April 21, 2008

LOS ANGELES - UCLA now trails USC by only 10 points following a pair of victories Friday (April 18) in men's and women's tennis. The sixth-ranked Bruins defeated No. 10 Women of Troy 5-2 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center to claim their first-ever Pac-10 women's tennis championship. Later Friday afternoon, UCLA's fifth-ranked men's team edged the No. 4 Trojans 4-3 at Marks Stadium to clinch its fifth straight conference crown.

The Bruins picked up another five points toward the 150-pound, pewter-gilded trophy presented by the Southern California Lexus Dealers by completing season sweeps of its cross-town rival in the two sports. USC leads UCLA 47.5 to 37.5 heading into the final five events of the year-round, all-sports competition.

The remaining leg of the 2008 Lexus Gauntlet chase begins today as third-ranked USC and No. 1 UCLA compete for five trophy points at the 22nd Pac-10 Women's Golf Championship at the Palos Verdes Golf Club. The highest finisher in the team results of the three-day, 54-hole championship will collect the five Gauntlet points awarded in the sport. UCLA has claimed the points in women's golf every year since the inception of the Lexus Gauntlet.

USC needs to win two of the remaining five events to claim its fourth Lexus Gauntlet championship in the seven-year history of the cross-town rivalry challenge. Defending Gauntlet champion UCLA must win four of the final five events to retain the coveted trophy. Along with this week's women's golf championship, five Lexus Gauntlet points are still to be decided in men's golf, women's rowing and men's and women's track and field.

The Lexus Gauntlet competition closes out next week, first with the Pac-10 Men's Golf Championship (April 28-30) followed by women's rowing (May 2) and the annual dual men's and women's track and field meet (May 2-3) at Drake Stadium. If these events were handicapped by previous outcomes, UCLA would be favored in men's golf and both men's and women's track and field while USC is unbeaten in women's rowing in Lexus Gauntlet dual races.

In the first six years of the competition, UCLA and USC have alternated winning the Lexus Gauntlet trophy. The Bruins captured the rivalry's crown jewel in 2003, again in 2005 and in 2007. The Trojans won the challenge in 2002, 2004 and 2006. The Lexus Gauntlet is on display at the UCLA Hall of Fame.

The Southern California Lexus Dealers are proud to be the leading sponsors of both UCLA and USC athletic departments as well as the exclusive title sponsor of every USC-UCLA athletic competition. For more than 80 years, these champion rivals have competed for the ultimate city-wide title of number one. Now, based on the practice of knights who challenged each other to duel by throwing their armored gauntlets to the ground, Lexus has issued the absolute challenge: the Lexus Gauntlet competition.