UW, WWU win women’s NCAA rowing titles; Huskies in softball WS

The University of Washington became the first women’s rowing team in the 21-year history of the NCAA rowing championships to sweep all three grand finals, completing a perfect regatta at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey, by winning their fourth title on Sunday.

The Huskies won all nine of their races during the three-day event, including heats and semifinals. They rowed to victories in the varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four on Sunday to finish with the maximum 132 points. Cal was second. Washington State finished 14th and Gonzaga 19th out of 22 teams.

Washington’s title made the Pac-12 the first conference to win 500 NCAA championships.

In C finals, WSU won the varsity eight, was second in the second varsity eight and third in the varsity four with Gonzaga sixth. Gonzaga’s varsity eight and second varsity eight won D finals.

Also at Mercer Lake, Western Washington won its first Division II championship since winning seven straight from 2005-2011, edging Central Oklahoma by a point.

WWU won the varsity four grand final with a crew that included sophomore Madison Kerr, a Lewis and Clark graduate. WWU was second to Central Oklahoma in the varsity eight but that was enough to give the Vikings the team victory.

Softball

Ali Aguilar scored on a wild pitch and hit a sacrifice fly to lead Washington (48-12) to a 2-1 win over Utah in Seattle for a berth to the Women’s College World Series.

Aguilar scored in the first inning and drove home the Huskies’ other run in the second. The Utes (37-16) outhit the Huskies 8-3 but left eight runners on base, scoring their run in the fifth.

Taran Alvelo (32-7) pitched the distance for the Huskies while Kirstyn Thomas had two hits, including a double.

The Huskies advanced to their 12th World Series, which begins Thursday in Oklahoma City. The other teams in the field are Florida, Oregon, UCLA, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, LSU and Baylor.