Orange Coast College - 2008 Crew Scrapbook

Washington won the semi in 5:44.670, followed by Brown in 5:45.218, with Coast less than a length behind. Coast will now row in the Grand Final tomorrow.  Cal was the winner of the other semifinal. Harvard and Wisconsin also qualified.

Moore had a good view of the sprint, watching about 15 feet from the finish line. "We were a good two feet ahead from where I was standing," Moore said. "They felt good about the race. They had a good start and were right in it. They moved well at the 1,000 and when they took tens.  They had a couple little bobbles, but they recovered well.  We did one more thing right than Cornell did to get on the right side of that bow ball."

Lane assignments for the grand are as follows: Lane 1 Orange Coast College, Lane 2 University of Wisconsin, Lane 3 University of Washington, Lane 4 University of California Berkeley, Lane 5 Brown University, Lane 6 Harvard University.

Coast has been attending the IRA regatta since 1968, when the Pirates finished second in the JV 8 behind Pennsylvania.  That performance was followed by a second-place finish in the Varsity 4 in 1969.  The Pirates were fifth in 1980 in the JV 8 and took home a bronze medal in that event in 1987. It has been 18 years, however, since Coast's last appearance in the second-varsity event at the IRA.  That was in 1990, when the Pirates finished fifth.  OCC's best finish in any event at the regatta came in 1980 when, under the direction of then-frosh coach Moore, the Pirates won the Freshman 8 championship.

Update - Blog Extra - 6 p.m.

Sophomore James Long-Lerno gives us a view from the stroke seat:

Well, we made it into the grand finals of the IRA regatta! Lucky for us too; finishing just two thousandths of a second in front of Cornell really had us worried for a second. We had made a few mistakes in our race, one of them being at the end of our sprint, which had worked so beautifully against them. A few rowers stopped at the wrong buzzer, giving Cornell the chance to close in the gap on us, almost costing us the race. Thankfully, we made it through and did what we needed to do.

Tomorrow marks the day we've been looking forward to all year and we can't wait to have the best row of our lives against Wisconsin, Washington, Berkeley, Brown, and Harvard. This will mark the end to our two years together at Coast and what a way to go out. Everyone's excited, resting, and ready to make everyone remember why we're called Giant Killers!

OCC (top, yellow boat) in Lane 5 surges in front of
Cornell in Lane 4 at finish line. Washington leads
in Lane 3. Brown is second in Lane 2 (bottom).

More pictures and results are available on our Results page.

Click here for a great picture of the crew in the row2k.com gallery.

Coxswain Mike Hinderberger gets the boat aligned for the heat race.

Read Ed Hewitt's "Smokin' Semis" article in row2k.com's coverage. Coast fans should be sure not to skip the fifth paragraph!

Great photo of the bow four racing in the semifinals.

Fountain Valley buddies Hanxleden and Huffman, both bound for Wisconsin next year, race in the semifinals.

The stern three pace the crew in the semifinals Thursday.

All of the linked pictures above may be purchased at row2k.com.

June 5, 2008

Strong Performance Vaults Coast to IRA Semifinals

CHERRY HILL, N.J.--The Orange Coast College crew put together a strong heat race Thursday morning at the 106th Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships on the Cooper River to advance to Friday's semifinals for the Kennedy Challenge Bowl.  With only two boats moving directly to the semis and the others having to go through Thursday afternoon's repechage races, Coast finished a close second behind Eastern Sprints champion Wisconsin and well ahead of Princeton.

Wisconsin crossed the line in 5 minutes, 57.550 seconds. Coast was less than a length back with a time of 5:59.284, showing it will be a crew to be reckoned with this weekend. Princeton put up a fight for the first 1,000 meters, but Coast lengthened out its stroke and broke the Tigers in the third 500. Princeton finished in 6:07.906. (A link to all of the regatta results can be found on the Results page of this website.)

Coast will be in good company Friday. Also advancing straight to the semifinals were Cal, Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Pac-10 champion Washington, and Northeastern. Cal posted the fastest time in the second-varsity event, winning the first heat in 5:56.777. Cornell posted a mild upset in the second heat, besting Harvard in 5:59.616. Washington won the fourth heat by open water over Northeastern with a time of 5:59.406.

With the conclusion of the repechage races Thursday afternoon, the semifinals are now set for Friday. Coast is in the first semi at 8:12 a.m. Pacific time. The top three boats will qualify for the Grand Final on Saturday. This race promises to be a scorcher. Harvard's third varsity is in Lane 1, Brown is in Lane 2, Washington is in Lane 3, Cornell is in Lane 4, Coast is in Lane 5, and Oregon State is in Lane 6. The other semi will have Boston University, Northeastern, Wisconsin, Cal, Harvard, and Princeton.

Coach Larry Moore was pleased with his crew's opening round performance. "They were very patient," Moore said.  "We talked about some of the tactics the other crews would use and not to get sucked in by them, and they did a good job of rowing their own race. They stayed long and weren't pushed. The name of the game is qualifying."

We got an insider's view of the race from Will Prioleau, 2 man in the Pirate boat. Here's how things looked from the 2 seat:

We had a good race this morning in our heat, finishing second to Wisconsin by about two seconds. We were able to get a sufficient warm-up by launching 45 minutes before our start. Off the starting line we were angled a little weird because of the current that was running perpendicular to the course from port to starboard during the alignment at the start. We had a clean start and recovered our point pretty quickly, staying up on the field with Wisconsin. Throughout most of the race, we were a couple of seats down on Wisconsin and battling back and forth with Princeton until somewhere in the third 500 when Princeton dropped off the face of the earth. We took our usual moves during the course of the race and took seats each time. The rest of the race we were still rowing cleanly and felt relaxed pacing Wisconsin, moving to about even with them at one point and letting them go a little in the last meters of the race. There was no need for a sprint to win as we were already comfortably in a qualifying position, but we all feel confident that when needed to we can bring up the pace and pass our competition by. We rowed well together and are very anxious for our next chance to race. We will be resting at the hotel the rest of the day, eating well and preparing for our next challenge. Thank you for following us and for your support!

GO COAST!

Coast gives Wisco a run for its money in heat.

June 4, 2008

Different Kind of Puddles in New Jersey as IRA Approaches

On the eve of the 106th Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship regatta, a warm rain was falling in New Jersey.

Orange Coast College's crew got in its normal pre-race-day workout Wednesday morning and did a little fine tuning of the Empacher VIII it is rowing. Reports are that the tuneup on the shell the crew is borrowing from Penn went well and the crew likes the way the boat feels. The shell is a K85 model and is similar to the "Rob Jordan" and "Blitzachter" Empachers in the Coast boathouse.

Dan Dahlin, the recipient of the Spirit of Coast Crew award this season, is our guest blogger today. He sent us this dispatch to give us an idea of how the crew is feeling:

As Wednesday draws to a close the Orange Coast varsity men find themselves on the verge of an exciting and huge Thursday heat. The possibilities know no bounds and the excitement is nearly uncontainable. The men truly believe that this could be the year a Coast boat storms to a win in the second varsity event. After the flight East and some good rowing Monday and Tuesday, the boat loaned to us by Penn feels, and looks, great. For this group of men the end of our time rowing together is rapidly approaching, and a national championship would be an amazing culmination to an already significant season and two years together. Thursday morning will bring with it the nerves and adrenalin that have come all season, and it is our hope that we find ourselves in any way necessary in the grand finals on Saturday.

The OCC lineup: Coxswain Mike Hinderberger, Stroke James Long-Lerno, 7 Bobby Jacobs, 6 Steve Oesterich, 5 Erich Hanxleden, 4 Roger Huffman, 3 Dan Dahlin, 2 Will Prioleau, Bow Kelly Hughes.

OCC's crew gets in a pre-race workout on the Cooper River.

June 3, 2008

Pretzels, Peanuts, and Puddles...and IRA Heats Announced

Our guest blogger today is Coast Crew bow man Kelly Hughes. Kelly will be attending UC Davis next year, but this week he is ensconced at the Residence Inn in Cherry Hill or Camden, N.J., depending on your point of view. Here's Kelly's take on how preparations for the IRA regatta are going.

Everything is going well in Camden. Today's practice went well, clearing puddles with a lot of run. The weather has been holding up until this afternoon with clouds beginning to roll in. The team's attitude remains positive and everyone resting up, getting ready for our first race. Everyone appreciates the support from home and is grateful. We even have some support on the East Coast. My Aunt Mary-Kay brought the team a tray of pretzels and some peanuts, while offering to bring the team more food if needed. We have the first heat of our event and we are all looking forward to racing Princeton and Wisconsin.

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Streaming Live Audio, the "ECAC Call of the Race," will be Available.

106th IRA National Championships
Audio Broadcast Schedule
(All Times are Eastern Time)

Thursday, June 5
Heats: 7:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Repechages: 3:00 p.m. - 5:36 p.m.

Friday, June 6, 2008
Repechages and Semifinals
Part I: 7:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Part II: 11:12 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 7
Morning: 7:20 a.m. - 11:35 a.m.
Afternoon: 12:27 p.m. - 3:06 p.m.

http://secure.stretchinternet.com/broadcasts.php

To listen to broadcasts over the phone, dial (605) 475-6000 and enter
passcode 698020 (followed by the # key) at the prompt. This service is
available to a limited number of listeners on a first come, first served
basis.

June 1, 2008

Orange Coast, winner of the WIRA varsity title and the San Diego Crew Classic's Cal Cup, will face some stiff competition for the Kennedy Challenge Bowl for second varsity eights. OCC is the only community college competing in the event. Among the 22 crews entered will be Pac-10 champion Washington, Eastern Sprints champion Wisconsin, and Harvard, winner of the second varsity event at the San Diego Crew Classic.

The four heat races for the second varsity event have not been finalized yet, but they are tentatively scheduled for Thursday, June 5, from 5:24 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Four repechage, or second chance, heats will be held Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 1:36 p.m. Pacific Time. On Friday, June 6, the four semifinal races are scheduled to go off between 8:12 a.m. and 8:48 a.m. Pacific Time.  Saturday's championship final for the second varsity event is set for 10:09 a.m. Pacific Time.

Stretch Internet will be broadcasting streaming live audio from the IRA regatta. We will post the link here on our Crew News page.

Coast was ranked No. 1 in the nation last week in both the novice and varsity divisions of the cMax computerized poll for American Collegiate Rowing Association schools, and the Coast women's novice crew was ranked third. The cMax poll is released exclusively on row2k.com.

Larry Moore keeps a watchful eye over the crew as it tunes up for IRA.

May 18, 2008

Awards Banquet Caps Off Outstanding Rowing Season

James Long-Lerno and Kevin Rickon received recognition from fellow rowers as this season's outstanding oarsmen when the Orange Coast College crew held its annual awards banquet Saturday night at the Student Center on campus. Long-Lerno, a sophomore from Seal Beach, was voted Oarsman of the Year by his varsity teammates while Rickon, a freshman from San Diego, was named the Outstanding Freshman/Novice Oarsman.

Long-Lerno, who came to OCC out of the Long Beach junior crew program, stroked the Coast varsity eight to the WIRA championship and a third place finish at the ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships. Bound for either Cal or Washington next year, Long-Lerno will lead Coast when it races at the 106th Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J., June 5-7.

Rickon stroked the Coast novice crew to a WIRA championship and the championship at the ECAC NIRC regatta. The Coast novice eight has finished the season ranked No. 1 in the nation among crews not part of the NCAA in the American Collegiate Rowing Association coaches' poll.

Several scholarships were also awarded to sophomores for academic achievement. Dan Dahlin, with a 3.82 grade point average in pre-law studies, received the Rob Jordan Memorial Crew Scholarship. Dahlin, who mans the five-seat in the Pirates' varsity eight, is awaiting word on his admission from Cal and Ivy League schools Cornell and Pennsylvania. A 26-year-old U.S. Army veteran and Edison High School grad, Dahlin also received the award for the oarsman who best exhibits the spirit of Coast Crew.

Chris Cornell, bound for UCLA with a 3.59 GPA, was the recipient of the Otte Crew Scholarship. Roger Huffman, who rowed in the four-seat in the Pirate varsity, received the Don McKee Crew Scholarship. Huffman, with a 3.68 GPA, will attend Wisconsin along with varsity three-man Erich Hanxleden. Huffman and Hanxleden are both Fountain Valley High School grads.

Andrew Hilton, who came to OCC from the Green Lake crew program in Seattle, was honored with the Walter G. Rolsma Memorial Crew Scholarship. Hilton has a 3.38 GPA and will continue his education at either UC San Diego or Washington. Ben O'Connell, who came to Coast out of the Oakland Strokes junior rowing program, was the recipient of the Pete Compton Memorial Crew Scholarship. O'Connell has a 3.72 GPA and will attend UC San Diego next year.

Will Prioleau, who came up through the Newport Aquatic Center junior program and rowed in the two-seat of the Coast varsity, received the Robert B. Moore Crew Scholarship, given in honor of the former OCC president. Prioleau, with a 3.58 GPA, announced he will be attending Cal next year.

The varsity presented coach Larry Moore with a heartfelt
gift. "Are we missing an oar?"

Dean Barbara Bond and President Bob Dees listened
intently as the varsity oarsmen spoke fondly of their
time rowing at Orange Coast College.

Friends and Family of Rob Jordan made a special gift
possible for sophomore Dan Dahlin.

Chris Cornell meets the Ottes after receiving the Otte Crew Scholarship.

Larry Moore with President Bob Dees and President Emeritus Dave Grant.

May 14, 2008

Coast Crew Bound for IRA Regatta in June

Orange Coast College has accepted an invitation to compete in the 106th Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta, June 5-7, head crew coach Larry Moore announced Wednesday. The regatta will be held on the Cooper River's 2,000-meter course in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Orange Coast will compete for the Kennedy Challenge Bowl, an event for men's second-varsity eights. Heats have not been released yet, but Coast is likely to face perennial rowing powerhouses Harvard, Cal, and Washington among others. Coast has raced a varsity schedule most of the year, winning the WIRA championship and finishing third at the ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships. However, OCC opened the season by defeating the second-varsity crews from Cornell and Oregon State.

This will be the 14th time Coast has raced at the prestigious IRA regatta. As the only community college in the country with a complete rowing program, Coast has traditionally competed for the Kennedy Challenge Bowl at the IRA. Its best finish in the second-varsity event came in 1968, when the Pirates were second behind national champion Pennsylvania. OCC also medaled in 1987, finishing third. Coach Moore is no stranger to the IRA regatta. He guided Coast to its first national championship in the freshman eight category in 1980 when the IRA was held on Lake Onondaga in Syracuse, N.Y.

The crew will be holding its end-of-the-year awards banquet Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in the Student Center on the OCC campus.

May 11, 2008

Coast Crew Novices Bring Home Gold, Varsity Takes Bronze

ECAC NATIONAL INVITATIONAL ROWING CHAMPIONS
(Left to Right) Harrison Taylor, Jeff Powers, Liam Saunders, Patrick Avelino, Tommy Feck, Jonathan Hall, Roscoe Fowler, Kevin Rickon, Dylon Young, and Coach Pat Gleason.

Orange Coast College's men's novice eight-oared crew overcame a false start penalty Sunday to handily win the Eastern College Athletic Conference National Invitational Rowing Championship in Worcester, Mass. Orange Coast covered the 2,000-meter course on Lake Quinsigamond in 6 minutes, 15.45 seconds as it beat second-place Williams by almost three boat lengths.

Coast's varsity rowed a strong race through a brisk crosswind to finish third and earn bronze medals in the regatta's featured men's event. Perennial New England power Trinity College of Hartford, Connecticut, held off OCC and second-place Michigan to capture the gold. Trinity was clocked in 5 minutes, 56.35 seconds despite the crosswind, followed by hard-charging Michigan in 5:58.18 and Orange Coast in 5:59.19. Fourth-place Williams was well back of OCC at 6:07.15, with Marist placing fifth in 6:09.20 and sixth-place Bates trailing in 6:11.29.

The novice category is for first-year rowers, regardless of their year in college. OCC, which came into the regatta as the top-seeded Novice crew, was assessed a false start penalty in the final for locking onto its starting stakeboat less than two minutes prior to the race.  A second false start would have meant disqualification, so the Pirates had to be cautious anticipating the starter's commands.

The Pirates didn't let the false start bother them, though, coming off the line striking 46 strokes per minute to jump out to the early lead, followed by Hobart. Coast settled in at a racing pace of 35 strokes per minute and asserted itself to take a three-quarter length lead 750 meters into the race. OCC, rowing long and strong, had open water on the field coming into the final 750 meters. New England champ Williams was able to get past Hobart for second but couldn't make up ground on Coast.

Williams' second-place time in the novice event was 6:23.80. Hobart finished a length behind Williams in third with a time of 6:26.80. Virginia was fourth in 6:27.53, followed by Trinity in 6:32.11 and Michigan in 6:35.32.

In the varsity eight event, Coast was rewarded for its semifinal win by being placed in Lane 1. That proved to be somewhat important as the crosswind came up in the afternoon and the lanes were flipped to give the inside lanes some shelter. Trinity lined up in Lane 2, and Michigan rowed from Lane 3.  Williams, Bates, and Marist drew lanes 4, 5, and 6.

Coast, with a crew made up entirely of sophomores, exploded off the line to take a half deck lead over Trinity. But the Pirates couldn't shake Trinity, which was rowing with several seasoned upper classmen. Coast still held a slight advantage coming into the 500-meter mark, but Trinity steadily pulled even with OCC and moved out to a short lead of a couple seats at the race's halfway point.

Trinity methodically built on its lead over the second half of the course, while Michigan made a strong move to stay in contention at the 1000-meter mark and pushed its bowball ahead of Coast's. Coast responded with its own push in the last 500 and briefly overtook Michigan for second, but the Wolverines finished strong to overtake the Pirates for the silver medal. Trinity finished two-thirds of a length ahead of Michigan and just under one length ahead of Coast.

Paul Prioleau, whose son Will manned the 2 seat in the OCC varsity, has followed the crew all season and thought the crew looked focused as he watched from the shoreline.  "They had a good go at it but let Trinity slip away," said Prioleau. "They left it all on the course."

After talking with the crew, Prioleau elaborated. "They had a very good start and were stuck right in there up until the 1000," he said. "They tried a move on Trinity that worked, but Trinity countered with a very good one that netted them more seats. OCC also got hit with a few wind gusts that they had a hard time with." Experience may have been a factor. "I think that they just aren't used to racing a team that can stay next to them," Prioleau said.

"They did a great job," said Coast Coach Larry Moore. "They were right in it. They got hit with a few gusts and made a few mistakes, and you can't do that at that level.  They got banged around a little, but the wind blew everybody around. That's boat racing. Three boats within a length is great racing. They tried to go after Trinity with 300 to go and didn't quite make it."

Trinity, Michigan, and Coast varsity crews overlap in ECAC NIRC final.

OCC's Novice 8 easily qualified for the Grand Final with a dominating row in its heat Sunday morning. With only two boats moving on to the final, Coast blasted off the starting line and asserted itself early. The Pirates were able to keep an eye on the field behind them and eventually lowered their stroke rate to a comfortable 28 strokes per minute, well below their normal race pace. OCC's wining time was 6:06.47.

OCC Novice 8 cruises to win in its heat Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond.

Virginia and Trinity qualified for the Novice final from the second heat, with Virginia turning in a time of 6:07.67 and Trinity crossing the line in 6:08.57. The third heat was hotly contested, and the times reflected the tight racing for the right to move on to the final. In a mild upset, Hobart, rowing out of Lane 2, edged third-seeded Williams and posted a scorching time of 5:59.84. Williams was able to edge UC San Diego for the second spot, crossing the line in 6:00.11 while the Tritons crossed in 6:00.34. UC San Diego went on to win the Petite Final.

OCC varsity wins a barn burner in semifinal of ECAC NIRC Sunday.

Coast's Varsity 8 advanced to the Grand Final by winning a blistering semifinal race Sunday morning in which No. 1 seeded Virginia was knocked out and relegated to the Petite Final. Coast's 5:56.65 was the second fastest qualifying time. In the other semifinal race, Trinity posted the fastest time of the day, 5:52.49. Michigan showed it would be dangerous, posting a time of 5:57.09 to finish second behind Trinity in their semi.

In the semifinal race, Virginia, which won the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association title and was ranked higher than Orange Coast all season, blasted off the starting line at 48 strokes per minute to set the early pace. Coast, however, did not let the Cavaliers get away and edged in front by a bow deck at the Donahue Rowing Center, located about 250 meters into the race.

OCC settled into its race pace at 36 strokes per minute, and Williams joined the Pirates on the lead. Virginia could not maintain the pace and eventually dropped back. Williams actually put its bow ball ahead of Coast's by about one seat at one point, but the Pirates charged back to lead by four seats at the 1000 meter mark and held a lead of half a boat length going into the last 500. The first four crews finished within one length, with Coast in front of Williams by about eight seats and Bates pushing past Virginia for the final qualifying spot.

May 10, 2008

Coast Varsity Wins Heat, Advances to Tomorrow's Semis at ECAC NIRC

OCC's Varsity 8 posted the second fastest time of the day Saturday to advance to the semifinal round of the Eastern College Athletic Association National Invitational Rowing Championships on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Pirates, seeded third coming into the regatta, won their heat in 6:08.56.  Semifinals and finals will be held Sunday and promise to be hotly contested, with the four heat winners all putting up times within two seconds of each other.

Top-ranked Virginia was the winner of the first heat of the day with a time of 6:08.64. Second-seeded Trinity had the day's fastest time, cruising to an open water victory in 6:06.66. Coast won the third heat, while fourth seed Michigan won Heat 4 in 6:08.69.  (See full results of the regatta from Powerhouse Timing.)

Coast rowed a controlled race, taking an early four-seat lead over Bates College and rowing the body of the race at 34-35 strokes per minute, leading by six seats at the 1,000 meter mark.  The Pirates led by a length at one point and watched Bates and Marist stage a dogfight behind them for second place, with Marist eventually rowing through Bates to take the second spot in 6:10.62. Bates crossed the line in 6:12.07. All three boats qualified for the "A-B" semi-finals. The Coast Guard Academy finished fourth with a time of 6:18.36, followed by Hamilton College in 6:31.87 and Colby College in 6:38.19.

Coach Larry Moore felt his crew's performance was solid, if not spectacular, after traveling across the country mid-week. "The guys were a little groggy from the travel. We were in a different boat, in a different place, and it was a little turbulent out there. It wasn't great, but we led from start to finish and had the second-fastest time," said Moore. "We were all just pushing and shoving today, jockeying for position. The next race should be better, and the one after that is the one that needs to be brilliant."

In the first heat, Ithaca College gave Virginia everything it could handle, but Virginia put together a strong second half of the race to win by one second. Ithaca and hometown crew Worcester Polytechnic Institute also advanced to the semifinals.

Trinity jumped out to an early lead in the second heat and was never challenged. The battle was for second place, as Coast's fellow WIRA school UC San Diego came from behind and edged Wesleyan for the second spot.

Michigan got off to a slow start in the final heat of the day but made a big move 500 meters into the race to take the lead.  The strong second 500 enabled the Wolverines to pull away from the field, and they were able to stay above the fray behind them. Williams, UC Davis, and Hobart all crossed the line within a second of each other. Williams and Davis, another of Coast's WIRA counterparts, nosed out Hobart to advance to the semifinals along with Michigan.

In other rowing news, Orange Coast's Novice Women's 8 made the final and finished fifth out of 30 crews at the 70th Annual Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia, the largest collegiate regatta in the country.

Coast Novices celebrate as Varsity wins ECAC NIRC heat race.

May 8, 2008

Weather Report for Worcester...Keep your Fingers Crossed!

Racing on the East Coast this time of year can be a challenge, as evidenced by the cancellation of last year's ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships after the heats. OCC Coach Larry Moore and his crew hope Mother Nature will cooperate this year, especially since the finals will be rowed on Mother's Day!

So far, the weekend weather does not appear too threatening. Reports call for morning showers on Saturday with highs in the mid 50s and lows in the mid 40s. Sunday will have periods of sun and cloudiness, with highs in the mid 60s and lows in the mid 40s. Not exactly Newport in the spring, or Sacramento for that matter, but hopefully the conditions will be good for rowing.

Coast did not trailer its own boats east for this regatta. That won't be a problem, though, thanks to Coast's longstanding relationship with Harvard. OCC, which loans Harvard shells whenever the Crimson comes west to race, will be rowing a pair of Empachers on loan from Harvard similar to those the Pirates row at home.

Going into the regatta, OCC's varsity and novice eights maintained their rankings from the previous week in the various national polls.  Highly regarded crews from the University of Virginia, Trinity College, and the University of Michigan are among the nationally ranked teams competing this weekend in Worcester.

May 7, 2008

Call of ECAC Races to be Offered over Internet this Weekend

Centerville, Massachusetts - The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) has announced that a live audio broadcast of the 2008 ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships will be available online Saturday, May 10, and Sunday, May 11. Stretch Internet, based in Mesa, Arizona, will be providing the platform for the audio streaming of the "ECAC Call of the Race."

Rowing fans will be able to listen to live racing from 12:45 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, May 10. On Sunday, May 11, live racing will be held from 4:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. - 3:40 p.m. Pacific time. Listeners will need to use the URL provided below to listen to the live audio stream.

http://secure.stretchinternet.com/demo/games.php?user=ecacrowing&o=cal_stamp&sd=today

In addition to the audio stream, on-site spectators will be able to "dial-in" to the audio stream via phone. Listeners will need to dial 605-475-6000 and use 698020# as a pass code.

The lane draw for Saturday's heats at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts, has also been announced. Orange Coast will row from Lane 1 in the third of four Men's Varsity 8 heats, scheduled for 2:36 p.m. Pacific time.

The Coast varsity will have Marist College of Poughkeepsie, New York, next to it in Lane 2, with Bates College of Lewiston, Maine, rowing out of Lane 3. Lane 4 will be occupied by the U.S. Coast Guard Academy from New London, Connecticut, and rowing from Lane 5 will be Hamilton College of Clinton, New York. Colby College of Waterville, Maine, will line up in Lane 6.

Rowing in Heat 1 of the varsity event will be the University of Virginia, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Ithaca College, the University of New Hampshire, and the University of North Carolina. Heat 2 will feature Trinity College, Wesleyan University, UC San Diego, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the University of Mary Washington.  Heat 4 will have the University of Michigan, Williams College, Hobart College, UC Davis, St. Lawrence University, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Semi-final races for the varsity event will go off between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Pacific time on Sunday.   The grand final is set for 3:10 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday.

Coast has also drawn Lane 1 in the first of three Novice 8 heats at 6:00 a.m. Pacific time on Sunday. The "A" crew from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) will line up next to OCC in Lane 2.  Ithaca College of Ithaca, New York, is in Lane 3, and Rochester Institute of Technology of Rochester, New York, is in Lane 4.  UMass will row from Lane 6.

The second heat in the novice event consists of Virginia, Trinity, Marist, Vermont, and the Hobart "B" crew. Heat 3 has Williams, the Hobart "A" crew, UC San Diego, Coast Guard, Middlebury College, and the Michigan "B" boat. Since there are only three heats, there are no semi-finals in the novice event. The novice grand final is scheduled for 11:50 Pacific time on Sunday.

May 4, 2008

Coast Crew Brings Home WIRA Championship, Heads for East Coast

Executing race plans to perfection, the Orange Coast College crew won three championships Sunday and took the men's overall points title at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California. The Pirates put on a brilliant performance, winning the Varsity 8, Novice 8, and Second Novice 8 events and placing fourth in the Second Varsity 8.

Coast's Varsity 8 and Novice 8 crews will leave Wednesday to take part in the Eastern College Athletic Conference National Invitational Rowing Championships Saturday and Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Rowing into a headwind, the Coast Varsity 8 used an explosive start to gain early control of the six-boat Grand Final and never relinquished the lead. OCC finished a little more than one length ahead of its main challenger, Gonzaga, covering the 2,000-meter course in a time of 6:02.8. Gonzaga was clocked in 6:06.2 to place second and was followed by the University of San Diego in 6:12.5. Santa Clara (6:14.7), UC San Diego (6:15.8), and defending champion UC Davis (6:18.0) rounded out the field.

"We had seen how close the novice race was with Gonzaga, so we were a little nervous, a little apprehensive, going out there," said varsity coxswain Michael Hinderberger. "Coach told us they would try to be up on us at the start, but we got up and kept walking. We stuck with the race plan, and it went flawlessly."

Coach Larry Moore was pleased with the performance that gave OCC its first WIRA Varsity title since 2004. "We got them early. They did exactly what I asked." Varsity four-seat Roger Huffman, who along with stroke James Long-Lerno and five-seat Dan Dahlin was named to the All-WIRA team, put it simply. "It was so fun. Right from the start."

The novice race earlier in the day was a real barn burner. Coast and Gonzaga had seen each other once before this season, with Coast winning a close dual at Redwood Shores in the Windermere regatta. Gonzaga came in on the wake of some big wins against East Coast competition and took it right to OCC. The two crews traded the lead several times and dominated the rest of the field. Trailing going into the last 500 meters, Coast put on a furious sprint and went through the Bulldogs to win by about eight seats. Coast finished in 6:08.4 to defend its WIRA title while Gonzaga was timed in 6:10.2.

"Gonzaga had us by one seat off the line," said freshman coxswain Dylon Young. "They made a move at 750 and were up by four seats. We just tried to hold them there. I was going to take an early sprint, but we started taking seats. With 250 to go, we were taking a seat a stroke."

Novice Coach Pat Gleason followed the race on his bike and loved what he saw. "Gonzaga threw everything they had at us. I was glad our guys kept their composure."

Coast's Second Novice 8 started the day by successfully defending its WIRA title. The Pirates turned in a time of 6:28.4 to beat second-place finisher UC San Diego (6:31.8) by a length. OCC's Second Varsity 8 added to the overall team score by putting together its best race of the season in registering its fourth-place finish. OCC placed 10th in the Pair and 12th in the Novice 4.

OCC's Varsity 8 pulls away from Gonzaga (red) to win the WIRA title.

Gold Medal Varsity 8: Coxswain Michael Hinderberger, Stroke James Long-Lerno, 7-Bobby Jacobs, 6-Steve Oesterich, 5-Dan Dahlin, 4-Roger Huffman, 3-Erich Hanxleden, 2-Will Prioleau, Bow-Kelly Hughes.

OCC Novice 8 rows Blitzachter to WIRA championship over Gonzaga.

Gold Medal Novice 8: Coxswain Dylon Young, Stroke Kevin Rickon, 7-Roscoe Fowler, 6-Jonathan Hall, 5-Tommy Feck, 4-Patrick Avelino, 3-Liam Saunders, 2-Jeff Powers, Bow-Harrison Taylor.

OCC 2nd Novice 8 crosses the finish line as WIRA champions.

Gold Medal 2nd Novice 8: Coxswain Brittney Aarons, Stroke Josh Burns, 7-Chris Edmunds, 6-Chris Jackson, 5-James Casey, 4-Travis Wingo, 3-Cole Massey, 2-Rusty Miller, Bow-Kevin Kamashin.

As has been the case all season, Coast had a loud and supportive group of parents, friends, and alumni along the Lake Natoma shoreline. The group included the Jackson family, who made the trek from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Patrick and Michelle Avelino teamed up with Paul and Marsha Masse to provide a pasta dinner on Friday and then delicious barbecued teriyaki tri-tip on Saturday and Sunday.

Who knew 50 pounds of tri-tip could go so fast?
Thanks, Mr. Avelino!

April 30, 2008

WIRA Championship Regatta Up Next for Coast Crew

After taking last weekend off, OCC's crew travels to the Sacramento area this weekend for the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships. The WIRA regatta will be held on the world class 2,000 meter course at Lake Natoma in Gold River, California, and is hosted by the Sacramento State Aquatic Center. The CSUS Aquatic Center is located 15 miles east of the Sacramento State campus off Highway 50.

Coast will be seeking to defend its championships in the Novice 8, Second Novice 8, and Novice 4 events. OCC goes into the regatta with the No. 1 ranked Varsity 8 and is seeking its first WIRA title in that event since 2004.  The Varsity 8 event has been very balanced and competitive in recent years.  In the last six years, no crew has won the event in back to back seasons. OCC and UC Davis have each won twice, and Gonzaga and the University of Colorado have also claimed the title.

The Coast varsity moved up to the No. 3 spot in the American Collegiate Rowing Association poll released this week on row2k.com. Virginia and Michigan remain ahead of OCC in the top two spots, while Purdue is now ranked fourth. UC Davis, which won the WIRA Varsity 8 title last season, is ranked ninth in the poll. In the US Rowing Collegiate Coaches' Poll, OCC received votes but remains just outside of the Top 20. Gonzaga is ranked 19th in that poll. Other WIRA schools receiving votes were UC San Diego and University of San Diego.  OCC held onto its No. 13 national ranking in row2k.com's cMax computerized poll this week.

Coast's Novice 8 also made it into the national polls this week. In the first ACRA Freshman/Novice 8 poll of the season released on row2k.com, OCC held the No. 4 position behind Delaware, Virginia, and Georgia Tech. No other WIRA schools cracked the Top 10, but Sonoma State and UC Davis received votes.

OCC's Varsity 8 hopes to celebrate a WIRA title this weekend.

Lane draws were also released today for the WIRA regatta. Racing begins on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. and the last race of the day is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.  Sunday's finals begin at 8:00 a.m. and conclude with an award ceremony at 12:45 p.m.

In the Varsity 8 event, top-ranked OCC will be racing in Heat 1 Saturday at 10:20 a.m., rowing out of Lane 1.  Santa Clara is in Lane 2, the Cal lightweight crew is in Lane 3, Long Beach State is in Lane 4, UC Irvine is in Lane 5, and San Diego State is in Lane 6. The top two boats go to the final.

In the Novice 8 event, OCC was awarded the top seed and will be racing in Heat 1 at 11:10 a.m., rowing out of Lane 1. UC San Diego will be in Lane 2, Sonoma State will be in Lane 3, Colorado will be in Lane 4, UC Irvine will be in Lane 5, Long Beach State will be in Lane 6, and Willamette will be in Lane 7. The top three crews will qualify for the final.  Coast has dominated this event, winning five of the last six seasons.

The Novice 4 event is an unseeded race, and it will be the OCC men's first race of the regatta at 9:40 a.m. on Saturday.  The Pirates will line up in Lane 3 of Heat 2, with Sonoma State in Lane 1, Pacific in Lane 2, Santa Clara in Lane 4, and UC Davis in Lane 5. The top two finishers will advance to the final. This event has had a different champion each of the last six years.

Coast will race in the first heat of the Men's Pair event after the lunch break Saturday, going off at 3:10 p.m. OCC has drawn Lane 1, with Seattle Pacific in Lane 2, Puget Sound in Lane 3, Loyola Marymount in Lane 4, Washington State in Lane 5, UC Santa Barbara in Lane 6, and Sacramento State in Lane 7. The top three boats will go to the final.

The Second Novice 8 event will be final only and will start at 9:10 a.m. on Sunday. Coast is ranked second and will line up in Lane 2. UC San Diego will be in Lane 1, UC Davis will be in Lane 3, and Washington State will be in Lane 4 in the four-boat final. Coast has taken the title in this event five of the last six seasons.

The Second Varsity 8 race will be a six-boat, final-only event on Sunday at 10:40 a.m. OCC is ranked third going into the race and will be in Lane 3. UC Davis will be in Lane 1, UC San Diego will be in Lane 2, Gonzaga will be in Lane 4, Santa Clara will be in Lane 5, and UC Irvine will be in Lane 6.

Grand Finals in the Pair are slated for 8:50 a.m. on Sunday, the Novice 8 Grand Finals are set for 10:10 a.m., and the Varsity 8 Grand Finals are scheduled for 11:40 a.m. It should be a great weekend of racing. GO COAST!!

April 23, 2008

Coast Crew Continues to Climb in the Rankings

By virtue of its decisive victory in Saturday's Newport Regatta, OCC's Varsity 8 has claimed the No. 4 spot in the latest American Collegiate Rowing Association poll released yesterday. The ACRA poll focuses on crews not eligible to compete in the NCAA.

Virginia, winner of the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta last weekend, sits atop the ACRA poll, followed by Michigan, Purdue, and Orange Coast. OCC received one first-place vote in the balloting.

Coast's second win of the season over UCLA Saturday in Newport vaulted the Pirates, who were ranked sixth in this poll last week, over the previously fifth-ranked Bruins. UCLA falls to No. 6.  One other West Coast school, UC Davis, is ranked in the Top 10. The Aggies, whom the Pirates will face in the upcoming Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships, are listed at No. 8. UC Davis finished third behind OCC and UCLA in the Cal Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic before being moved to fourth-place due to a lane violation.

In the cMax computerized poll released today by row2k.com, Coast retained its spot at No. 13 in the nation among all heavyweight men's crews.  Wisconsin, coached by Coast alum Chris Clark, took over as the top-ranked men's heavyweight crew in the country in the cMax poll.

In the USRowing Collegiate Coaches' Poll released today, OCC is just outside of the Top 20.  All three collegiate rowing polls can be found at row2k.com/polls.

Once again rowing under overcast skies on a cool morning, the Coast varsity strengthened its grip on a high national ranking by holding off a UCLA crew determined to avenge a loss to OCC in the Cal Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic. With a crosswind contributing a slight chop to the water, Orange Coast survived a bit of a rocky start to lead by three-quarters of a length at the 1,000-meter mark. The Pirates then methodically pulled away from the Bruins to finish almost seven seconds ahead for the victory. USD and UCSD waged an epic battle for third place, with USD edging out their crosstown rivals at the line. UCI was fifth.

The Coast Novice 8 blasted off the line and led from start to finish as it posted a six-second win over second-place USD. In the Second Varsity race, OCC finished third as UCSD and UCLA traded the lead several times, with UCSD nipping the Bruins at the finish line to win. Coast also finished in second place in the Second Novice 8 race and the Novice 4 event.

Next up for Coast is the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships on Lake Natoma outside of Sacramento May 3-4. The Pirates figure to face a strong challenge from Gonzaga for the WIRA title in both the Varsity and Novice eight-oared events.

