SPORTSCOPE : Bruin Women Among Favorites for National Crew Championship

The UCLA men’s and women’s crews will compete in national championships.

Coach Kelly Salonites and her women’s eight, who have lost only to top-ranked Princeton this season, are among the favorites in the national regatta Saturday and Sunday at Lake Wingra in Madison, Wis. The Bruins were ranked second in the nation for most of the season.

In addition to Princeton, other strong crews include Wisconsin and defending national champion Cornell. In winning last year’s nationals, Cornell ended Washington’s streak of seven consecutive national titles.

The Bruin women received an automatic berth and an expenses-paid trip to the nationals after they won the Pacific Coast Championship, ending Washington’s 10-year reign as champion.

Coach Zenon Babraj and his UCLA men’s varsity plan to compete as an at-large crew in the national regatta June 17 in Cincinnati. The Bruins, who had won three consecutive Pacific Coast Championships, failed to get an automatic bid to the nationals when they finished second to Washington at this year’s Pacific Coast regatta.

The Bruin men, who will be going to the nationals for the fourth year in a row, are raising funds to finance their trip because only the Pacific Coast champion’s way is paid by the organizers of the Cincinnati regatta. Donations can be sent to Friends of UCLA Rowing, c/o UCLA Men’s Crew, Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, 405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles 90024-1639.

The UCLA women’s softball team won its third consecutive NCAA women’s College World Series, defeating Fresno State, 2-0, in the final. Freshman pitcher Heather Compton threw a one-hitter.

The Bruins, who have won six of eight national titles, had five players named to the all-tournament team: pitcher Lisa Longaker, first baseman Kerry Dienelt, third baseman-pitcher Lisa Fernandez and outfielders Yvonne Gutierrez and Shanna Flynn.

Pepperdine shortstop Chris Martin, Loyola Marymount outfielder Rick Mediavilla and UCLA catcher Paul Ellis were named to the NCAA Division I all-District 8 baseball team.

Ellis hit his 29th home run, the most by any Division I player as the week began, as the Bruins (41-26) were eliminated by Georgia Southern, 5-4, in the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Other players selected to the all-District 8 second team included UCLA first baseman Chris Pritchett, Loyola Marymount catcher Miah Bradbury, UCLA outfielder Joel Wolfe, Loyola Marymount outfielder Tony Kounas, Pepperdine pitcher Britt Craven and Loyola Marymount relief pitcher Darryl Scott.

East and West all-star baseball teams from the 3-A and 4-A divisions in the Los Angeles City-CIF Section will play Sunday at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium at the Veterans Administration in West Los Angeles. The Santa Monica Optimist Club is sponsoring the event.

The 3-A game will be at noon and the 4-A game at 3 p.m. Admission to the double-header is $5 for persons 18 and older, $3 for high school students and $2 for children 11 and younger.

An 18-man team will be selected from both levels to play all-star preps from Orange County at 7 p.m. June 18 at UC Irvine.