The Men's Varsity 8, competing in the San Diego Crew Classic Cal Cup, came up .4 seconds short on Mission Bay yesterday.

"Disappointing is all I can say, recalled 5-seat Greg Somers, we didn't respond well in the last 400 meters and didn't get it done."

The Bruins took the lead in the first 250 meters but were challenged for that lead at some point in the race by each competing crew. It was UC-San Diego that drew even at 400 meters to go as both crews went stroke for stroke to the finish line with the Tritons getting their bow ball ahead to win in a time of 6:30.6 followed by UCLA 6:31.02 and UC-Davis 6:32.7. "It was a heck of a boat race, said Head Coach Paul Mokha, it's a tough one to lose but the guys competed well. I think this will be a good motivator as we go into the heart of the racing season." The Bruin novice eights had some mixed results. On Saturday both novice crews had rough outings in the heats. The novice A crew finished 5th putting them in the 3rd level final and the novice B crew, who were racing for lane assignments in the final, were challenging for second place when a boat stopping crab with 20 strokes to go put them in 6th. Both crews turned their misfortunes into motivation as the novice A crew went out and won the 3rd level final by open water. "We had a lot to prove to everyone that the morning race didn't reflect our true speed, said 6-seat Darius Faizi. This was a good experience as well as a wake up call for us all."

The novice b's, also having something to prove, put in a solid performance finishing third in the event. Coxswain Jennie Page, "After the morning crab the guys were determined to perform well. We had our best race of the year and were pleased with our finish."

The Bruins have an open weekend with their next race in Newport Beach on April 14th.