Saturday was the Pacific Coast Championships with the Bruins competing in four events. The novice four qualified for the six boat final in the morning heats but found a rough go of it in the final finishing sixth with Cal winning easily. Next up was the second novice eight which had a three boat final. The Bruins jumped out at the start and cruised to a twenty five second victory over Washington St. and USC. "It felt fantastic! Said stroke James Callinan. It was very rewarding to row so well in a championship race." The afternoon started with the open four. Cal quickly took control while Washington St. tried to stay in contact. The Bruins battled Oregon and Sonoma St. for the bronze eventually finishing in fifth ahead of Sac St.

The novice lightweight four was the last race of the day and started out very competitively with the Bruins, Cal and Washington St. rowing level to the 750 meter mark when UCLA caught a boat stopping crab taking them out of contention. Cal was the winner as UCLA finished a distant third. The day ended with the second novice eight throwing coxswain Jennie Page into Lake Natoma to celebrate their Pacific Coast Championship.

Sunday was the Pac-10 Championships with all but the Novice 8's having a final only. The Bruin novices were seeded seventh and had to upset Washington #2, Stanford #3 or Washington St. # 6 to advance. In the first 100 meters Washington St. had steering issues; the Bruins took advantage by pushing out to a one length lead and were able to hold the Cougars the rest of the way beating them by 3 seconds as Washington and Stanford also advanced. "I didn't notice at first but realized we were in a qualifying spot around the thousand. WSU made a push in the third 500 but we responded and held our position," 5-seat Greg Gausewitz. The final was a fast one. Cal led from the start beating a very fast Washington crew by seven seconds as Stanford and Oregon St. battled for the bronze with the Cardinals finishing three quarters of a length ahead followed by UCLA and USC. "It was great to be a part of such a fast race. We had a much stronger first 1000 meters than before and it showed in the increased gap over USC. It was nice to see our improvements over the year and finish with a strong performance," 7-seat Andrew Venardi.

For the first time in history the two top ranked crews in the country would face each other in the Pac-10 Championships. Washington, the number 1 ranked team since beating Cal in their dual three weeks ago, and Cal, the defending champions, have been ranked one or two all year. Rounding out the field was #5 Stanford, #19 Oregon State, UCLA, USC and Washington St. As the crews approached the first 500 meter mark the Huskies had a slight advantage over Cal with Stanford, UCLA and Oregon St. locked in a virtual tie for third. The field began to separate by two second gaps from the first place Huskies to the fifth place Bruins as USC and WSU fell off the pace. "We knew it was going to be the hardest race of our lives and we were so focused on being in contact with the field as long as we could, said 5-seat Greg Somers, being next to Stanford and OSU through the thousand was a great feeling and showed how hard we have worked and how far UCLA crew has come in just one year."

The Bruins could not maintain the speed of the leaders in the third 500 as Oregon State and Stanford broke open water to secure third and fourth place. Washington, winning its first Pac-10 in several years, was followed by Cal, Stanford, OSU and UCLA with USC and WSU following. "I wanted the guys to get a fast start and feel the speed of a race like this and I think they did. We just couldn't hold it in the second thousand, said Head Coach Paul Mokha, our youth and inexperience got the best of us today. I thought we could have been closer at the finish."

The varsity 8 finishes the year with a record of 45-8. The Bruins now look to the IRA as they hope to have both the varsity four and freshman four entries accepted. The announcement is May 25th.