Bruin digest

It’s a rarity for the road team to compete in front of a
friendly crowd. Particularly when it travels to face its crosstown
rival. But the No. 11 UCLA swimming and diving team had plenty of
support before, during and after its meet against USC on Saturday.
And it paid off for the Bruins, who avenged a pair of losses to the
Bay Area schools with a 175.5-122.5 win over the Trojans. In the
week leading up to the meet, the Bruins built up their momentum by
inviting motivational speakers and alumni to speak with them. When
the Bruins reached the pool, they appeared plenty inspired,
capturing ten of 16 first-place finishes. And afterward, their
efforts drew praises from the coaching staff. “It was one of
the best meets I’ve seen from the swimmers since I’ve
been here,” diving coach Tom Stebbins said. “We jumped
on them early and despite their attempts to claw their way back, we
wouldn’t let them.” A familiar name finishing first in
the pool was junior Kim Vandenberg, who swept all three of her
individual events, winning the 100- and 200-yard butterfly and the
200-yard freestyle. Along with Vandenberg, six other Bruins won
individual events. Sophomores Katie Nelson and Katie Arnold each
won two, while freshmen Nicolette Teo and Chiemi Yamamoto, and
senior Kim Scarborough also won their respective events.
“With these times, the team is poised to make a strong leap
into the end of the year,” Stebbins said. The divers also put
forth a strong showing, capturing 2nd through 5th place on the
one-meter, and 3rd through 6th place on the three-meter. “I
saw some life in my team that I hadn’t seen in a
while,” Stebbins said. “We are going to be dangerous
going into the end of the year.”

SOFTBALL: The UCLA softball team lost its second game of the
season on Sunday, losing to unranked Syracuse 2-1. The game was No.
2 UCLA’s only one at the Kajikawa Softball Tournament, hosted
by Arizona State. The Bruins were scheduled to play four other
games, but all were rained out. Syracuse scored both of its runs on
a fourth-inning home run by Courtney Mosch, which was given up by
UCLA pitcher Lisa Dodd. Dodd pitched the first four innings of the
game for the Bruins, allowing two runs on three hits. Freshman
Anjelica Selden relieved her in the fifth, and pitched two
scoreless innings, striking out all six batters she faced.
UCLA’s run came in the top of the first inning on a leadoff
home run by Caitlin Benyi. The Bruins only managed five hits in the
game on offense.

MEN’S GOLF: Though its 54-hole total was just four short
of a school record, the eighth-ranked men’s golf team was
still far from the top of the standings. The Bruins finished 13th
at the TaylorMade/Waikoloa Intercollegiates, held at the Waikoloa
Village Resort in Hawaii. Their score of 834 (-30) was 33 strokes
behind first-place Oklahoma State. Sophomore Peter Campbell led
UCLA with a three-day total of 6-under par. Sophomore Joakim
Renstrom, who was 9-under par over the first two days of the
competition, was forced to withdraw on the back nine on Friday
after suffering from food poisoning the night before.

HOCKEY: UCLA captured the Crosstown Cup for the first time in
six years with its 5-3 victory over USC on Friday. The two teams
had split their first four regular season games and were in danger
of losing the series after falling behind 2-0 after the first
period. However, two goals from Nikki Kollar and one apiece from
Scott Freschet and Marty Galstyan completed the Bruin comeback.

Compiled by Bruin sports senior staff