Fast conditions, created exciting racing, as the UCLA Men's rowing Team were successful in retaining The Guy Lundberg Memorial Cup. Loyola Marymount had a bigger squad then last year, and were able to field two crews this year. A Varsity Four and a Novice Eight. This is a clear sign that they are rebuilding their program well and are going to be a force to reckon with over the coming seasons.

In the first race the UCLA Novice First Eight, stroked by Omer Elmadbouh, jumped out to an early lead and looked efficient and controlled. However the LMU Novice eight recognised the threat and fought back well over the 1st 500m to make sure the UCLA crew never broke away to a clear water lead. Slowly over the middle section of the race, the LMU crew mounted attack after attack, and were steadily closing in on the lead. Some steering issues in the LMU boat allowed the UCLA coxswain Brandon Bettinger to skillfully surge ahead and destroy the LMU crew momentum. Then seizing the opportunity Bettinger launched a well time sprint that had the UCLA moving away by the time the crews crossed the finishline. This was a hardfought race between evenly matched crews, and the result was a clear demonstration of coxswain skill. UCLA has a young coxswain in Brandon Bettinger with a very bright future. LMU were close enough behind that they will be looking forward to the next time these two crews meet. UCLA also had another Novice crew that raced strongly, but were unable to get out of the starting blocks quickly enough to challenge for the win.

In the second race, the UCLA Varsity Eight split into two fours and faced a brave LMU crew who were eying an upset. LMU got off the startline very quickly and were trying to match the energetic start speed of the UCLA 'B' crew. The UCLA 'B' Crew had renowned fast starter Mark Replogle in the strokeseat. Behind Replogle were Peter Frederick and Zack Kline, who are two of the teams most powerful oarsmen, and Shaye Busse was in the bowseat providing his traditional intensity. Coxing the crew was Giselle Sadler who is back from her academic exchange in France, and showing she has lost none of her rowing skill during her time overseas. On the other side of the course the UCLA 'A' crew settled quickly into a low and powerful stroke rate, and ignored the bluster and power of the other two crews. Four year Varsity rower Dominic Pardini doesn't scare easily, and sitting in strokeseat he calmly unleashed the talent of new UCLA rowers in his crew. of John Kinnear (Orange coast transfer), Alan McIvor (Freshman from Fox Chapel Crew) and Trevor Phillips (Freshman from Newport Aquatic Center) are all making a positive impact in training, and so it was no surprise that after 750m they were making a big impact on this race. Adela Armstrong-Spielberg coxed the team well clear fo the other crews and then was relentless in putting her foot on the accelerator and moving as far ahead as possible. Due to the tail conditions the times were exceptionally quick, and the crew was not far outside the World Record for the first half of this race.

Novice Eights Results
UCLA 'A' 6:12
LMU 'A' 6:15
UCLA 'B' 6:38

Varsity Fours Results
UCLA 'A' 6:12
UCLA 'B' 6:33
LMU 'A' 6:44

UCLA First Novice 8+
Cox. Brandon Bettinger
Stroke. Omer Elmadbouh
Seven. Harrison Zilli
Six. Erik Hsu-Storaker
Five. Noah Crousore
Four. Emmanuel Velasquez
Three. Christopher Nicol
Two. Antonio Raphael
Bow. Andrew Selius