GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The Cal women's rowing team finished second at the 2018 Pac-12 Championships on Sunday morning at Lake Natoma, finishing behind top-ranked Washington on the podium. The Golden Bears, ranked second in the nation, finished in the top three in all of their races for the day, but the day belonged to the Huskies, who swept the day and topped the podium with a total of 45.5 points for their second consecutive Pac-12 title. Cal came in second with 36 points, the tenth time in the last 11 seasons that the Bears have finished in the top two at the conference championships. Stanford finished third with 35.5 points. 

"I thought our boats raced really hard," said head coach Al Acosta. "Congrats to Washington, they are a very good crew. Now we have two weeks to get refocused and work on some things before NCAAs."

Cal started the morning with a second-place finish in the freshman eight before getting ready for the first scoring event of the Pac-12 Championships: the women's third varsity eight. Washington and Cal jumped out to an early lead over the rest of the field. The Huskies were able to gain separation down the stretch to cross the finish first with Cal coming in second, open-water ahead of third-place Stanford.

Cal held an early lead in the women's varsity four before Washington used a big push near the 1,000-meter mark to regain the lead. The Bears remained in hot pursuit but were unable to overtake the Huskies in the sprint to the finish. Cal registered another second-place finish in the second varsity eight, topping third-place Stanford by nearly a length of open water.

Washington completed the sweep with a victory in the varsity eight. The Huskies got out to an early lead and were able to hold off challenges from Cal and Stanford. The Cardinal used an impressive surge heading into the 1,500-meter mark to pull ahead of the Golden Bears by several seats. Cal closed the race with a strong sprint, but was unable to erase the deficit and finished third, after going undefeated during the regular season.  

The Bears will now turn their preparations to the 2018 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships, hosted May 25-27 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida. The selection show for the 2018 NCAA Championships will be streamed on NCAA.com at 2 p.m. PT on Tuesday, May 15. Cal won the NCAA Championship in 2016 and has placed in the top three each of the last 10 seasons, including a second-place result in 2017.

For updates and information throughout the year, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWRowing), Instagram (@CalWRowing), and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalWRowing).

Results
 

Overall Team Standings (Points)
1.	Washington	45.5
2.	California	36.0
3.	Stanford	35.5
4.	USC	22.0
5.	Washington State	21.0
6.	UCLA	11.5
7.	Oregon State	10.0
Women's Novice  8+
1.	Washington	6:53.07
2.	California	7:12.48
3.	Washington State	7:20.39
4.	UCLA	7:20.71
Women's Third Varsity 8+
1.	Washington	6:44.98
2.	California	6:50.82
3.	Stanford	7:02.16
4.	Washington State	7:10.47
5.	UCLA	7:23.66
6.	USC	7:48.11
Women's Varsity 4+
1.	Washington	7:25.16
2.	California	7:29.16
3.	Stanford	7:42.02
4.	Washington State	7:52.93
5.	UCLA	8:00.14
6.	Oregon State	8:05.42
7.	USC	8:09.53
Women's Second Varsity 8+
1.	Washington	6:36.73
2.	California	6:42.68
3.	Stanford	6:52.56
4.	USC	6:58.76
5.	Washington State	7:01.28
6.	UCLA	7:08.85
7.	Oregon State	7:21.61
Women's Varsity 8+
1.	Washington	6:30.12
2.	Stanford	6:33.45
3.	California	6:34.53
4.	USC	6:46.94
5.	Washington State	6:50.68
6.	Oregon State	6:56.63
7.	UCLA	6:58.63