Nov. 2, 2008. Newport Beach- The 2008-09 crew started its fall season on Sunday with 4 crews competing in 2 events.

The Open eight had the UCLA A entry starting in front of the Cal A entry loaded with Olympians from several nations. The Bruins held off the Bears with some good steering around the turns by coxswain Lila Miller. “We had a great challenge to see how long we could hold off Cal, said Captain Martin Reschke. Lila forced them wide on both turns and the guys really gave it everything to hold them on the straight away.”

The Bruins stayed ahead of Cal for the first mile and a half. “After Cal passed we definitely had a lull. It took us about 30 strokes to get back to our base speed,” stroke Jake Kaye.

Cal A was the winner with the UCLA A entry placing 9th and the B entry placing 23rd out of a filed of 32.

The Open 4 race was an hour later with Cal A winning. The two UCLA entries placed 14th and 19th respectively in a field of 25. The B entry had 2 collisions with UC Davis but neither crews were penalized.

“We have been focusing on team rhythm this fall and I thought all our boats did well with that today, said Coach Mokha. The A entry in the Open 8 really went after it in the beginning of the race to try and stay ahead of Cal. I think that probably hurt them in the second half of the race but that’s ok, it’s just a fall race.”

The Bruin varsity squad competes next on Nov. 22 at the Head of the Harbor hosted by USC.