Close, But No Cigar for Bears as Huskies Roll

GOLD RIVER, CALIF.-After a season full of tough losses and disappointment, the Cal men's crew came out of the water with excitement for first time in a while on Sunday.

Although the Bears failed to capture gold at this year's Pac-10 championships, they showed improvement in finishing second behind undefeated Washington, who impressed with a standout performance, grabbing first-place results in all four races.

During the varsity boat race, Cal trailed the Huskies by less than a second at the 500-meter mark, but was able to establish a lead over Washington heading into the final 500 meters.

It appeared as though the Bears were going to pull off the upset as they came into the sprint towards the finish line for a dramatic finish.

However, with about 250 meters left, the Huskies began to gradually squeeze by the Cal shell, and in the end, the top-ranked Washington was able to hold off the Bears' upset bid, 5:52.10- 5:53.40.

Despite the loss, such an improvement is the spark the Bears have been looking for all season­-three weeks ago in Redwood Shores, Calif., Cal lost to Washington by over six seconds.

"The boat felt better than it had ever felt, rhythmic, powerful and it gave us what we needed to win," sophomore Nareg Guregian said. "This is a moral victory. It is still a loss. We still had to give up our shirts. But we have everything we need. If we can just get out that extra one percent from everybody, we're golden."

Throughout the season, Cal's eighth-ranked varsity boat has been seen struggling at times to establish a cohesive identity that would bring them success on race day.

Sunday proved that the Bears are still dangerous despite their past troubles, and coach Steve Gladstone couldn't wait to give his sign of approval following Sunday's results.

Gladstone made his way down through the crowd on the beach right up to the waterfront, where his varsity shell was coming ashore. With a smile across his face and a few encouraging words, Gladstone met his rowers with two thumbs up.

"These guys have worked very carefully over these past few weeks-paying attention to detail and developing the pace that allowed them to race at this level," Gladstone said. "We've got two more weeks and our intention is to get faster. We have had our rough patches, but we are now in the position to get faster before the national championships."

Winning the national title has been the goal of this crew since the year began, and the time has now come for Cal to find a way to get past the Huskies, a task that eluded all four of the Bears' boats on Sunday,

A challenge that didn't appear to phase Cal.

"To come into practice everyday pounding away and to have made up six seconds in the last few weeks of the season, it's a great feeling," junior Brandon Shald said. "That's a life sign right there. Finals are over, so now we can just focus on rowing and killing people (in competition)."

Tags: PAC-10 ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS