Washington Edges Harvard, Stanford in Rowing Finals

This was the 12th time the Huskies captured the heavyweight crew title

June 2, 2007

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) -Washington won the Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship on Cooper River on Saturday, holding off late challenges by Harvard and Stanford and completing an undefeated season.

This was the 12th time the Huskies captured the heavyweight crew title. They finished the 2,000-meter course in 5:33.16, while Harvard and Stanford were in a dead heat for second at 5:34.12.

"I knew if we were even with 300 meters to go, nobody would beat us," Washington coach Bob Ernst said. "This is a really special bunch of athletes."

The crew from Brown finished fourth, followed by defending champion California - which had won five of the last eight IRA titles - and Princeton. More than 1,400 oarsmen from 59 colleges and universities took part in the three-day competition, which began Thursday.

In other championship races Saturday, Cornell won the men's lightweight crown while Bucknell took the women's lightweight title.