Novice rowers post thrilling comeback in sweep
By Daily Bruin Staff
March 16, 2009 10:07 p.m.
For the second time in two weeks, the UCLA women’s rowing team swept its four races at Ballona Creek in Marina del Rey.
After breezing past Loyola Marymount last weekend, UCLA overwhelmed San Diego State on Saturday.
The Bruins edged the Aztecs by over 15 seconds in the Varsity Four, by almost 10 seconds in the second Varsity Eight and by more than 23 seconds in the final Varsity Eight.
The first race of the day was also the closest. UCLA fell behind in the Novice Eight race but rallied for a narrow victory.
“There are six women in that boat who never rowed before,” UCLA coach Amy Fuller Kearney said in a press release. “It was a great job by the coxswain to recognize (SDSU’s) slowdown.”
The Bruin cox was freshman Leslie Chou, who according to fellow freshman Cheyenne Manskee, saw that the Aztecs were losing stroke.
“We just went for it,” Manskee said in the release. “Everybody was burning, so we just laid it on.”
UCLA ended up winning by a half-length after trailing by almost 1,500 meters. The Bruins return to the water following finals week to race at the Pac-10 Challenge in Redwood Shores in the last week of March.
Compiled by Blair Angulo, Bruin Sports senior staff, from Bruin wire services.
