University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Bruins Win Second Annual Lexus Gauntlet Trophy Race
June 4, 2003
UCLA's victory over USC in NCAA men's tennis regional action on Sunday, May 11, clinched the race for the second annual Lexus Gauntlet Trophy. A news conference has been scheduled for Wednesday, June 11 at 2:30 p.m. in the lobby of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in the Morgan Center. At that time, the Southern California Lexus Dealers Association will present the Trophy to Bruin athletic director Dan Guerrero and members of the UCLA athletic department.
The sport-by-sport scoring for the trophy ended with each school scoring 55 points. USC scored the final five points of the competition by winning in women's rowing on May 10 and forcing the competition to tie breakers.
The first tiebreaker is head-to-head regular-season matchups. The final tally in that area was 16-16, forcing the competition to the second tiebreaker - head-to-head post-season victories. With its win in men's tennis, UCLA increased its lead in that matchup to 4-0. With no other potential post-season meetings possible, USC could not catch UCLA in this category, thus clinching the trophy for the Bruins.
UCLA trailed 50-35 in late April but scored 15 points and secured 2.5 others on the weekend of April 25-27 to pull into a 50-50 tie. The Bruin men's track and field team won its dual meet, 82-81, and the Bruin women's track and field squad beat the Women of Troy, 104-59. In women's water polo, a 7-6 sudden death overtime win over USC not only secured a place in the MPSF Championship game but also secured the five points allotted to the season series winner, UCLA (3-1). A USC win would have tied the season series, thus giving 2.5 points of the five points to USC. In women's golf, UCLA placed third at the Pac-10 Championships, one stroke ahead of fourth-place USC.
UCLA's 27-stroke victory over Arizona in the Pacific-10 Conference men's golf championships on April 30 gave the Bruins a 55-50 lead in the race.
The Bruins and Trojans compete against each other in 18 sports. Five points are awarded to the winner of the each sport's season series or, for those sports that don't meet head-to-head, the team that places higher in the conference championship (10 points are awarded in football, men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball). The Lexus Gauntlet trophy winner needs 57.5 points to clinch the victory outright. If both schools end up with 55 points, a tiebreaker is implemented.
UCLA won the competition in 10 sports that award five points each. USC won the competition in seven sports, three worth 10 points each and four worth five points. The two schools split points (five each) in women's basketball.
The Southern California Lexus Dealer Association is the title sponsor of every USC-UCLA athletic competition. This is the first time the two universities have partnered with a corporate entity for complete rivalry sponsorship. In the fall of 2001, the schools signed a 4-year contract of undisclosed terms with Lexus, America's best-selling luxury automotive manufacturer for three years in a row.
Up-to-date releases and point standings can be found at www.gauntlettrophy.com.