The Coast and Gonzaga varsities have not yet squared off this year. The Bulldogs lost to UCLA in an early season matchup but recently fared well at the George Washington Invitational against highly regarded Virginia and Michigan. Gonzaga split with Virginia and defeated Michigan on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

In novice racing, OCC and Gonzaga have traditionally had great battles for WIRA supremacy. This year should be no different. Coast defeated Gonzaga in a spirited dual at Redwood Shores earlier this season, but Gonzaga has shown it will be tough as it recently beat Navy, Virginia, and Michigan at the GW Invitational.

Coach Pat Gleason's Novice 8 Turns in a "Sub-Six" Effort to Win

April 18, 2008

Newport Regatta Slated for this Weekend

This weekend marks the 43^rd running of the Newport Regatta, where OCC plays host to UCI, UCLA, UCSD, and USD. This will be 2000 meters raced in Newport Bay , five lanes across, and very similar to last weekend. The teams will launch from the Newport Aquatic Center (1 Whitecliffs Road , Newport Beach , 92660), and will return there for the awards ceremonies after the last race.

As like last week, the best viewing will be from the OCC boathouse. At OCC, the balcony provides great views down the course, while the docks are good for more close-up viewing. The OCC boathouse is undergoing construction now, and the front lawn is ripped up a bit, so watch your step around there.

Due to the construction equipment, there is essentially no parking in the lot. There may be some parking available on Pacific Coast Highway, but it is being repaved, so this may be restricted. There is also parking in a public lot behind Garlic Joe’s restaurant, which is about 200 yards west of the boathouse on PCH. Make sure to allow plenty of time to get to the boathouse. Bicycles are a great option if you can swing it.

Coaches Larry Moore and Pat Gleason are making plans to take the Varsity and Novice crews to the ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships in Worchester , Mass., on May 10 & 11. This is the de-facto National Championships for non-scholarship & club programs, and features perennial powerhouses such as Trinity College and Michigan . The team will leave Long Beach at 8:45 PM on Wednesday, May 7th and return 8:45 PM on Monday, May 12. They will be staying at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Worcester (508-753-6300). Time permitting, the team will do a campus tour of Harvard and/or other nearby university campuses.

Mark your calendars. The end of the year Crew Awards Banquet will be held in the OCC Student Center on Saturday, May 17, at 6:00 pm. This is a nice dinner on campus where we recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of the team. The cost for the banquet is free for the rowers, and $20/person for the rest of us. (This cost will subsidize meals for the team.)

Coast has cracked the Top 25 of the latest cMax Poll, which ranks the top men's varsity crews in the country. OCC holds the No. 13 position going into this weekend's competition. The cMax poll can be found exclusively at row2k.com/polls.

April 12, 2008

OCC Downs UC Irvine and Cal State Long Beach

Coast Crew continued its winning ways Saturday, sweeping four races with local rivals UC Irvine and Cal State Long Beach in a tuneup for next week's Newport Regatta. It was a beautiful sunny morning in Newport with no wind and very flat water. The race course had to be shifted back a few hundred meters due to the temporary docks that were installed for the Newport Boat Show, but otherwise it was perfect race conditions.

Coast's JV holds off a challenge from UCI Saturday in Newport.

OCC won all four races by fairly comfortable margins, blasting off to strong starts, and then settling in to race pace to steadily pull away from the other crews. The JV race was the most exciting as UCI put up a strong first 1200 meters, trailing the OCC boat by about ¾ of a boat length as they passed the boathouse. The OCC JV’s held their composure, however, and pulled away in the last 500 meters, winning by open water.

In the varsity race, OCC posted a time of 6:00.7 to finish well ahead of second-place Long Beach and third-place Irvine. Coast won the Novice event in a time of 6:22.4, followed by Irvine and then Long Beach. OCC took the 2nd Novice event with a time of 6:44.4 as Irvine was second.

Many thanks to Perry and Cindy Skoll, who provided drinks and snacks to the team when the crews returned from battle!

April 10, 2008

Coast Crew Mourns the Loss of a Dear Friend

Joe Thomas passed on yesterday (Wednesday) morning, peacefully. At present, there are no plans for a memorial service. He was a very good friend to Coast Crew, having provided, among other support, four eight-oared shells. His humor, sophistication and enthusiasm for the crew will be sorely missed.

April 6, 2008

35th Annual San Diego Crew Classic at Mission Bay

Coast Crew Varsity 8 hoists Cal Cup trophy in Steward's Enclosure at San Diego Crew Classic.

For the second weekend in a row, Coach Larry Moore's Coast Crew didn't let overcast skies cloud the outcome as the Pirates took home two trophies from the prestigious San Diego Crew Classic. OCC's varsity 8 led wire to wire and took home the Cal Cup championship for the fourth time, while the 2nd novice 8 won the Novice B event for the second straight season.

Coach Pat Gleason's 1st novice 8 won the petite final after finsihing third behind eventual champion Washington and a strong Stanford crew in its heat.  Coast's JV 8 finished fourth in the petite final Sunday after going up against powerhouses Harvard and Washington in the heat race Saturday.

Coast has now won the Cal Cup in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008. OCC took advantage of flat water and a slight tailwind in the first race of the regatta Saturday morning, setting the pace with a time of 5:56.00 to finish well ahead of second-place Minnesota, which came in at 6:03.44. In Sunday's final, Coast used an explosive start to gain an early advantage and then steadily distanced itself from the field to win by open water. Rowing later in the morning on Sunday in choppier water, the Pirates turned in a winning time of 6:01.80, followed by UCLA at 6:12.05. Minnesota finished third in 6:14.52 ahead UC Davis, Lehigh, and Santa Clara.

For full race results, see the Results page of our website.

Next up: UC Irvine and Cal State Long Beach in Newport, Saturday morning, April 12.

Coast's varsity 8 finishing strong ahead of the field in the Cal Cup final.

March 31, 2008

Windermere Pac-10 Challenge Regatta at Redwood Shores

Coast Crew opened the 2008 racing season with a bang over the weekend, turning in a strong performance at the Windermere Pac-10 Challenge Regatta at Redwood Shores.

It was cold and cloudy Saturday in the Bay Area with a strong headwind blowing that provided for an especially punishing 3^rd 500 meters of the race. Nonetheless, it was a very good day for Coast Crews.

The Varsity won both of their races in convincing fashion, chalking up open water victories over the second varsities from Oregon State and Cornell while also posting some of the fastest split times of the day.

The Novices had a tough race in the morning against a very powerful Cal Freshman team and hung with them for the first 500 meters until the Bears started pulling away for a win. The Pirates rebounded in the afternoon with an exciting 1 length win over Gonzaga, which staged a fierce comeback in the second half.

Sunday brought sunny skies, but the headwind was still stiff on the racecourse. The OCC novices wrapped up the weekend with a convincing victory over UCLA. In one of the most anticipated races of the weekend, Coast's Varsity and Cal's highly touted Freshman 8 squared off. Coast led at the 500 and the 1000 meter marks, but the Bears pulled out the victory in the last 1000. (For all of the times, see the Results section of the website.)

The teams were well fed with team dinners provided by Tom Hughes and John Taylor, and by a fantastic lunch for the crews after their morning races set up by Patti Hall. They also had some leftover fruit and water from the bus trip, so thanks to all who helped with that! Thanks to Paul Prioleau for all his help organizing the parents and taking some great photos of the races.

Coast will now ready itself for the San Diego Crew Classic Saturday and Sunday on Mission Bay. OCC will be entered in the Cal Cup, the JV 8, the Novice 8, and the Second Novice 8 events. This year's regatta is the 35th anniversary of the Crew Classic, and it promises to be an exciting weekend. Coast alums and parents have banded together to sponsor a tent that will serve as a gathering place for Coast Crew rowers, alums, parents, and friends. Special thanks to Erik Elward for all his hard work getting the tent ready to go. We look forward to seeing you all at the races!

Coast leading Cornell by a length at 1000 meters on its way to decisive win.

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March 26, 2008

This is Spring Break at Orange Coast College, so the men's crew took advantage of the break and conducted double days on the water in Newport this week to prepare for racing season. The Varsity 8 and the Novice 8 will cap off the break by taking part for the first time in the Windermere Regatta, hosted by Stanford University at Redwood Shores. The crews will catch a bus at 4:30 a.m. Friday for the trip north. They will then row the course Friday afternoon. Redwood Shores offers Henley-style dual racing, so the Coast boats will have two races on Saturday and one on Sunday. Coach Moore's varsity will get its first taste of racing Saturday morning against Oregon State's JV crew and will follow that up in the afternoon against Cornell's JV. On Sunday, the varsity will take on Cal's freshman boat. Coach Gleason's novice team will meet Cal's frosh 8 on Saturday morning, followed by a matchup with Gonzaga in the afternoon. The Coast novices will wrap up the weekend against UCLA's novices on Sunday. Racing should be exciting. Hope to see a large contingent of Coast fans there!

March 16, 2008

The entire men's crew traveled to San Diego's Mission Bay yesterday to have a long day of rowing with UCSD, USD & Gonzaga Universities. We put four eights and a four on the water. Conditions were breezy in the morning and downright windy in the evening. The two varsity eights did two eight-minute races and one six-minute race in the morning. Around 5 p.m. the crews returned to the water and did a series of three full race short sprints. The four- and three-minute pieces were done down wind in the warm-up area of the SD Crew Classic course. The two-minute piece was on the course itself. The wind was gusting up to around 30 mph, but conditions were rowable (barely) and everyone returned safely. The two Novice eights had a similar workout with the Novice four only rowing in the morning as conditions did not permit them to row safely in the evening. All crews had a good experience and will have good close racing with the San Diego and Gonzaga teams.

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March 9, 2008

Coast Crew's Henley-style boat tent at NAC

The crew has moved to NAC as construction has begun at the OCC Boathouse. The boat and oar racks are up and the teams are settling in. The athletes are learning to beach launch daily without running aground and getting familiar with the new channel buoys. Billy Whitford and all his staff have been absolutely wonderful to us and made the transition very smooth. We are getting ready to travel to San Diego on the 15th for a day of rowing with UCSD, USD and Gonzaga. We will launch from the UCSD boathouse at 7:30 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. It should be a good day of rowing for all.

Beaching it at the Newport Aquatic Center

Our M.C. for the night, Mr. Joel Kew

Great Scott! What an alum turnout for the alumni banquet and for the alumni races. We had about 170 oarsmen and guests in the Orange Coast College Student Center for the event Saturday night. Jim Jorgensen (68) headed up the team to put the banquet together. Bob Knapp printed crew posters and banquet programs. Joel Kew did a wonderful job as M.C. Matt Chapman (04) and Danny Johnson (04) put together the video and slide presentations. The ten-minute video featuring Dave Grant and video clips of alums was fantastic. Alums arrived from all over the U.S. and from as far away as Moscow, Russia. The alums spanned the years from 1954 to 2007. The Dean of Athletics, Barbara Bond, and the President of the college, Bob Dees, were present. With no surprise, the hit of the evening was the 1968 crew, with seven of the nine athletes participating.

The 1968 crew takes the stage

The 1988 crew also made a strong showing with Penn coach Fred Honebein and Cornell coach Dan Allen making the trek from the East Coast.

The 1988 Alums were well represented at the dinner and raced on Sunday

1958 had a couple of notable guests, with David A. Grant leading the way. Later in the evening, many alums gathered at Finisterre (Dave's house) for "refreshments" and catching up with good friends.

Everyone gave David A. Grant a warm reception on his 50th reunion

We had four alum boats and four current Coast boats racing each other today. A four made up of Jim Jorgensen, Phil Petersen & Geoff Strand (all 68), along with Dr. Chris Drover (67) and a current cox cruised the bay, with Geoff Strand broadcasting live from the water. Rowing with only one hand at over 40 strokes per minute and using his two-way radio to do color commentary, Geoff and the 68 crew cruised to an easy victory over four eights. An amazing display of skill and athletic prowess.

Jim Jorgensen and Geoff Strand (68) ready for action!

Pat Hadden, our Balloon Lady, was on hand again this morning supporting the activities.

Dr. Chris Drover (67) and Balloon Lady Pat Hadden (ageless) enjoy the day.

The 88 crew was pretty much intact rowing in Henley Victory. There seemed to be a problem with the cox area, as Dan Allen was not able to "squeeze" into the seat. The whole weekend was a great success and everyone had a great time. Thanks to all for your help and participation. A special thanks to Reid Hadley (83) for heading up the alum search and all the alums who helped put together a great weekend.
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90' long by 20' wide, racks will be built shortly and move in March 3rd.
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Sophomores getting the work done

The crew has been pretty good about doing the hard boring work required in January and February. The work load is about to change as we meet with UCLA this coming Saturday and then Alumni weekend March 1 & 2. The move from the boathouse to NAC is still on hold. The new structure to house the men and women at NAC has not been erected yet. Looks like we will get through Alumni day before moving. Not much news this week. Hope to get some of the oarsmen to contribute to this news section shortly.

Seat racing the German National Team!?
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February 10, 2008

The crew worked very hard this past week. Last Saturday the men and women had our annual winter scrimmage with UCI. There were quite a few eights on the North Lido Channel race course rowing in both directions at once. No damage was reported and all crews had a great workout. The move to NAC has been delayed a few weeks while our temporary quarters are being built. In the mean time, construction at the OCC boathouse has been held up pending coastal commission approval and permits. We hope to continue to row out of the David A. Grant Intercollegiate Rowing Center through Alumni week end. The crew office, locker room and tool room have been demolished but, we still have water to wash off the boats and racks to store them on. Alumni weekend is March 1 & 2. All alums are welcome this year (RSVP on our Alumni Weekend 2008 page) The dinner will be held in the Student Center on campus at 6:30 pm on Saturday evening. Sunday morning racing will begin about 10:30 am at the boathouse. For more information, check out the Alumni Weekend page. In two weeks, the crew will be traveling to UCLA for a Saturday morning scrimmage. It should get underway about 7:30 am and finish by 9 am or so.

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February 3, 2008

Within the next two or three weeks, the men and women will relocate to our temporary quarters at the Newport Aquatic Center. Demolition has already begun with the office, locker room and tool room having been removed. This will curtail our operations a bit but, we will adapt and make sure we get all the work done we need both on and off the water. The following are some conceptual drawings of the new facility.

In the image above, oars will be stored behind the roll up door on the left. The new "Eights Bay" is to the right under the second story erg room and crew offices. Next to the eights bay is the "Fours Bay" with a crew work shop in the back and to the right of the fours bay is the new sailing work shops. Upstairs next to the new erg room are the existing class rooms and conference room.

In this drawing, you are looking at the stairs to the crew offices and behind them is the erg room with the women's locker room in the back. The two "Chimney" like objects next to the stairs and on the east side of the eights bay are for oar storage. The men's locker room is located in the back of the eights bay,

Pacific Coast Hwy. view of the new boathouse.

The eights bay on the left with the men's locker room in the back...fours bay to the right of the eights bay with crew work shop in the back and the sailing work shops to the right of the fours bay. Some eights can be stored in the fours bay. We will lose some overhead space and shell storage as the eights bay will be just ten feet high and the fours bay a bit lower. We will lose the lawn and the new first floor improvements will all be on the one level. Parking will continue to be a problem but the boat house renovation will be a wonderful and welcome upgrade to both the men and women.

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January 27, 2008

We're Back!?. Well, most of us. Inter session crew began on the 14th of January with most of the crew returning to work out in Newport. Spring semester begins January 28th and all the athletes should all be back on campus. All the serious varsity athletes have been training hard this past week. Most did a good job training during the 5 week Christmas break. Technique is a bit rusty and we have been spending a good bit of time working on "swing" and moving together. Usually two round trips from the finish line to the jetty. The Novice squad has also been on the water training and doing some erg work in the boathouse. The boathouse renovation will be getting underway shortly and the men and women will be moving to temporary quarters at the Newport Aquatic Center. We expect to move sometime in mid February and remain there till January of 2009 or longer. It might be longer. Some of the proposed drawings and plans will be posted shortly in this site so you can see what the new David A. Grant Collegiate Rowing Center will look like. If you want to visit the current boathouse one more time before demolition, you have about three weeks. For those of you who have a piece of the Berlin Wall and want to add to your collection of historic concrete structures ....we will be selling commemorative cinder blocks for a nominal donation (shipping and handling extra). The four alums who carved their initials on the boathouse a couple of decades ago, (we know who you are) will want to give us a generous donation for that one of a kind artifact. I wonder if Dave Grant is going to retrieve and open the "crew time capsule" that was buried when the current boathouse was built? Does anyone know what is in it? It's also rumored that "Pirates Pride" (a wooden Pocock eight) was also buried in the sand (along with the last crew to row in it) under the boathouse. I expect Dr. Chris Drover 67' (Dr. Dirt) will be on hand during demolition, as our resident archeologist, to look for traces of indigenous oarsmen. Dr. Dirt has indicated that possibly a water spigot, a single strand light bulb fixture, small pieces of a quonset hut and other valuable artifacts might be uncovered. Chris states that "this would have been an ideal rowing site (not well suited for sailing due to a lack of shop space and parking) and very likely used by primitive oarsmen". Maybe some important news next week.

The Novice athletes were once again on campus training Tuesday and Thursday mornings last week in the weight room and stadium stairs. The sophomores were getting some hard work in eights with a day in the fours. Saturday morning, the men sprinted with UCI and the NAC juniors. There were two flights of varsity and the same number of novice. Coast put five eights on the the bay along with five from NAC and four from UCI. The Coast varsity eights were "U pick em's", selected by two starboards and were fairly evenly matched. The athletes raced 1200 meters from the starting line at the east end of Lido Island to the boathouse dock and then from the boathouse to the starting line and a final sprint back to the boathouse. The Coast women were rowing with UCI at the same time. There were six groups of between two to five eights going in both directions in the North Lido Channel. Jim Jorgensen and Paul Prioleau were calling the color commentary from the water so the spectators at the boathouse could keep up with the action. 22 eights moving up and down the channel, with a chilly, 15 knot cross wind, was an exciting event to behold. No one was injured and no boat damage was reported The oarsmen have one more week of training before finals and a four week break until we begin winter training in early January.

The following five images were sent to me by John Sailors. They have to do with the infancy of OCC Crew and rowing in Newport Harbor. I am not sure who the crews are in the aerial photo or if that is the Naval Academy waving at the finish line. It does appear to be Navy's jerseys and blades. On the back of one of the photos is written the year 1954. It is not clear what teams were competing or even the name of the regatta. Some investigation will be necessary to clear this up. I am looking forward to Dr. Christopher Drover getting more of our scrapbooks posted and an expansion and rewrite of our crew history.

LMM

This past week has seen the varsity back in fours while the novice oarsmen were spending Tuesday and Thursday in the fitness complex. The novice athletes are on campus two days a week working in the strength lab on strength conditioning through the end of the semester. They are still rowing and working on the water the other three days. The coaching staff has been spending more time with the athletes on the "dock boxes" and ergs to help the oarsmen work on technique. The varsity has been getting in some longer competitive rows in the fours. The Sophomores have been, in a sense, "seat racing" all week and this trend will continue through the end of the semester. The varsity has a 6k erg test scheduled for Tuesday. There will be a rate cap of 26 and the athletes should see some good improvement over their first test four weeks ago. Wednesday through Sunday the team will enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday and will resume practice on Monday November 26. Saturday, December 1st is the Newport Sprints where we will race three 1000m pieces with UCI and NAC. These short races will start or finish in front of the OCC Boathouse. Racing will begin about 7:30 am. The fall workouts will conclude on December 7th and the team will have a break until we meet on Monday, January 7th to begin winter training.

The crew has just returned from a forty hour round trip to the bay area. Tim Hodges, (OCC '72 & Cal '75) met the team Friday morning at 4 am with ten dozen donuts, milk and fruit for the guys. A special gift from Tim and a truly heroic effort on his part just to show up at that hour of the day. Another parent (Jonathan Hall's father) dropped off his son and 10 cases of gator aid. A full charter bus with 52 athletes and coaches left the campus at 4:30 am and with less than adequate A/C, we were all glad to arrive at the Cal boathouse around noon. Cal's Head Coach, Steve Gladstone, gathered the team in the boathouse erg room. He spoke to the athletes about the athletic and academic opportunities at the University of California and the long standing link between Orange Coast College transfers and the Cal program. After rigging two varsity and three novice eights, we promptly launched for an afternoon workout on the lower estuary. Coach Gladstone took time out of his schedule to guide the crews down the estuary into the "pit" where Saturdays "head" style racing would take place. Coast got a good look at the course and a solid work out in. Friday evening we had a chance to look around campus for a couple hours. Paul & Marsha Masse (their son Cole is a first year student athlete at Coast) arranged and cooked a fantastic five course dinner for the entire squad at a "Frat House" next to the campus. What a feast that dinner was "but wait, there's more." They also provided the team with gator aid, water, banana's and granola bars in the morning for the long workout, then bagels with creme cheese, orange juice and fruit when the crew finished rowing . "But wait, there's more." A huge sack lunch was delivered to the bus for the trip home. No one went hungry this weekend. A very special thanks, from the entire crew, to Paul & Marsha for their very generous hospitality.

Five Cal and five Coast crews met, just after 7 am Saturday morning, for pre-race instructions. The ten shells launched and proceeded to the bottom of the "pit" for the first three mile race. Overall the conditions were good with the tempeature in the 50"s and a moderate wind blowing against an incoming tide. All crews were started single file about 30 seconds apart. A rate cap of 26 for the first mile and a half and 28 for the last mile and a half of each race was leveled on all crews. The starting order was the same for all three races with a Cal boat then a Coast boat etc. The four varsity boats went first followed by the six novice shells. The finishing order was consistent for all three races with both of Cal's varsity eights finishing ahead of one OCC varsity eight and then the three Cal novice boats followed by the second OCC varsity eight and then the three OCC novice eights. The weekend was a great success and congratulations to all who participated and a special thanks to all the parents and friends who helped out.

The month of October is almost finished and OCC Crew is in full swing, with the workouts on land and water increasing in difficulty. The Varsity finished the week off with pulling their first 6k, in a series of 6ks that will span throughout the year. Workouts in the fours continue with great improvements and confidence building for the season to come. Coach Larry Moore is showing determination and perseverance with making sure that the technical changes are being made right now in the fall instead of in the spring. With the trip up to Cal Berkley around the corner, we are spending more time in the weight room and especially on the erg, to help get into excellent physical condition. The Novices are continuing with their 4k erg tests and progress is seen with drops in split times from many oarsmen. NARF is this Sunday and the Novice workouts are becoming longer to help get them ready for the 2.5-mile race.

With erg-a-thon flyers having been sent out, fall fundraising has begun. All Coast oarsmen are doing their part to help raise money to fund our travel expenses. Again this year Coast Crew is having a Crew Parents’ Open House. It will be on Thursday, November first at 7:00 pm and it will give parents the opportunity to meet the coaches, see the boathouse, and most of all learn what it means to row for OCC. This is a great way for parents to see what their sons and daughters go through every morning and the commitment to Coast Crew.

ALUMNI:

The following is an excerpt for Robert Knapp's email "challenge" from 10-19-07

The Varsity ended week seven with a long hard work out in fours. We are preparing for the Newport Autumn Rowing Festival and our trip to Berkeley. The Novices had their first erg test of the year and are looking toward quite a promising early season. The freshman coaching staff, as always, is doing a great job. This will be a season few of the novices will soon forget and many will remember as their best. On the varsity side of things we are still rowing in fours and are preparing for our first Erg test the middle of next week. Coach Larry Moore is doing a great job with our technical training. We are improving quickly and look forward to competing with other college and university upperclassmen, who have two more years experience than we do.

November is right around the corner, which means UC applications are due, and soon after every other University’s. Many of our guys are still in contact with coaches accross the country, from Ivy Leagues to the UC’s. All of our Varsity rowers are starting to finalize dates when they will visit the schools which interest them. An ever-helping hand in this matter is Dave Grant who has had several meetings with us. He has been instrumental in helping us make good choices. We constantly appreciate his help and we can’t thank him enough for what he does here at Coast.

Finally our annual Erg-a-thon is getting off to a good start and we will soon be mailing out letters to raise money to offset our traveling costs this year. Both levels of the team look promising; however we always have the issue of finding the money to send our crews to wherever their skill and drive can take them. So again, all alumni out there this is a chance to help us kick off our fund raising effort. See our erg-a-thon-flyer below. Each athlete has been asked to bring in 10 to 15 names and addresses of and ask friends, neighbors, parents and their co-workers to help support our team. Alumni will not receive this mailing (but you can still donate if you wish).

Over the last 3 months, we have been working on cleaning up our Coast Crew alumni database. The goal has been to capture current information, including e-mails, on everyone that has lettered or participated in the Program over the last 50 years. With the help of ‘point people’ that have taken responsibility for each year, and a little help from there friends, we now have close to 350 updated alumni to actively communicate with. We are putting it on your shoulders to update your information through the website as your contact information changes.

Coast Crew is excited to move forward with a more comprehensive website that will continue to evolve with updates coming to the Alumni and History links that will have information on each crew including stories of lore and success.

One of the big improvements to the site will be to keep you posted on events that will be driven around embracing the alumni back into an active roll within the program. Larry and Pat want to include us in crew functions, days on the water with the coaches, and just about anything else we can add to help make the rowing experience a special one for the athletes as it was for many of us. Expect them to reach out and involve you intimately with the Crew as they come through your town to race. For example, I, Roger Reynolds ’85, and Eric Klug ’82 enjoyed hosting the team for a Pre-Race meal in Seattle when they came up for Opening Day in Seattle in 2006. Stories were told, just like you would have expected, and the team placed the experience in the memory book, just like we did when we came through the Program. I know the Crew had a similar experience when they were in Spokane for a race with Gonzaga. Dr. Cary Simonds ’68 entertained the teams with stories of the early days in North Lido Channel, and his expeditions and battles with wild game in Africa and other exotic locations over the years.

