This post was updated May 22 at 11:14 p.m.

Rough weather coupled with fresh competition proved to be obstacles in the way of the Bruins’ postseason hopes.

In its final tournament of the 2025 season, No. 25 UCLA rowing (1-1) concluded its year at the Big Ten championships in Indianapolis, notching a ninth-place finish with 72 points after securing two first-place finishes.

While the result failed to push the team to a qualifying spot in the NCAA championships – leading it to miss the tournament for the 11th consecutive season – the Bruins are proud of how they adapted to change.

“I’m super proud of everyone for what they did. Saturday was a really tough day with the weather, and I think we can let that affect us and reset for Sunday,” said junior port Audrey Loeb. “I’m really proud of everyone – from the top boat to the bottom boat – for going out there and giving it their all, because I definitely saw that on the water on Sunday.”

UCLA’s highest finish came on the first day of the tournament with the third spot in its fourth varsity eight, placing behind No. 2 Washington and No. 7 Rutgers by 10.397 seconds and .346 seconds, respectively. However, the Bruins managed to secure two first-place finishes on the final day of competition.

The crew’s third varsity eight finished with a 6:44.790 mark, almost 4.5 seconds ahead of second-place Iowa, while beating No. 16 Indiana by almost 10 seconds with a 7:18.329 in its second varsity four.

Junior starboard Danielle DeFrancisci said the difference between Saturday and Sunday’s racing was apparent.

“(We were) treating the two races as their own events and trying to focus first, only on Saturday and second, focusing only on our Sunday race scene,” DeFrancisci said.

The team finished in last place in two races, one each day of competition. On Saturday, the Bruins finished last in their first varsity eight, coming in at 6:53.628, while finishing last Sunday in the first varsity eight petite final with a 6:29.456.

At the end of the tournament, junior starboard Kaija Frassrand was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team, while DeFrancisci was named a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honoree, which she largely credits to her teammates’ support.

“Obviously, it was an honor to receive that. I can’t thank my teammates enough for being such incredible support and teammates … and for inspiring me to do this every day,” DeFrancisci said.

The Bruins’ weekend outing was their first Big Ten championships alongside the second-seeded Huskies, who came away with the title.

Loeb said the team adapted well to coaching adjustments through the season and meshed well with its interim head coach.

“It’s been an interesting year with the fires, and we had … some coaching adjustments in the fall, and I think we all adjusted well,” Loeb said. “And (we) trusted each other.”

Despite failing to qualify for the NCAA championships, DeFrancisci said she is excited to see continued team growth.

“We had a really young team this year, so I’m excited to see a lot of the underclassmen grow into more of a leadership role and have a better understanding of the program,” DeFrancisci said.