The Washington Huskies are the athletic teams that represent the University of Washington. The school is a member of the Pac-12 Conference.
Among its facilities on campus are Husky Stadium (football), Hec Edmundson Pavilion (basketball, gymnastics and volleyball), Husky Ballpark (baseball), Husky Softball Stadium (softball), the Nordstrom Tennis Center, the Dempsey Indoor practice facility, and the Conibear Shellhouse (rowing). Recently added was the Husky Track located just north of the Husky Ballpark. The golf team's home course is at the Washington National Golf Club in Auburn.
UW students, sports teams, and alumni are called Huskies. The husky was selected as the school mascot by student committee in 1923. It replaced the "Sun Dodger," an abstract reference to the local weather that was quickly dropped in favor of something more tangible. The costumed "Harry the Husky" performs at sporting and special events, and a live Alaskan Malamute, currently named Dubs, has traditionally led the UW football team onto the field at the start of games. The school colors of purple and gold were adopted in 1892 by student vote. The choice was purportedly inspired by the first stanza of Lord Byron's The Destruction of Sennacherib:
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Sports sponsored
The 2016 Washington Huskies - Introducing the 2016 Washington Husky Football Team.
The University of Washington sponsors teams in ten men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports, primarily competing in the Pac-12 Conference with rowing in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association, and both track and field programs in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Football
The university football team's first game was in 1889.
From 1907 to 1917, Washington football teams were unbeaten in 64 consecutive games, an NCAA Division I-A record. During this period, Washington won 40 games in a row under coach Gil Dobie, currently the second longest winning streak in NCAA Division I-A history. In 1916, Dobie finished his remarkable coaching career at Washington with an undefeated 58-0-3 record.
The 1925 team posted an undefeated record but lost to Alabama 21-20 in the Rose Bowl. The 1960 team finished 10-1, under coach Jim Owens, and won its second consecutive Rose Bowl by defeating national champion Minnesota 17-7 (the national champion was declared before the bowl games in 1960). Coach Owens served from 1957 to 1974. Don James became head coach in 1975 and transformed the team into a national power while compiling a 153-57-2 record. James' first successful year was in 1977 with the team quarterbacked by Warren Moon culminating in a 27-20 victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Washington and Michigan played again in the Rose Bowl in 1981 resulting in a Michigan win 23-11. The next year, the Huskies returned to the Rose Bowl and defeated Iowa 28-0, the last Rose Bowl shutout and the only shutout in the past half century. Following a two-year hiatus during which cross-state rival WSU prevented the Huskies from Rose Bowl appearances by defeating them in the last game of the 1982 and 1983 seasons, Washington posted an 11-1 record and beat Oklahoma 28-17 to win the Orange Bowl. Senior running back, Jacque Robinson won the MVP award and was the first player to win MVP awards for both the Orange and Rose Bowls.
The 1991 team is considered to be the best Washington Husky football team and among the best in college football history. The team went undefeated, winning against opponents by an average score of 42-9 in regular season, including wins over No. 9 Nebraska, No. 7 California and a 34-14 win over No. 4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl. In 2000, Washington finished with an 11-1 record, and won its seventh Rose Bowl under the leadership of Marques Tuiasosopo. In 2009, under first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian, the Huskies snapped a 15-game losing streak with a 42-23 victory over Idaho. The following week, Washington crushed the spirits of then-No. 3 USC, winning 16-13 on a last-second field goal. The Huskies rose to No. 25 in the polls after the victory but lost six of their next eight games to fall to 5-7 prior to a season finale showdown against No. 19-ranked California, where the Huskies won 42-10.
- National Championships awarded or claimed (4)
- 1960 (Helms), 1985 (B(QPRS), FN, NCF), 1990 (Rothman/FACT), 1991 (CNN and FWAA)
- Pac-12 titles (16)
- 1916, 1919, 1925, 1936, 1959 (tie), 1960, 1963, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1990, 1991, 1992 (tie), 1995 (tie), 2000 (tie), 2016
- Bowl history
- 18 wins, 17 losses, 1 tie
Men's basketball
- NCAA Championships
- National Champion: (None)
- Final Four: 1953
- Sweet 16: 1984, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2010
- Pac-12 Regular Season Titles (11)
- 1931, 1934, 1943, 1944 (tie), 1948, 1951, 1953, 1984 (tie), 1985 (tie), 2009, 2012
- Pac-12 Tournament Championships (3)
- 2005, 2010, 2011
Women's basketball
- NCAA Championships
- National Champion: (None)
- Final Four: 2016
- Elite Eight: 1990, 2001, 2016
- Sweet 16: 1988, 1991, 1995, 2001, 2016, 2017
- NWBL (Coast Division) Regular Season Titles (1)
- 1978
- NorPac Regular Season Titles (2)
- 1985, 1986
- Pac-10 Regular Season Titles (3)
- 1988, 1990(t), 2001(t)
- NorPac Tournament Championships (1)
- 1985
Softball
- NCAA Championships (1)
- Championships: (2009)
- Title games: 1996, 1999, 2009
- Pac-12 Championships (3)
- 1996, 2000, 2010
Baseball
- Pacific Coast Conference Championships (2)
- 1919, 1922
- Pacific Coast Conference North Division Championships (8)
- 1923, 1925, 1926, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1952, 1959
- Pac-10 North
- 1981, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
Women's cross country
- NCAA Championships (1)
- 2008
- NCAA West Region Championships (5)
- 1989, 1992, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
- Pac-12 Championships (2)
- 2008, 2009
Men's cross country
- Pac-12 Championships (1)
- 1993
- West Regional Champions (1)
- 2015
- 8th NCAA National Championships
- 2015
Men's soccer
- Pac-12 Championships (13)
- 1968, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2013
Men's tennis
- Pac-12 Championships (39)
- 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2005
Women's tennis
- Pac-12 Championships
- 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
Volleyball
- NCAA Championships (1)
- 2005
- Pac-12 Championships
- 1980, 2004, 2005, 2013, 2015, 2016
Rowing
The University of Washington rowing is a longstanding tradition at the UW dating back to 1899. The Washington men's crew won the gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, defeating the German and Italian crews.
