The Men's crew competed at the Newport Regatta on Saturday against five other southern California Universities.

The UCLA A entry finished second to a very strong Orange Coast College crew in the Novice 4 event with the B entry finishing fourth. In the Novice 8 event it was again the Pirates of Orange Coast College (5:53.54) running way with it over second place UCSD (6:10.56) and UCLA (6:13.1). USC, UC- Irvine and San Diego rounded out the field. "We had a good start and settle which put us right with UCSD but they pulled away from us in the last 400 meters. We were definitely faster than we were at the crew classic," 2-seat Jake Kaye.

The JV8 didn't fair as well finishing 6th behind event winner Orange Coast College. The Varsity 8 race was a much anticipated rematch of the Crew classic final where UC San Diego edged out the Bruins by .4 seconds. The race unfolded much as it did two weeks ago with the Bruins taking the lead from the start. UCLA extended its lead to 8 seats in the middle 1000 meters when the Tritons started their familiar sprint. "They moved a little at 500 meters to go but we countered. Today we kept our composure which made our sprint more affective and focused than last time," 3-seat Alex Blaseio.

The Tritons sprint came to an end when the 2 seat caught a crab with about 10 strokes to go. "We had about a 6 seat lead when they crabbed there at the end so I don't think it affected the outcome. It is nice to see our hard work pay off," stroke Martin Reschke.

"The entire squad performed better this week which is good to see, said Head Coach Paul Mokha. I am very happy for the V8. They took the loss in San Diego pretty hard so it was nice to see them make the changes necessary and come out with a win."

The Varsity 8 travels to Oak Ridge, Tennessee this weekend for the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. There will be 63 Universities and colleges represented with 19 entries in the Men's Varsity 8. Heats and semifinals are Saturday, April 21 and the finals are on Sunday, April 22.