LMU dominates UCLA to win Karen Hock-Hjelm Cup

By Jessica Bach
Daily Bruin Contributor

The UCLA women’s varsity rowing team watched helplessly as
the Loyola Marymount rowers proudly sported the Karen Hock-Hjelm
Cup that the Lions had just won with a victory over the Bruins by
eight seconds.

With a time of 7:09.08, LMU’s varsity swept both
UCLA’s Varsity 8, who finished second at 7:17.02, and the JV
8, who rounded up the pack at 7:33.0, at Marina Del Rey on
Saturday.

But the Bruins were victorious with its Novice team who
continued a successful run, beating LMU in a 1-2 finish. The Novice
A boat won with a time of 7:37.92, the Novice B finished at 8:00.92
and LMU rowed to third place two seconds behind at 8:02.04.

“This was what we expected and maybe a little
better,” head coach Amy Fuller said. “The Novice had an
excellent race and the varsity got closer (to LMU) than they ever
have.”

In the varsity race, LMU took a quick lead that it maintained
throughout the race. By the 1250-meter mark, they had extended the
margin to three seats of open water over the Varsity 8 with the JV
two boat lengths behind them.

“We were right up there with LMU. We stepped it up really
nicely and did a nice job working together in the boat,”
sophomore varsity coxswain Kate Harbor said. “We had a nice
start, but the third 500 (meters) is kind of the hardest part to
get through in the race.

“We have a move that we do, it’s kind of like a
commitment move, where we all pull together to get through the
hardest part, and it worked pretty well.”

As a first-year varsity boat, the Bruins continue to struggle
against other established teams.

“For the varsity race, we just wanted to stick as close as
we could,” Fuller said. “We knew they were going a
little faster than us, but our goal has been to step it up every
weekend and improve one aspect of our racing.”

As the next generation of UCLA rowers, the novice team has been
steadily improving and winning as they learn. Their growth showed
when they qualified for the Grande Finals of the San Diego Crew
Classic on April 7.

In this weekend’s race, the Novice A came out strong from
the start. They took an early lead which they pushed to two boat
lengths by the 1250-meter mark, finally finishing 23 seconds ahead
of the Novice B boat and 25 seconds in front of LMU.

“We really came together as a unit today,” junior
novice starboard Dawn Regan said. “It felt really good
out there and we had a lot of fun. The coxswain Kate Woodruff made
some great calls, and we just stuck together as a team. I think
this was one of our best races, and we just wanted to get it done,
take care of business early on, and get in and get out.”

As their times get better, the Bruins are slowly showing they
can hold their own with other West Coast teams.

“We’ve taken humongous steps,” assistant coach
Guillermo Lemus said. “We’ve been beating teams that
are at our same level, and having four 8s that are pretty much
similar in speed is just pushing everybody up a little
more.”

LMU may have walked off with a cup, but that means little to the
Bruins.

“It’s not about the win, but the improvements they
are making,” Fuller said.