Moving forward, lets get behind Coast Crew like we are expected to as alumni and encourage Larry, Pat and the other coaches to keep the traditions that have evolved over the years and create new experiences for the athletes that will leave a lifelong impression on them.

There are going to be plenty of opportunities for us to get involved and serve the program in the coming year, and the website will be the first place to look. Also, as we continue to improve the database, more alumni will get the periodic newsletters and other information we send through the mail and electronically.

Please have your teammates get on the site and register their current info into the database. We need to find more of us!

The following is a letter from John J. Sailors. Any help or questions can be sent to John directly or to the Coast Crew.

John J. Sailors
841 Chaucer Way
Livermore, California 94551
925 449 7274
johnsasilors@comcast.net

My name is John Sailors and I attended OCC as a Korean War G.I. bill student from 1952 to 54. I also served as ASB President in 53-54 before transferring to San Diego State to complete my education.
I'm seeking information in two areas on my time at OCC.
With the help of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce President, Hay Langenheim, we obtained the old rowing equipment from the 32 Los Angeles Olympics and with some salvage work done in one of the old Army Barracks still on campus we got the sport of crew started at OCC in 53]54. I would be interested in any records that exist on this activity, especially the people who would have been involved. By co-incendance my father was City Manager of Newport Beach at the time and he worked with Mr. Langenheim in getting the first boat house property for the Crew. Mr. Langenheim was also a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee back then and his son John was a student at the Naval Academy. I have also been in contact with David Grant on this subject.
My second request is on a Japanese Exchange Student that the student council I was a member of helped to sponsor in 53-54. His name was Ken-ichi Watarai and after attending Coast he transferred to San Jose State. I first me Kenny in Japan during my Air Force service for the occupation and the Korean War. He died in 1982 and I'm still in contact with his family and would like to share any information you have on him. I have also made the same request at San Jose State. He might be listed as Ken-ichi Fukunaga because
in Japan you take your wife's last name if there are no boys in her family.
FYI I joined IBM when I graduated from San Diego State and spent 37 years in marketing and management. This included 10 years of overseas assignments in Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore. I'm currently retired and living in Livermore California. I do Rotary, golf and I'm currently a member of the Citizens Oversight Committee for the $498 million Measure B bond for Chabot-Las Positas Community College District.
I also helped put up your controversial flag pole at Coast.

Regards,

John Sailors

The following is an email response from John Sailors 9-13-07

Great to talk to you too Larry. It all stasrted with a phone call from Hay Langeheim to me on the availability of the '32 Olympics crew equipment in a Long Beach warhouse. By school bus and truck we carted it all down to Coast. My memory says we only salvaged a couple of 4 oared chells and we fiber glassed those. Wish I could remember the names of the people involved. One came from the outside to lead the effort. Fred Huber was Dean of Men then and if he is still around somewhere he might have some recollections. I'll go thru my old year book to see if some other names ring a bell. I've copied a couple of my former classmates and Hay's son for any recollections or contacts they may have.

John

Coast did I believe also receive an eight or two from the 32 Olympics. We were still rowing "Grants Tomb" when I first visited the crew in '65. The quanset hut, the one bare light bulb the black widow spiders, the sand lot and the dock that sank up to your knees when launching were still in use.

Larry

The new recruits are settling in to the routine at the boathouse. Everyone is enrolled in their classes and taking care of their physical screenings and insurance information. The experienced oarsmen are running and doing some plyometrics in the parking lot while the new athletes are getting some technical training on the ergs and the dock machines. A little after seven am we have been putting seven eights on the water. We have about 80+ athletes trying out with a few dropping out and about as many adding. We expect to be adding a few more athletes before the serious training begins. We have one more week with all the athletes mixed together in the eights. The sophomores will then begin training on their own and hope to get some miles in on the water. Reid Hadley has been doing a great job with tracking down and updating alum info. If any alums or "friends of Coast Crew" are not receiving our mailings, please contact Reid at rchadley@z1solutions.com or fill out our alum info section and we will get you on our list. Pat, Matt and Danny are doing a great job getting the fall work outs started and Robbie is in the midst of re-habing "Legend" It will be another 2 weeks before it is back on the bay. Plans are moving forward on the Boathouse renovation and the crew is looking to move out in early December. So if you want the see the boathouse as it has been for the past 36 years, you have a little more than three months left. More on the new boathouse and temporary quarters for the crew will follow. Contact Pat Gleason at 714 458 6931 or me at 949 702 3548 if you would like to come visit a practice and ride in the launch.

Larry M. Moore

Has anyone seen this man?

DAVID A. GRANT

"My name is on it, therefore it's still my boathouse!"

Summer is over, and school has begun We all know what that means, the Giant Killers are back and a huge welcome back to all! A Giant GO COAST is indeed in order. We’have started up the season again after a hugely successful novice program last year. Our team is very lucky to have returned its entire first novice boat as well as most of the second novice eight. This year, the sophomores have returned 25 athletes. At the freshman level we have 14 oarsmen with prior rowing experience and another 40 - 50 new athletes ready to try their hand at crew. Our week started off with only the Varsity team having a meeting Monday and then proceeding to practice both Tuesday and Wednesday before the arrival of the freshmen Thursday. However before we got to the rowing we had a lot of recruiting to do Monday through Wednesday on campus. Thursday morning came and we split our varsity up into boats with the freshmen to teach them the basics. To anyone along the beach we must’have looked like an armada heading for war, and we will be, all season long. The year looks to be as promising in the novice category as it did last year and our varsity is looking forward to some great competition. It will be both an exciting and exhilarating year for us here at Coast, so watch out for those yellow boats.

I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome our alumnae and friends to our "reconditioned" web site. I know it is not Labor Day yet, but I wanted to get a head start on our pledge to keep you informed. Larry, Pat, Matt & Danny (left to right in the picture below) are excited to begin the new 2007-2008 season. We have been recruiting on campus this past week looking for athletes over six feet tall. Thursday we put 75 oarsmen and coxswains on the water for the first day of practice. About 22 sophomores returned from last years squad. We have recruited 14 experienced freshmen and 46 walk-ons. We are still looking for a dozen or so good athletes to fill out our team.

Friday is race day in the fall and although it was the second day of practice we managed to race our eights by fours, sixes and even twice by all eight. It was only ten strokes at a time with no legs but, it set the tone for the fall work outs to come. No one was killed and all boats returned safely to the dock. We are in the midsts of a major effort to update our alumnae contact list. If you are not receiving our mailings and you have found our web site, please take the time to fill out our alum contact info on our alumni page and it will be uploaded into our data base promptly. Many new pages and features are planned for the Coast Crew web site. If you have suggestions or comments please take the time to contact us by email or phone. Come back to the boathouse for a ride in the launch and watch a work out. We would love to introduce you to the crew. This offer is for the parents of athletes and "friends" of the crew. Along with trying to reconnect with alums and tuning up our web site, there is a major renovation of the boathouse underway. Current plans are for the crew to vacate the boathouse in December for demolition and our new facility is scheduled to take about one year for completion. More information on this project to follow.

The boathouse staff looks forward to hearing from our friends and alumnae. We encourage you to come visit when possible and we are committed to keeping you informed about the facility and the crews progress.

Regards,
Larry

June 5-7, 2008

106th Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Champsionships
Cooper River, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Coast in IRA Grand Final with Wisconsin, Washington, and Cal.

Click here for up-to-date regatta results.

The Giant Killers are at it again!

Click here to view Powerhouse Timing's
incredible finish line shot of the semifinal!

IRA semifinal (above): Brown, Washington,
Cornell, and OCC (yellow boat at top).

Coast (right) a close 2nd to Wisconsin in heat.

May 10-11, 2008

ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships
Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester, Massachusetts

Click here for up-to-date regatta results.

Coast Varsity leads Marist and Bates in Worcester, Mass.

Novice 8, Heat 1
1. Orange Coast 6:06.47
2. University of Michigan "A" 6:13.94
3. Ithaca College 6:19.15
4. Hobart College "B" 6:22.48
5. Rochester Institute of Technology 6:30.98

Novice 8, Grand Final
1. Orange Coast 6:15.45
2. Williams 6:23.80
3. Hobart 6:26.80
4. Virginia 6:27.53
5. Trinity 6:32.11
6. Michigan 6:35.32

Varsity 8, Heat 3
1. Orange Coast 6:08.56
2. Marist 6:10.62
3. Bates 6:12.07
4. Coast Guard 6:18.36
5. Hamilton 6:31.87
6. Colby 6:38.19

Varsity 8, Semifinal 1
1. Orange Coast 5:56.65
2. Williams 5:58.00
3. Bates 5:58.35
4. Virginia 5:59.53
5. WPI 6:02.65
6. UC San Diego 6:04.43

Varsity 8, Grand Final
1. Trinity 5:56.35
2. Michigan 5:58.18
3. Orange Coast 5:59.19
4. Williams 6:07.15
5. Marist 6:09.20
6. Bates 6:11.29
__________________________________________________________

May 3-4, 2008

WIRA Championship Regatta at Lake Natoma, Gold River, CA

2008 WIRA CHAMPIONS!

April 19, 2008

43rd Annual Newport Regatta

Varsity 8
Orange Coast College 5:55.50
UCLA 6:02.11
University of San Diego 6:10.12
UC San Diego 6:11.14
UC Irvine 6:21.85

2nd Varsity 8
UC San Diego 6:10.46
UCLA 6:11.17
Orange Coast College 6:13.93
UC Irvine 6:23.14

Novice 8
Orange Coast College 5:57.28
University of San Diego 6:07.43
UC San Diego 6:11.10
UC Irvine 6:24.50
UCLA 6:27.30

2nd Novice 8
UC San Diego 6:18.90
Orange Coast College 6:25.30
UC Irvine 7:16.20

Novice 4
University of San Diego 6:54.70
Orange Coast College A 7:05.30
Orange Coast College B 7:16.90
Orange Coast College C 7:32.80
UC Irvine 7:41.30

P.A. Palmer Cup Champions

April 12, 2008

UC Irvine and Cal State Long Beach

________________________________________________________

March 29-30, 2008

Windermere Pac-10 Challenge Regatta at Redwood Shores

Saturday Morning Races:
1. Orange Coast 6:13.8
2. Oregon State 2V 6:18.8

1. Cal Frosh 6:21.8
2. Orange Coast Novice 6:51.3

Saturday Afternoon Races:
1. Orange Coast Novice 6:44.1
2. Gonzaga Novice 6:46.3

1. Orange Coast 6:28.6
2. Cornell 2V 6:41.5
Conditions: Strong headwind

Sunday Races
1. Orange Coast Novice 6:27.6
2. UCLA Novice 7:07.6

1. Cal Frosh 6:18.2
2. Orange Coast Varsity 6:24.1
Conditions: Headwind
________________________________

November 11, 2007

The crew has just returned from a forty hour round trip to the bay area. Tim Hodges, (OCC '72 & Cal '75) met the team Friday morning at 4 am with ten dozen donuts, milk and fruit for the guys. A special gift from Tim and a truly heroic effort on his part just to show up at that hour of the day. Another parent (Jonathan Hall's father) dropped off his son and 10 cases of gator aid for the trip. A full charter bus with 52 athletes and coaches left the campus at 4:30 am and with less than adequate A/C, we were all glad to arrive at the Cal boathouse around noon. Cal's Head Coach, Steve Gladstone, gathered the team in the boathouse erg room. He spoke to the athletes about the athletic and academic opportunities at the University of California and the long standing link between Orange Coast College transfers and the Cal program. After rigging two varsity and three novice eights, we promptly launched for an afternoon workout on the lower estuary. Coach Gladstone took time out of his schedule to guide the crews down the estuary into the "pit" where Saturdays "head" style racing would take place. Coast got a good look at the course and a solid work out in. Friday evening we had a chance to look around campus for a couple hours. Paul & Marsha Masse (their son Cole is a first year student athlete at Coast) arranged and cooked a fantastic five course dinner for the entire squad at a "Frat House" next to the campus. What a feast that dinner was "but wait, there's more." They also provided the team with gator aid, water, banana's and granola bars in the morning for the long workout, then bagels with creme cheese, orange juice and fruit when the crew finished rowing . "But wait, there's more." A huge sack lunch was delivered to the bus for the trip home. No one went hungry this weekend. A very special thanks, from the entire crew, to Paul & Marsha for their very generous hospitality.

The 2007 Newport Autumn Rowing Festival was a great success for the OCC Men. The Men’s Open Eight category had twenty-eight entries. The Coast “A” boat finished the 2.5 mile course in 14:59 to take second place behind Stanford University’s 14:55. The Coast “B” boat finished eleventh in a time of 15:53. You can click on the link www.rowingfestival.com and see all the results from all events. In event #28 the Men's Frosh/Novice Eight, Stanford University won in a time of 15:38 followed by the second place Coast “A” boat with a time of 15:48 and third place Coast “B” with a time of 16:50. Coast “C” was seventh 17:16. Coast “D” was fifteenth after breaking a rigger half way through the race and finished the race with six men rowing in a time of 19:16. There were nineteen entries in this event. Over all the oarsmen felt good about their performance and look forward to traveling to the Bay Area November 9 & 10 to work out with the Golden Bears. These two week ends will give us a good measure of where we stand in our fall training.

Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
May 31 - June 2, 2007

The Tuesday after our returning from our trip to New York, Coast’s freshman boat had a meeting with the father of Coast Crew himself, Dave Grant. We met with him to plead our case to race at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships (IRA’s). Coast had not participated in the IRA in nearly ten years. After an hour-long meeting with the original Giant Killer himself, our novice team would be traveling to the IRA’s to race in the novice category. Coast would be taking not only a novice 8 but also a novice 4; we trained for an extra three weeks through finals and even into our own summer break, glad to be doing so. Finally we boarded the plane and headed for the Cooper River in New Jersey. This would be the biggest race we’d ever been in. While there, we continued what our coaches called the “Tour of the Ivys,” seeing both Princeton and U. Penn. We met up with yet another former Coast Oarsman turned coach, Fred Honebein, the newly appointed head coach at Penn. He allowed us to train using their boats and boathouse, which awarded us the chance to see the esteemed Boathouse Row, located in Philadelphia. Thursday finally came and the start of the three-day National championships commenced. In our first heat we raced head to head against Cal Berkley as well as others. We finished, which allowed us to go straight to the Semi Finals heats and avoid the "Repacharge". Finally, for the first time in our season, it felt like we’d turned the “cheats” off in a video game and got to play it for real for once, allowing us to see what we were really made of. Our 4 did not fare so well in their heat and were put into the repechage later that day. They did however pull off an amazing second race, sprinting through UCLA after having been declared "no longer a threat" by the announcers. Their second place finish placed them back into the semi finals. The next day they were knocked out of the grand final, placing them in the petite final for Saturday’s final races. However they did not back down and raced as hard as they could in their petites earning them a third place in the petites and thus, 10^th overall in the nation. Our novice 8 raced against Harvard, Yale, Washington, Stanford, and Georgetown for their Friday semi-final. Due to steering problems early in the race we fell into 4^th place, one place away from securing our spot in the grand final the next day. Unfortunately by the time we caught Yale with 200 meters left we didn’t have enough in us to sprint it out against them and they pulled ahead by 3 seats. y In our Petite final, we experienced some bad luck as well and ultimately we finished third to Cornell and Northeastern securing our position as the 9^th ranked novice team in the nation. Yes, we were quite disgruntled over this fact; however it’s only more fuel for the fire. We now know what its like to race at such an elite level, as well as what its going to take next year to win a gold medal at the national championships, so until then, 1 2 GO COAST!

East Coast Athletic National Invitational Rowing Championships
Whitney Point, New York
May 12 & 13, 2007

Finally after months of training both our top novice and second novice boats traveled to New York for the East Coast Athletic Conference championships (ECAC). The trip lasted a week, allowing ample time for our team to acclimate to the three hour time change. This extra time permitted our team the chance to practice and tour Cornell University’s campus. We met with Dan Allen, Cornell’s freshman coach and former Coast coxswain, and he not only gave us a tour of the boathouse but graciously loaned us boats for practice. Coach Allen summed up the day with a speech bolstering our spirits for the weekend races. He went into detail about what it would be like to transfer to a great university and the academic and athletic challenges we would face. Finally Saturday race day arrived and our First novice boat, seeded number one, went out to race their heat. We easily secured our place in the grand final by pulling a six minute 2k. We then headed back to our hotel to rest for our grand final later that day only to be told the races were going to be pushed back due to weather conditions… unfortunately those conditions never eased and we were unable to race our final. Our second novice boat was scheduled for a final only and didn’t even touch the water. This of course crushed our spirits and all our hopes of winning the championship we’d trained for all year. As we loaded our boats, heads held low we realized that our misfortune may have lead to a much greater opportunity… the IRA’s.

Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships
Lake Natoma, California
April 29 & 30, 2007

The Orange Coast College men’s and women’s crew traveled to Lake Natoma, Sacramento this past weekend for the WIRA Championships (Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association). The novice team performed great in all boats, medaling in every event they raced. The Novice four as well as the Novice B boat won their events with both poise and determination. The novice four started off the race in second to Gonzaga University but walked through the field to win the event. Our novice B boat held off the competition to also win their event. Afterwards members from both of these boats came together to create the JV boat which placed 3^rd. The novice A boat, for the first time, exercised a complete racing dynamic by incorporating a full sprint into their race plan. They ended up taking first to win their event. Orange Coast was also awarded the WIRA’s Mens Team Points trophy for the first time. The team is very proud of this, as well as with our performance here at Lake Natoma and hope to reproduce these results in two weeks at the ECAC’s in Whitney Point, New York.

The last two weekends we’ve had our first home races in Newport Beach. The weekend of the 7^th we got to race against UCI and Long Beach State. Both our Women’s and Men’s teams did extremely well winning every event. The following weekend we hosted the Newport Regatta against UCLA, USC, UCSD, USD, and UCI. Our novice A boat did extremely well breaking 6 minutes for our first time turning in a time of 5:53. Our B boat as well as Jv 8 and novice 4 all won their races as well by considerable lengths. Overall OCC earned the most points of all the teams winning the P.A. Palmer Cup. “OCC finished with 28 overall points, easily besting UCLA [12], UC San Diego [10], San Diego [six], USC [four] and UC Irvine [one]” (Newport Daily Pilot). The races were quite fun and we hope to be able to take back the varsity cup next year and sweep the Newport Regatta.

In my rowing career at Orange Coast I have heard this quote many times, “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” I have received more experience than most coast rowers could imagine in the last few years. Today was not a day to gain experience but a day to gain back a little something that we lost in San Diego. Today we raced UC Irvine and Long Beach State in Newport Beach in what looked to be a near loss for the varsity 8. The race started out with a very quick start and as we slowly settled into our race cadence we noticed that UC Irvine was not slowing down. They continued to over stroke us but were not showing much of a gain in position. At 1,100 meters while passing the Orange Coast boathouse they made a rather large move and pulled head by about 8 seats which is a lead they continued to keep until the tail end of the race. With 300 meters to go we began to make an incredible move bumping our race candence up about 5-6 beats. In 15 strokes we took back all 8 seats and were dead even. After a final push we crossed the finish line about half a deck length in front of UC Irvine. This was truly an amazing effort by all 9 in our boat and had one person not been giving full measure I don’t think we would have pulled of the win. Seat racing will continue this week as we head into another one of our bigger events of the year, Newport Regatta. Good luck to all crews attending. Go Coast.

Varsity Captain,
Jeff Collett

This year we headed into the San Diego Crew Classic with high expectations and were left with a firm reminder of how important lane assignment is. We were entered in the very first race of the entire event early Saturday morning with near perfect conditions in lane one. Unfortunately we were very early to the line and waited a good 10 minutes before the race actually started. After a mediocre start we continued into the first 500 about a second down from Lehigh and were dead even with LMU. One of our biggest flaws in the race was the next 500 where we lost an entire 4 seconds and posted the worst 2nd 500 in the entire event. Coming into 1,100 meters we pulled a big 20 strokes to get back into the race and continued to battle it out with LMU while slowly inching back Lehigh. With 300 meters to go we started a sprint which was probably one of our best moves of the year and crossed the finish line about half a deck behind Lehigh. Placing second in our heat put us in lanes 4-6 in the final the next day (had we placed first we would have had a random assignment to lanes 1-3). After an extremely relaxing day on Saturday after our race, and watching the DVD of our race over and over again we all came to a conclusion. For the final on Sunday we were going to try a strategy that is not necessarily the smartest but we figured that it would provide us with some shot at staying in the race. On Sunday as the boats were aligned, we all prepared for a grueling “fly and die” race, where you go all out in the beginning of a race and hope you sustain the lead. Half way through the race at the 1,000 meter mark we were up on all crews but our speed was slowly dying. At about 1,100 meters into the race the water in lane six becomes more turbulent and spreads further and further away from the shore. This caused a few “crabs” and a very unstable platform to row on (not to mention we had just gone all out in the beginning of the race). Very quickly all crews pulled away from us and we were left back 12 seconds from the pack by the time we crossed. Had we been in lanes 1-3 we might have had a better chance at keeping up with the crews and that might have given us just enough of an edge to fight through that last 500. We are all excited to get another shot at UCLA and UCSD in the coming weeks at Newport Regatta.

Varsity Captain,
Jeff Collett

Coast's novice crew attended the third largest race in the world this
past weekend, the San Diego Crew classic, competing in both Novice A
category and Novice B category. Both teams had great draws for their
heats placing in lane 1. Saturdays heat races in the morning went
great for both boats. The B boat secured their spot in lane one for
their final later that day by a large margin, and the A boat won their
heat by just as much earning them lane two for Sunday's grand final.
The B boat performed just as well in their final late Saturday
afternoon winning the race, again by open water. On Sunday the A boat had coast's "Giant Killers" name put to the test going up against
Berkeley in lane 1 Northeastern in lane 3 and Stanford out in lane 6.
We had a strong start putting us out in the lead but Cal proved the
stronger crew against the headwind pulling out after 500 meters. With
about a 500 meters left Cal was multiple boatlengths ahead and the
fight was left for second and third place between us, Northeastern, and
Stanford. We were able to keep our lead and fight off both teams
getting second with a boatlength over Northeastern and open water on
Stanford. We were very happy with our results and can only hope to get
fast enough to go to the IRA's and face Cal again.

The novices had their first official race a few weeks ago in Spokane,
Washington. We flew to Washington on Thursday for our Friday races
against both Gonzaga University and Washington State University.
Weather was quite nice considering the lake had just unfrozen the week
prior, and the temperatures were around 40 degrees on race morning.
Both novice boats had great races, getting first by a large amount over
the competition. Race night we experienced quite the dinner at a
former coast oarsmen turned hunter's house. The following day we
scrimmaged for practice with both teams again. The team had a great
time and can't wait to race again in two weeks at the San Diego Crew
Classic.

Alumni night has come and gone which marks the official beginning of our race season. The oarsmen that shared their experiences with us will not soon be forgotten and we all really gained a lot from hearing about their personal accounts here at the O.C.C. boathouse. We think this has given us an unbelievable amount of strength and will continue to motivate the entire team to uphold a long standing tradition of fast crews. Another lesson learned Saturday night was that of friendship and the close bonds you earn from being such a tight knit family. This sport is all about trust and putting it on the line for your buddies in the boat. Although every crew is different in age, and slightly different in results for their specific year, one common thing shared by all oarsmen is the brotherhood as a result of long hours of putting it all out there. We're looking forward to a great race this weekend against Gonzaga and Washington State and are looking for a few more shirts to hang up on the wall.

Crew had its annual alumni regatta this past weekend with the graduating years of 1967', 77', 87' and 97' as well as a few returners from recent years. We had a dinner reception on Saturday evening at our boathouse catered by a delicious local restaurant. The alumni all told their stories about how rowing at coast affected them as well as what they went on to do. The night was a great experience for all of us as we shared a great deal our alumni. Sunday morning we got to race them on a short 700 meter course. As always the alumni had little tricks to get ahead at the beginning of the race to even the odds. Our boat experienced a water-balloon attack before starting our race. Of course, nothing was taken personally and it was all in good fun. Overall the experience was quite memorable and we'll be looking forward to next year’s alumni dinner and races. This week we travel to Spokane, WA to face the Bulldogs of Gonzaga in what is sure to be an exciting early season dual. We will also race Washington State while on Silver Lake.

What a great weekend! The Coast crew arrived early Thursday morning to cloudy, rainy, windy and cold conditions in Worcester Massachusetts. Those conditions were sustained for the entire five days. As soon as the crew arrived, the governor of the state of Massachusetts declared a state of emergency do to flooding. Things could only get better and they did. The hotel was very nice and the two empacher shells lent to us by Harry Parker and the Harvard crew were fantastic. All three crews (Varsity, Novice and 2nd Novice) practiced Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. The workouts were good and the athletes very satisfied with the equipment. The Varsity had 24 colleges and universities entered in four heats Saturday afternoon. Coast was in the last heat of the day. After weather delay (a pattern which would be repeated again on Sunday) the Pirates got off to a good start. Coast challenged Holy Cross and Marist in the early going and had a few seats on Wesleyan. By the 1000 meter mark the top four crews had pulled away from Bates and Cincinnati. Just before 1500 meters Coast was down about a length to Holy Cross and Marist and up 5 seats on Wesleyan. With 500 to go Wesleyan picked up the pace and pulled up to take a 4 seat lead with 200 meters to go. Coast went up at 150 to go and moved right back to challenge but, came up about one stroke short (.21 seconds) and placed fourth. The fourth place finish put Coast in the “B” bracket of the Semi’s on Saturday morning (racing for 13 – 24). The Varsity easily qualified through the Semi’s for the third level final. Although disappointed in not making the grand final, Coast proceeded to the starting line with a great attitude and complete focus to race the best race possible…and that is exactly what they did. The crew led from start to finish with a powerful wind-up winning by open water in under 6 minutes over U Mass and the field.

