington's win in the men's freshman novice eight (5:58.6) was the competition's only other sub-6-minute time.
"We were tense and a little bit wound up," said Washington men's coxswain Katelin Snyder.
