UW men’s crew team wins national championship

CHERRY HILL, N.J. – All season long at Conibear Shellhouse, the Huskies’ men’s rowing team had the sting of 2010 on their thoughts. Whenever the effort was not up to par, the upperclassmen would shot out “point two six,” the margin of victory California had over the Huskies in last

year’s varsity eight grand final.

Message received, and then some.

Washington men’s crew program won its 14th national championship in school history on Saturday, throwing down a dominating effort on the 2,000-meter course on the Cooper River. The Huskies won both four events, the second varsity eight and most importantly, the varsity eight. The latter is the race used to determine the best and fastest crew in the nation, and in 2011 it was the Huskies. Equally as impressive: Washington won its fifth straight Ten Eyck Cup, the award given to the team champions who perform the best across all races.

“We wanted to be champions this year,” said men’s coach Michael Callahan, who has now won two titles in his four years at UW. “Everyone on the team was committed to that today and you saw it in the fours and the eights.”