Ballona Creek, Calif., - April 30, 2005: USC concluded its 2005 regular season on Saturday with a surprise loss to UCLA in the annual spring dual for the Bob Hillen Memorial Cup.

USC races UCLA in the '05 Bob Hillen Memorial Cup ragatta.

Until the weekend, USC had dominated the spring series between the two rival rowing programs. The Trojans had previously defeated the Bruins by open water margins at both the San Diego Crew Classic and Newport Regatta in April. Recent history also favored USC’s varsity crew, which had defeated the Bruins in fourteen of the previous sixteen varsity eight races.

“Rivalries are terrific in sports,” said Head Coach Gene Kininmonth. “Rivalries bring out the raw emotion in athletes and raise standards as a result. Until now the USC-UCLA race had not been much of a contest between the two schools but the Bruins have now stepped forward to be reckoned with.”

After the races Kininmonth presented UCLA with the Bob Hillen Cup, named in honor of the former UCLA coxswain and long time USC rowing coach who passed away in 2003.

Varsity 8: Bob Hillen Memorial Cup
UCLA 5:51.7
USC 5:59.4

Varsity 4:
UCLA 6:49.1
UCLA 7:03.1
USC 7:06.5

Freshman 8:
UCLA 6:08.3
USC 6:21.1
UCLA 6:31.5.