GOLD RIVER, CALIF.-And they're back.

On a sweltering Sunday at the 2008 Pac-10 Rowing Championships in Gold River, Calif., the Cal women's crew won three out of four races to take home the conference title.

At last year's Pac-10 Championships, the Bears took second as a team. This year was a different story, however, as wins in the varsity eight, second varsity eight and novice eight gave Cal enough points to win the team trophy. The Bears scored 79 points over second-place Stanford's 61 and third-place Washington's 51.

Nabbing the team title guaranteed the Bears a bid to the NCAA Championships at the end of the month.

"This might have been the best day Cal women's crew has ever had," said coach Dave O'Neill. "Three wins and a second, we're really happy about that."

Cal's undefeated varsity eight lived up to their No. 1 ranking, taking first in a time of 6:38.8, a boat's length ahead of No. 10 Stanford, who was followed by No. 4 WSU, defending champions No. 12 USC, the No. 15 Huskies and No. 14 Oregon State.

Despite a rocky start and trailing behind the Cardinal by nearly a second through the 500-meter mark, the Bears were able to pull it together and walked back at the thousand, extending the lead through the finish line.

"We pushed hard through the thousand, but we pushed away after that," sophomore Taryn O'Connell said. "We just did the same thing we always do."

The somewhat unpredictable second varsity eight was able to pull themselves together and defend their Pac-10 title as well. The crew exacted revenge on the previously undefeated Washington squad that topped them three weeks ago, claiming the title in a time of 6:50.9. The Beavers took second and Stanford took third, followed by the Huskies.

"Pre-race, Dave said to expect to be fourth coming through the thousand, but we were up at about 500 meters," said sophomore Kirsten Campbell. "It felt good to know that we have the speed to carry us through the race."

Cal's novice eight also found success as the Bears' first and only undefeated novice crew.

"We just went out there and did our thing," coxswain Erica Bellis said. "The coaches always tell us to 'Be Cal.' That just means staying composed, being in control and doing our thing."

The varsity four didn't fare quite as well as the rest of the squad did, taking second to the Huskies.

However, they appear optimistic. Last year's crew failed to even make the grand final at the Pac-10s, but went on to take third at the NCAAs. This year's crew hopes to make the same kind of improvement.

"We're just going to take this like a stepping stone," said junior and varsity-four veteran Melissa Herman. "I definitely think we can find the speed between now and NCAAs."

Overall, it was a successful day for the Bears, and O'Neill seems confident in his team's ability to carry their speed through to the national championships.

"We just treat every day like it's a championship, and treat the championship like it's every day," he said."

Tags: PAC-10 ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS