SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Washington women's rowing team saw all five of its crews earn berths in grand finals at the 50th annual San Diego Crew Classic, as the Huskies finished in qualifying positions in Saturday's heats and preliminary races.
 
The Huskies will vie for trophies in first, second and third varsity eights, novice eight and varsity four races on Sunday at Mission Bay, beginning at 10:00 a.m. PT.
 
In the opening event of the morning for Washington on Saturday, the varsity eight faced a stiff challenge in a heat with No. 1-ranked Texas, as well as a strong crew from Oxford Brookes University (U.K.), and a Canadian National Team eight, which was rowing as an exhibition crew. 
 
Texas won the race in 6:31.660, nearly four seconds in front of the Canadian crew. The Huskies, who sat fourth all race, nearly caught Oxford Brookes at the finish, but the British crew held on to take third in 6:38.402, a little over one-tenth of a second ahead of UW's 6:38.544.
 
The Huskies will join Texas, Oxford Brookes, Stanford, Cal and USC in Sunday's Jessop-Whittier Cup grand final, at 10:00 a.m. PT.
 
Next, the Huskies battled Stanford in the varsity four heat for the Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup, with those two crews well in front of the rest of the six-boat field. The Huskies, only needing a top-four finish to reach the final, kept contact with the Cardinal down the stretch, but Stanford won by four seats with a time of 7:35.675. UW's 7:38.629 was more than 11 seconds ahead of third-place Notre Dame.
 
Those three, plus fourth-place Washington State and four crews from the other heat, qualified for the Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup final Sunday at 10:28 a.m.
 
In the second varsity eight heat, Washington and Texas quickly established themselves in the top-two spots, separating from the rest of the field and comfortably among the four crews that would move through to the grand final.
 
Washington surged to within two or three seats in the final few hundred meters, but still several lengths ahead of the third-place competitors, the Huskies finished eight seats back of the Longhorns with a time of 6:49.447. The Longhorns' time was 6:46.252, while third-place Washington State was 24 seconds back of the Huskies.
 
Sunday's Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy grand final, with eight second varsity crews in the field, will begin at 10:35 a.m.
 
The Laurel Korholz Perpetual Trophy, for women's novice eights, featured just five entries this year, meaning that all five that rowed in Saturday's preliminary race were already qualified for Sunday's final.
 
The UW freshman crew took the lead from the start of the race and quickly gained an open-water advantage over the rest of the field, with UBC second and UCLA third most of the way. Washington cruised to a win with a time of 7:09.837. The British Columbia eight was second, 14-plus seconds behind.
 
Sunday at 11:17 a.m., the Washington freshmen will race in the grand final, attempting to defend the title the Huskies won last year in San Diego.
 
Saturday's final heat of the day for Washington was for the third varsity eight, with the top three of four in the second heat earning qualification for Sunday's final. 
 
The Huskies' 3V8+ finished second to Stanford, with the Huskies crossing the line in 7:16.647. The Cardinal, the Huskies and Washington State qualified for the final out of that heat, along with three others from the previous heat. They'll all race for the Carley Copley Cup Sunday at 11:59 a.m.
 
Fans can watch live video of Sunday's finals on the San Diego Crew Classic's YouTube channel.
 
WASHINGTON LINEUPS
 
Varsity Eight
Cox: Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills)
Stroke: McKenna Bryant (Kent, Wash./Kennedy Catholic)
7: Ella Cossill (Waikato, New Zealand)
6: Nikki Martincic (Newtown, Sydney, Australia)
5: Angharad Broughton (Cardiff, Wales, U.K.)
4: Elena Collier-Hezel (Buffalo, N.Y./Park School/Michigan)
3: Abby Adebiyi (London, England, U.K.)
2: Leah Nash (Chatham, Mass./Monomoy)
Bow: Aisha Rocek (Como, Italy)
 
Second Varsity Eight
Cox: Carina Baxter (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge)
Stroke: Mira Calder (Victoria, B.C., Canada/Claremont)
7: Cait Whittard (St. Catharines, Ont., Canada)
6: Grace Vander Griend (Bellingham, Wash./Sehome)
4: Jordan Freer (Lotus, Calif./El Dorado/UCSB)
4: Jeri Rhodes (St. Louis, Mo./Michigan)
3: Madi Frampton (Tumwater, Wash.)
2: Ava Meuleman (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt)
Bow: Victoria Park (Bellevue, Wash./The Bush School)
 
Varsity Four
Stroke: Eliza Perry (Bellingham, Wash./Sehome)
3: Brigit O'Rourke (West Seattle, Wash./Vashon Island)
2: Renee Hopper (Preston, Wash./Issaquah)
Bow: Dimitra Tsamopoulou (Athens, Greece)
Cox: Grace Murdock (Roswell, Ga./Milton)
 
Third Varsity Eight
Cox: Olivia Murdock (Atlanta, Ga./Milton)
Stroke: Haley Stoker (Bellingham, Wash./Bellingham)
7: Carly Lauritzen (Nine Mile Falls, Wash./Lakeside)
6: Allison Jakeway (Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada)
5: Grace Epp (Redmond, Wash./Redmond)
4: Claire Marion (San Marcos, Calif./San Marcos)
3: Claire Surbeck (Bellevue, Wash./International School)
2: Molly Wiser (Leavenworth, Wash./Cascade)
Bow: Brianna Hoffman (Poulsbo, Wash./North Kitsap)
 
Novice Eight
Cox: Camille Randall (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep)
Stroke: Isabelle Tinsley (Venice, Fla./Collegiate)
7: Margaret Young (San Anselmo, Calif./Williams)
6: Sofie Sand (Rochester, Wash./Rochester)
5: Cami Martin (Seattle, Wash./Nathan Hale)
4: Caitlin Hane (Irvine, Calif./University)
3: Danielle Lohrenz (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka)
2: Luella Bowersock (Austin, Texas/Austin)
Bow: Claudia Horton (Olympia, Wash./Olympia)