Rowing loses final regatta to USC

The UCLA women’s rowing team fell 6-1 to crosstown rival No. 11 USC in its final regatta of the season at Marina del Rey on Saturday.

The Bruins won the novice eight race, but they ultimately dropped the other three races en route to a loss.

“They’re a good team,” coach Amy Fuller Kearney told uclabruins.com. “Our performance today was not a measure of what we can accomplish. I believe we’ll do better as the season progresses.”

The Bruins took an early lead in the novice eight, the first race of the morning, and never relinquished that lead to finish 9.28 seconds ahead of the Women of Troy.

But the USC boats won the first and second varsity eights and the varsity four to run away with the win.

Rowing races, which pit two boats against each other to race 2,000 meters, award three points to the winner of the first varsity eight, two points to the winner of the varsity four, and one point each to the winners of the second varsity eight and novice eight.

The Bruins lost by more than two minutes in the varsity four race but were just seconds behind the Women of Troy in the first varsity eight and second varsity eight races.

USC’s performance mirrored its competitive finishes last weekend against top East Coast squads Virginia and Harvard.

The Trojans kept up a similar performance as they defeated the Bruins for the eighth time in as many dual meets.

Despite the loss in their last home meet, the Bruins celebrated the careers of their six seniors: Candace Ferguson, Alexandra Howard, Megan Lightfoot, Hayley Robinson, Sheerin Salimi and Vanessa Teff.

The Bruins will now focus their efforts on training for the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships on May 16 and the Pacific-10 Championships on May 17.

With a first-place finish at the Pac-10s, the Bruins would have a chance to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships, which take place the weekend of May 29.

Compiled by Farzad Mashhood, Bruin Sports reporter.