The crew's traditional rival has been the other West Coast powerhouse, the University of California Golden Bears.
- Women's NCAA Championships (1997, 1998, 2001, 2017)
- Varsity Eight: 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2017 (Plus eight more before the NCAA took over jurisdiction for women's rowing, including 5 in a row from 1981-1985)
- Junior Varsity Eight: 2002, 2017
- Varsity Four: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2017
- Women's Pac-12 Championships
- Varsity Eight: 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2017
- Junior Varsity Eight: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2014, 2017
- Freshman Eight: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2017
- Varsity 4: 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2017
- Men's IRA Championships
- Varsity Eight: 1923, 1924, 1926, 1936, 1937, 1940, 1941, 1948, 1950, 1970, 1997, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
- Junior Varsity Eight: 1925, 1926, 1927, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1964, 1972, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015
- Freshman Eight: 1931, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1961, 1969, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
- Men's National Collegiate Rowing Championship (1982-1996)
- Varsity Eight: 1984
- Men's Pac-12 Championships
- Varsity Eight: 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017
- Junior Varsity Eight: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017
- Freshman Eight: 1961, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
- Varsity 4: 1978, 1979, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017
Men's golf
The men's golf team has won six Pac-12 Conference championships: 1961, 1963, 1988, 2005, 2009, 2010. James Lepp won the NCAA (individual) Championship in 2005.
Women's golf
The women's golf team won their first NCAA national championship in 2016 by beating Stanford 3â€"2. In 1961 Judy Hoetmer won the women's national intercollegiate individual golf championship (an event conducted by the Division of Girls' and Women's Sports through 1981, the first year of the rival NCAA women's golf championship).
Notable non-varsity sports
Rugby
Founded in 1963, the University of Washington Husky Rugby Club plays college rugby in Division 1 in the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference against local rivals such as Washington State and Oregon. The Huskies won the Northwest championship in 1996, 2002, 2004 and 2005 and the D1AA Varsity Cup in 2014. The Huskies are led by head coach Brian Schoener, who formerly played for the U.S. national rugby team, by former U.S. national team player Kevin Swiryn, and by Director of Rugby Mike Alfstad. The Huskies rugby team is partially funded by an endowment from the alumni association.
Lacrosse
The University of Washington Husky Lacrosse Club plays college lacrosse in the Division 1 of the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) against local rivals such as Washington State, Oregon, Oregon St. and Western Washington. The Huskies have made the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL) playoffs 5 of the last 6 years. The Lacrosse team plays their home games on the IMA fields, and are regularly attended and popular amongst UW students; especially when in-state rival, Washington St. comes into town. The Husky's Lacrosse team is funded by annual dues paid by the players, as well as assistance from the IMA, and fundraisers.
Live mascot
Before 1920, The University of Washington had two mascots, the Indians and Vikings. In 1920, the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) voted to approve "Sundodger" as its official mascot. The mascot consisted of a smiling figure holding an umbrella, which was probably ahead of it's time for 1920. The Sundodger was likely chosen as a tingue-in-cheek allusion to the city of Seattle's rainy weather. In 1922, after deciding that Sundodger was probably a poor idea, the student body held elections for a new mascot.
The issue with the Sundodger name lingered into 1922, when the student body felt that it held little to no meaning, nor was is truly representative of the state of Washington. In 1922, The Husky mascot (a previous runner up in the 1920 election) emerged as the winner.
The Husky was likely chosen due to its relative ease to draw, short name for use in newspapers at the time, and it represented the ferocity of the athletic program. The ASUW felt that The Husky was a true representation of the Seattle area because many viewed Seattle as the "Gateway to the Alaskan frontier", a phrase dating back to the Alaskan Gold Rush.
Dubs (who is the first of his name) became the newest Husky mascot in 2009. He is an Alaskan Malamute from Burlington, Washington. He was born in November of 2008.
A contest was arranged on the school's athletic page GoHuskies.com in 2008 to vote on a name for the latest in a long line of Huskies. After more than 20,000 votes, Dubs emerged as the winner and became the name of the 13th live animal mascot.
Dubs always can be found prior to home Husky football games as seen in this video
Dubs is highly active on social media, and has his own Facebook , Twitter Instagram and Blog.
References
External links
- Official website
