Nov. 21, 2001

The Loyola Marymount University Women's and Men's Rowing squads raced in the Newport Autumn Rowing Festival on Sunday, November 4. LMU entered boats in the Women's Open 8, Men's Open 8, and Women's Novice 8 events. The course for NARF is a 4.5 kilometer progression through Newport Harbor. In a head race the boats pass through the start line in single file, generally ten seconds apart from one another. Times are then compared after all crews from an event have completed the course.

The Men's Varsity got things underway with an 8AM start. The Lions finished 10th overall of 19 collegiate crews in a time of 15:35. The race was won by Cal Berkeley, the three-time defending National Champion, in a time of 14:19. LMU's lineup consisted of cox Katie Drake, 8 Brooks Jones, 7 Robert Klamser, 6 Aaron Clousing, 5 Jarret Carle, 4 Nick Caniglia, 3 Pat Madigan, 2 Matt Goethals, and bow Andres Carlos.

In the Women's Open 8 race the Lions powered their way to a best ever 3rd place finish in a time of 16:48. This placed them ahead of 17 other college boats. The boating went out as cox Blake Boyer, 8 Angela Tanner, 7 Jaymie Taylor, 6 Charlie Livingstone, 5 Malin Gustavsson, 4 Vanessa Glendenning, 3 Kristen Kelly, 2 Jenny Griffin, and bow Kim Clark. USC won the race, going 15:45. The LMU 2nd Varsity Eight was able to row their way to a mid-pack finish amongst the many 2V entries. The crew consisted of cox Reesa Bruketta, 8 Caitlin McClain, 7 Jessica Suver, 6 Mel Salter, 5 Beth Henderson, 4 Erin Tyerman, 3 Megan Welch, 2 Emily Leung, and bow Jill Shimamoto.

In the Women's Novice 8 race the Lions took home gold. Novice athletes are those who have never competed in collegiate rowing. LMU started near the top of the ladder and just kept pulling away. The boat finished in 17:13, a full 50 seconds clear of the second place crew. There were over 20 boats entered in the event. Coxswain Reesa Bruketta, 8 Vanessa Glendenning, 7 Angela Tanner, 6 Caitlin McClain, 5 Megan Welch, 4 Liz Gordon, 3 Jessica Suver, 2 Caitlin Jesse, and bow Melanie Salter combined to earn the victory for Loyola Marymount.

Full race results can be seen and downloaded at www.newportaquaticcenter.net.

The traditional season for Rowing, or Crew, is Spring. The team will compete in 2000 meter sprint events from March through May.