Brown stroked to its second consecutive National Collegiate Women's Rowing Championship, outlasting Washington at Cooper River May 28 in Camden, New Jersey.

The Bears won both the I and II Eights en route to the title.

"This certainly is as fast a crew as we've ever had," said John Murphy, Brown head coach. "We knew Washington was fast, but all the crews were fast."

Washington won in the Fours event, and Brown was victorious in the II Eights. Going into the deciding I Eights, the Bears led the Huskies by just one point.

Brown surged ahead from the start with Washington and California close behind in the I Eights final. California trailed by only two or three seats at the 750-meter mark and by 1.25 seconds at 1,000 meters. Brown pulled away from the competition, though, finishing in 6:37.20.

"We put so much hard work into it, and we owed ourselves nothing short of a perfect race," Brown senior Caroline Grogan said. "We had so much confidence in each other."

Washington managed to come from fourth in the final 500 meters to finish second. California, which had been second for most of the race, was beaten out for third by Virginia in the final lengths.

"I thought it was a great battle in the last 500 meters," Washington coach Jan Harville said. "We came up a little short against a great crew."

The Brown I Eight victory helped the Bears score 59 points. Washington finished second with 55 and Virginia was third with 48.

The Bears set a championship-record time of 6:48.39 en route to the II Eights victory. Virginia had set the previous record at 6:50.79 last year. As in the I Eights race, the Huskies fought back during the II Eights to claim a come-from-behind second place finish.

Washington won the Fours finals with a time of 7:49.00, edging out the Bears in the final 500 meters. Brown finished in 7:53.10, while Virginia placed third with a time of 7:55.10.

Brown is the second team to claim back-to-back rowing titles. Washington claimed the first two in 1997 and 1998.

1. Brown, 59; 2. Washington, 55; 3. Virginia, 48; 4. California, 38; 5. Michigan, 34; 6. Princeton, 32; 7. Boston U., 20; 8. Michigan St., 18; 9. Ohio St., 13; 10. Harvard, 13. Ê

I Eights: 1. Brown 6:37.20 [Portia Johnson, Rachel Anderson, Anda Adams, Kellie Walker, Jessica Lanning, Liane Malcos, Erin Kelley, Caroline Grogan (coxswain)]; 2. Washington, 6:41.10; 3. Virginia, 6:42.79; 4. California, 6:46.50; 5. Michigan, 6:49.29; 6. Princeton, 6:50.20.

II Eights: 1. Brown [Annie Carter, Mariah Raymond, Rosie Branson-Gill, Lucy Luedens-Booth, Kelly Egan, Caanora Glick, Hadley Hoseas, Nina Freeman and Eleanor D'Ambrosio (coxswain)], 6:48.39; 2. Washington, 6:58.79; 3. Virginia, 7:00.89; 4. Michigan, 7:02.60; 5. Princeton, 7:06.00; 6. California, 7:07.70.

Fours: 1. Washington [Adrienne Hunter, Heidi Hurn, Carrie Stasiak, Lauren Estevenin and Anne Hessburg (coxswain)], 7:49.00; 2. Brown, 7:53.10; 3. Virginia, 7:55.10; 4. California, 7:57.39; 5. Boston U., 8:02.50; 6. Princeton, 8:17.60.