The Monday Morning Wash

The first scrimmage of the Spring is in the books and the Huskies have a few area's to be excitied about. One of the questions we asked as we started the Spring was whether a thumper would emerge in the secondary, and Victor Aiyewa seems to be answering that question in the affirmative. First hand observers feel that he adds a physical presence that hasn't been seen in awhile at the Safety position. The kid is making a move, and while he is probably third string on the depth chart if everyone is healthy don't expect that to be the case by the time Spring is done.

Tyrone Duncan moved ahead of Jovan O'Connor which is really no surprise, but if O'Connor had been able top hold on to the starting job for more than a week that would have been the biggest surprise of camp. O'Connor didn't play much at the scrimmage which means the 5th year senior hasn't been able to hold off the competition during the first week of practice. Cameron Elisara, and Darrion Jones are holding down the other two spots open for competition. Johnnie Kirtson is getting plenty of repos which means the Huskies are very serious about getting him on the field as a DL next Fall.

Players who were working as punt returners were Goodwin, Boyles, McDowell, Aguilar and Matt Mosley. Nathan thinks that Goodwin is a lock to be the man returning punts in the Fall. Most of us were hoping the Flea would get a shot at it last year.

Talking about D'Andre Goodwin....the two years of work learning the game at the Pac Ten level seems to have paid off because the people I have talked to who have been to practice feel he is probably going to be next years go to guy. It is still early, and all the young receivers have had their moments so far.

Most people figured that CB Vonzell McDowell's confidence may have been shot last year after starting in the frying pan and jumping into the fire to start the season. He had two interceptions on Saturday and is making asolid move for the starting job opposite Davenport this Spring. The key of course is experience. Once the game begins to slow down, and the experience kicks in they young guys make quantum leaps.

Brandon Johnson is pretty much a lock to be the starting TB next year, nothing he has done this Spring so far has altered that thinking. Chris Polk, and Curtis Shaw will get carries also as they share more of a hybrid slot/rb position which the Huskies hope to mold in the image of former Trojan Reggie Bush.

The offense is ahead of the defense right now, and that is to be expected with the a starting QB, exceptional, young, skill position talent, and a deep, veteran offensive line returning.

EJ, and JR are still running stairs. I would think that maybe on Tuesday we could see a change in their status, just a guess on that one.

Dorothy Harshman passes away

The wife of retired Husky basketball coach Marv Harshman passed away this weekend after suffering through health problems this past year. She was 86, and our thoughts and prayers go out to Marv, and his family.

Bobby Jones is seeing America First

The former Husky made NBA history this week by playing for the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, his record fifth team this season. He also logged stints in Denver, Memphis, Houston and Miami earlier.

Husky Crew Pounds Out Victories in San Diego

San Diego used to be an annual stop for the nations top Crew programs, but for some reason the big boys have passed the Copley Cup over the past four years. This year was an exception was the top crews in the country including Washington, California, and Harvard took in the annual Spring event on Mission Bay.

Washington celebrated its return Sunday to the San Diego Crew Classic after a three-year absence by winning the feature races for both the men's and women's collegiate rowers.

Overall, four of the Huskies' six entries were victorious. The Huskies men won the Copley Cup for the 14th time (first time since 1998) by nearly two seconds. The women rebounded from an off showing in qualifying to take the Jessop-Whittier Cup for the 17th time — the first time since 2002.

More than 3,400 rowers from 100 colleges and clubs competed over a 2,000-meter course on Mission Bay in the 35th annual event regarded as the first major regatta of the year.

Big win for Bob Ernst in his first big competion back as head of the Womens team, but they won't see the best in the country till the championships in June. The men on the other hand cemeted themselves as the team to beat for the national championship despite the one year attrition of talent that is headed to work with national teams.

Copley Cup Men's Varsity Eight

1. Washington, 5:39.90
2. Princeton, 5:41.80
3. Harvard, 5:43.89
4. California, 5:44.15;
5. Northeastern, 5:44.18
6. Stanford, 5:44.38;
7. Yale, 5:47.37.

Jessop-Whittier Cup Women's Varsity Eight

1. Washington, 6:22.9
2. USC, 6:23.80;
3. Washington State, 6:26.10
4. Stanford, 6:29.27
5. UCLA, 6:29.38
6. Wisconsin, 6:32.24

Baseball team takes it to Arizona

Starting pitcher Jorden Merry allowed just one run over seven and one-third innings to lead the Washington baseball team to a 5-1 win over No. 18 Arizona Sunday at Husky Ballpark as the Huskies prevailed in a tightly-contested three-game series, two wins to one.

Softball

Seventh-ranked Stanford earned a split in a two-game series with No. 25 Washington after a 3-1 win on Sunday afternoon at Husky Softball Stadium.

Tennis

Patrick Fischer and Andy Kuharszky provided wins in singles but that was all the scoring for the 23rd-ranked Washington men's tennis team, as they dropped a 5-2 road decision to No. 22 Arizona State.

Freshman Venise Chan sent the Nordstrom Tennis Center crowd into elation today, prevailing in a gut-wrenching third set tiebreak at No. 1 singles to send the 49th-ranked Washington women's tennis team to a 4-3 upset of 12th-ranked Arizona State. The Huskies (12-8, 2-5 Pac-10) celebrated senior day with their first win over a Top-25 opponent in three years, and senior Tara Simpson contributed with wins in both singles and doubles.

Golf

Washington women's golf shot a final round score of 24-over 312 to finish 13th at the PING/ASU Invitational which came to a close at Arizona State's Karsten Golf Course, Sunday. Washington ended the 54-hole event at 53-over 917, finishing ahead of 23rd-ranked Stanford and 24th-ranked Vanderbilt which tied for 14th at 56-over 920. The Huskies opened the final day in a tie for 11th, just three shots out of the top-10, but UW wasn't able to duplicate its solid second round effort (7-over 295) during the last 18 holes.

With just two more regular season tournaments on tap, the Washington men's golf team heads to Columbia, Mo., for the first annual UMB Bank-Mizzou Tiger Intercollegiate Classic, Monday, April 7 through Tuesday, April 8.

Track and Field

Windy conditions made for a rough day across the board at the Pepsi Team Invitational, but the Washington men's and women's track and field teams still combined to post eight NCAA Regional qualifying marks, win five events, and set three new school Top-10 marks. The Huskies struggled to fourth-place finishes in both the men's and women's team standings, due mostly to a thin roster that left them unrepresented in several events, including all the relays. Oregon won the men's dual with the 10th-ranked Huskies, 230-125.5, and the UO women 192-78, although the 23rd-ranked Minnesota women's team came out on top among the foursome.