SARASOTA, Fla. – The No. 1-ranked Washington men's rowing team opened the spring season with four wins in four head-to-head races vs. No. 3-ranked Harvard Friday at Nathan Benderson Park.
 
With the win in the varsity eight race, the Huskies earned the Bolles Cup, the trophy for the UW-Harvard dual, named after Tom Bolles '26, a national champion UW coxswain, Husky freshman coach, and longtime Harvard rowing coach and athletic director.
 
Last year at the same event, UW beat Harvard on Friday, but lost on Saturday. At the end of the season, in the IRA grand final, Harvard finished second to the national champion Huskies.
 
Friday, the four UW-Harvard races all followed a similar script as the Huskies maintained modest leads over Harvard in all four events, winning by relatively close margins in each.
 
"They were really close races across all events," said UW men's head coach Michael Callahan. "This level of competition is exactly why we came here. I'm really proud of the guys retaining the Bolles Cup.
 
"The conditions reminded me of rowing on Lake Washington in February," Callahan continued, noting the choppy water in Sarasota. "We appreciate all those yacht wakes this winter. They helped us prepare for these conditions!
 
In the final race of the day, the varsity eight, Washington jumped out to the early lead, rowing three-quarters of a length in front of the Harvard crew 750 meters into the course. The Crimson closed the gap, however, cutting the lead down to about three seats in the second half.
 
In the end, the UW eight crossed the finish line five seats ahead of Harvard, winning the race in 5:38.18, 1.35 seconds ahead of the Crimson.
 
The second varsity eight was a close one from the start, though UW grabbed the slight, early edge. The Huskies settled into a half-a-length lead by 500 meters and then maintained it. 
 
UW held off a late Crimson challenge and won the second varsity eight race by 0.95 seconds, finishing in 5:51.39.
 
Washington's third varsity eight jumped out to a lead shortly after the start, but, after the UW's early move, Harvard responded and significantly narrowed the Huskies' advantage in the middle portion of the race.
 
UW never surrendered its lead and crossed the finish line about one seat ahead, with a time of 5:47.44, good for a margin of 0.83 seconds over the Crimson.
 
The Huskies' afternoon of racing began with the fourth varsity eight race and a crew comprised entirely of freshmen competing for UW. After getting started nearly 20 minutes late due to complications from the windy conditions, the Huskies and Crimson 4V8+ crews broke from the start evenly through the first portion of the race, with the Huskies holding a slight edge throughout. 
 
UW maintained a three- or four-seat lead all the way down the racecourse and crossed the finish line with a slightly larger advantage. The Huskies won the race in 5:57.83, about 2.8 seconds in front of the Crimson eight.
 
Saturday, the Huskies return to action, competing for the Benderson Cup alongside Harvard, No. 9 Brown, No. 10 Northeastern and No. 5 Yale, the latter three of which all raced against one another Friday. The first of four races gets underway at 7:40 a.m. PT (10:40 a.m. ET).
 
WASHINGTON LINEUPS
 
Varsity Eight
Shell: Chuck Holtz III
Cox: Nick Dunlop
Stroke: Ryan Smith
7: Harry Fitzpatrick
6: Ben Shortt
5: Sam Ford
4: Logan Ullrich
3: Jonathan Wang-Norderud
2: Giuseppe Bellomo
Bow: Blake Vogel
 
Second Varsity Eight
Shell: Carl Lovsted
Cox: Kieran Joyce
Stroke: Ryan Martin
7: Klas Ole Lass
6: Quinn Hall
5: Povilas Juskevicius
4: Ian Burnett
3: Lyle Donovan
2: Marius Bjørn-Hansen Ahlsand
Bow: Finn Griskauskas
 
Third Varsity Eight
Shell: Jacobi
Cox: Nikita Jacobs
Stroke: Rory McDonnell
7: Hector Guimet
6: Marc Tennesen
5: Alex Gonin
4: Ewan Morrow
3: Matteo Belgeri
2: Parker Raines
Bow: Ethan Walsh
 
Fourth Varsity Eight (Freshman Eight)
Shell: John Nordstrom 
Cox: Anjali Pamurthy
Stroke: Tobias Bosnes
7:Will Milne
6 Devan Godfrey
5: Lucas Andersen
4: Jed Grieve
3: Marley Kingsmith
2: Crosby LaMotte
Bow: Colin Phariss