SEATTLE – The Cal men's rowing team's third varsity eight notched a substantial win during the Golden Bears' dual race against Washington on Saturday on the Montlake Cut.

Cal's 3V8 got off to a strong start and gradually built on its lead throughout, ultimately winning by over six seconds.

That was the lone victory for the Bears in their annual rivalry showdown with the Huskies, who won the varsity eight race by just over four seconds. Cal dropped the second varsity eight competition by over five seconds.

The competition got started with a men's collegiate open race, which the Bears used to enter a fourth varsity boat. The Huskies won that by over eight seconds.

"I think the guys raced well," Cal head coach Scott Frandsen said. "We have a lot we can learn from and a lot of work to do over the next two weeks. They weren't the results we wanted in general but we are grateful to be racing and I think there will be a lot of lessons learned."

The Bears' 3V8 established a one-second lead over Washington over the first 500 meters and built the advantage to almost six seconds by the halfway point. Cal pulled away by even more during the final 500 meters.

"The third varsity had a great race," Frandsen said. "They got off to a good start and walked away through the second one thousand meters."

Saturday's races marked the end of a COVID-19-induced shortened regular season for the Bears, who only had three events on their schedule before the postseason. Next up for Cal is the Pac-12 Championships on May 16 before the IRA national championships during the final weekend of May.

"This spring is a building process," Frandsen said. "We will take the information from this weekend and learn what we did well and what we need to do to get better. We can pick up a lot of speed if we train consistently well. I'm optimistic about the progress we can make in the next two to four weeks."