The Second Novice eight had a field of 9 crews in two heats with the top three boats advancing to the grand final. The crew pretty much lead from start to finish and won their heat. The Novice eight had a field of 18 crews in three heats. The first and second place finishers advance to the final, 3rd & 4th to the petite and 5th & 6th to the third level final. Coast easily won this heat as well and advanced to the afternoon grand final.

The afternoon finals started with a two and a half hour weather delay with the second novice being sent to the van to wait and then back to the hotel. Once racing resumed, the second Novice eight got off to a solid start. The race quickly became a three way duel between Texas, Trinity and Coast. Coast never gave up the lead and went wire to wire narrowly missing the course and Championship record by less than a second. The Pirates won by a length in 6:11.58 over Trinity 6:14.67 and Texas 6:15.12. Michigan, George Washington and U of New Hampshire trailed. This is the third time that Coast has won a National Championship in rowing and the second time in four years.

In the Novice eight final, Trinity proved to be too strong as they slowly moved out on Coast and UCSD to a length lead by the 1000. With 500m to go the race was for second between OCC and UCSD. It was an exciting finish with the Pirates coming in less than a second behind San Diego then Michigan and George Washington 6 seconds back and Bates following.

For all crews it was an exciting finish to the racing season. Coast had traveled this season to Cal Berkley and UC Davis to practice. They raced four times in Newport, traveled to San Diego, Seattle and Worcester for major regattas. We also purchased a new empacher eight and none of it would have been accomplished without the help of parents, alumni, friends and supporters of Coast Crew. Everyone at the David A Grant Intercollegiate Rowing Center is grateful for the continued support of the community.

GO COAST!

The Coast crew traveled to Seattle to compete in the Windemere Opening Day Regatta in Seattle Washington. 75 crews competed in 19 events in just about one hour. Some races were run on two-minute intervals with three races on the course at one time. Some of the races had six boats entered where after 800 meters only three would fit through the Mountlake Cut. Coast borrowed two Vespoi eights and oars from the Huskies for the Varsity and Novice eights. Cloudy weather with moderate wind greeted the four Novice crews. Coast was off to a good start but was not able to hang on. Two of the oarsmen were ill and struggled through the course. The Varsity got off to a good start and knew they needed to hang on to the Huskies in the early going if they were to have any chance. We were down by a bit of open water by the 1000-meter mark when UW started pull away. Both crews have had a good race and a once in a lifetime experience. Bob Ernst and his Husky crews wee very gracious and went out of their way to help us.

Varsity 8+

1. UW 2V 6:17.53

2. Oregon State 6:26.86

3. Orange Coast 6:32.22

Novice 8+

1. UW 2F 6:12.53

2. Gonzaga 6:32.95

3. Oregon State 6:33.55

4. Orange Coast 6:37.80

Orange Coast College entered five events at the WIRA Championships this year, making the grand finals in four of them. TheVarsity four had two weeks to prepare for WIRA and moved Warren Van Ryzin from Starboard to Port side. They had a tough time off the start in their heat race but held their own to finish 5th. They went on to finish 2nd in their petite final by one second behind Santa Clara. The Novice four finished 2nd in the heat race and were 5th in the grand final. The Second Novice Eight had a final only winning by open water over Gonzaga and UCSD. The Novice Eight won their heat easily and narrowly defeated Gonzaga by one second in the Grand final. The Varsity Eight won their heat on Saturday by open water over Washington State. Just before the start of the Sunday final, Coast and WSU collided in the warm-up area taking on water and sustaining minor damage to the Coast boat. “We were rattled by the collision and bailed the water out of the boat with our socks.” The crew did not start well and never really challenged the leader Colorado. All in all it was a great showing for Coast Crew.

Varsity 8+ Heat

1. Orange Coast 6:04.6

2. Washington State 6:09.1

3. UC Irvine 6:14.8

Novice 8+ Heat

1. Orange Coast 6:17.1

2. Long Beach State 6:24.4

3. Sonoma State 6:32.4

Varsity 4+ Heat

1. U of Oregon 6:49.3

2. Puget Sound 6:50.9

3. UCSB 6:57.0

4. Cal Lights 7:08.8

5. Orange Coast 7:12.7

2nd Novice 8+ Final

1. Orange Coast 6:02.8

2. Gonzaga 6:06.0

3. UCSD 6:12.3

Varsity 8+ Final

1. Colorado 5:54.0

2. UCSD 5:57.7

3. Washington State 6:03.5

4. UC Davis 6:03.9

5. Orange Coast 6:04.3

Novice 8+ Final

1. Orange Coast 5:52.1

2. Gonzaga 5:53.1

3. UCSD 5:56.5

Varsity 4+ Final

1. Santa Clara 7:05.1

2. Orange Coast 7:06.1

3. UC Irvine 7:19.1

This past weekend, Coast Varsity got its first taste of experience as defined by Coach Larry: “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” For the first time this year, we found ourselves down at the start of the race. Rowing into a firm headwind, Davis had four seats on us by the five hundred meter mark. We sat on Davis and were down by about five seats as we came past the boathouse. The same was true for the rest of the race—coming into the last 100 meters; we were down by half a boat. The sprint was called, but by this time, it wasn’t quite enough. The Varsity lost by inches.

The Varsity, however, plans to use the experience gained from this past weekend to train harder for the next two weeks for the upcoming WIRA Championships in Sacramento. It’s going to be a dogfight!

Varsity 8+

1. UC Davis 6:22.24

2. Orange Coast 6:22.46

3. UCSD 6:26.27

4. UC Irvine 6:35.39

5. Long Beach State 6:42.14

Novice 8+

1. Orange Coast 6:15

2. UC Davis 6:30.77

3. Long Beach State 6:47.01

4. UC Davis 6:50.32

5. UC Irvine 6:55.69

2nd Varsity 8+

1. UC Davis 6:37.77

2. UCSD 6:43.27

3. Orange Coast 6:55.92

4. UC Davis B 7:07.24

5. UC Irvine 7:23.40

2nd Novice 8+

1. UCSD 6:57.20

2. Orange Coast 7:01.82

3. UC Davis 7:13.54

4. UC Irvine 7:21.37

This weekend marked a success for Orange Coast Crew: A sweeping victory! The day began with the christening of the Butch Pope, a custom Empacher 8 from Germany. The Varsity 8 went up against UCI in a dual. We got off to a quick start and we had a four seat advantage by the settle. A power ten opened up the lead and we had open water as we rowed past the boathouse. We went on to win the race by several lengths of open water. The Junior Varsity 8 had a very successful race. This was the JV’s first official race besides the Crew Classic. Going into the race, they were planning on winning by at least 15 seconds to be competitive for later regattas where they would compete against UCSD, UC Davis, and other fast crew. A confident Pirate crew got off to a quick lead on UCI. They managed to take seats out of UCI and ended up obtaining their goal: a victory by 18 seconds. Both the JV and the Varsity crews look forward to the upcoming Newport Regatta.

Novice 8+

1. Orange Coast

2. Long Beach

3. UC Irvine

4. Chapman

JV 8+

1. Orange Coast

2. UC Irvine

2nd Novice 8+

1. Orange Coast

2. UC Irvine

3. Long Beach

On Saturday, the Coast Varsity 8 (Cox-Elliott Thacker, Benton Sparks, Greg Somers, Brad Stapleton, Adi Cosic, Roman Rukosuyev, Matt Zeiser, Derek Huffman, and Will Griffith) raced in a brand new Empacher in the second heat of the day in the Men's Varsity Cal Cup. We got off to a fast start, taking
four seats on all crews by the settle. Loyola and Texas put up a strong fight but we moved to a boat length advantage by the 1000 meter mark. Rowing at a lower stroke rate than the other crews, we managed to hold them off and finish first in the heat with a time of 6:06.50; a full 2.49 seconds faster than Loyola.
Our solid performance gave us confidence going into the Grand Final Race on Sunday.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! It was another epic race for the Orange Coast College Men's crew team, as winning Saturday's heat had placed the varsity 8 in lane three of the grand final—prime positioning for a fantastic race. There was the usual Mission Bay chop, along with its accomplice, the ever-present
crosswind, but that didn't stop the Varsity from barely beating Colorado University by .6 seconds—a very narrow margin. The race was back and forth throughout the whole 2000 meters, with USC, Colorado, Texas, LMU, and UCSD all being serious contenders for top position. However, come the last 10
strokes, OCC was there, inching back on Colorado for the win, with a time of 6 minutes and 26 seconds. The crew now looks forward to a dual against UCI and Long Beach next weekend, with the Newport Regatta following soon after.

Varsity 8+ Heat

1. Orange Coast 6:06.50

2. Loyola 6:08.99

3. Texas 6:09.91

Novice 8+ Heat

1. Cal (A) 6:00.70

2. Orange Coast 6:06.55

3. UC Davis (A) 6:28.41

JV 8+ Heat

1. Cal (A) 5:53.90

2. UC Davis (A) 6:13.90

3. UCSD 6:15.80

4. Notre Dame 6:17.17

5. Orange Coast 6:20.00

Men’s Open 8+ Heat

1. Stanford 6:24.70

2. True Aggies 6:39.33

3. Lake Merritt 6:42.09

4. Orange Coast 6:58.46

Varsity 8+ Final

1. Orange Coast 6:25.30

2. Colorado 6:25.93

3. USC 6:29.19

Novice 8+ Final

1. Cal (A) 6:08.70

2. Stanford 6:14.78

3. Orange Coast 6:15.47

JV 8+ Final

1. Notre Dame 6:21.00

2. Orange Coast 6:26.20

3. Colorado 7:04.45

Men’s Open 8+ Final

1. Cal LW 6:34.60

2. SDSU Alum 6:41.06

3. UCSD 6:41.59

4. Lake Merritt 6:42.43

5. Sac State 6:49.47

6. Orange Coast 6:55.43

This weekend presented OCC with the opportunity to race Long Beach State. Under an increasing headwind, Coast got off to a bit of a slow start, but managed to take a seat or two lead over Beach before the settle. The Pirates were able to pull to more of a lead with a power ten at the 400 meter mark. OCC took an open water lead over Long Beach by the time we went by the boathouse. We ended up winning by two lengths, although things never really clicked for us. This race provided us with some experience and we plan to use the knowledge we acquired from this race to improve for the upcoming San Diego Crew Classic.

Varsity 8+

1. Orange Coast

2. Long Beach

3. Orange Coast JV

Novice 8+

1. Orange Coast

3. Orange Coast 2N

2. Long Beach

Varsity 8+

Orange Coast 7:06.43

Gonzaga 7:09.87

Novice 8+

Gonzaga 7:22.1

Orange Coast 7:29.3

Tradition! What is it? It is the very thing that gives us the drive to succeed, to push harder, to go farther and to be better! During Alumni Weekend here at Orange Coast, we were given a little taste of tradition; an opportunity to hear the stories behind the pictures on the walls. “Winning is not a sometimes thing, it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit.” That habit has been handed down year after year, rower after rower here at Orange Coast. It is for this reason that we hold our alumni in such high regard, and it is for this reason that we continue to have such a successful program. The 2006 Alumni Weekend was a blast with quite an astonishing turnout of alumni. Saturday evening was filled with good food, great stories of old victories, many encouraging words from old oarsmen to new, and of course, many references to the number nine! Sunday morning races were no less entertaining as the alumni boats battled their way down the course, attempting just about every possible way to attain victory! And after a rather successful dock sweep that ended with just about everyone in the water, the weekend was over and the team was left with spirits flying leading us into the final week of training before the season’s first race!“Traditions are the guideposts driven deep in our subconscious minds. The most powerful ones are those we can’t even describe and aren’t even aware of.”-Ellen GoodmanEvan Bainbridge
Novice Captain

Alumni Day had another fantastic turnout, with oarsmen ranging from last year’s varsity to the oarsmen of the 1965-66 crews. There were many fantastic stories told over dinner, from the crowd-favorite “Nine” speech (now famous around the boathouse) all the way to nail-biting racing stories of victories and defeats alike. This was only Saturday, however, and the real fun began on Sunday. There were many races with crews ranging from the 60’s to the 90’s and all the way to 2005’s Varsity A-Boat. The current Varsity boat barely beat the 2005 crew—only after last year’s crew caught two overheads crabs, severely damaging the morale in the boat and enabling the current oarsmen to walk away with a victory. However, the alumni of old could not be denied, starting ahead with a 250 meter lead! The current Varsity tried to take it back, but there just wasn’t enough distance on the course and the alumni from ’96 and ’66 were victors. Overall, it was another fantastic turnout with a lot of good fun, friendly competition and new memories.Brad Stapleton
Varsity Six Seat

LAKE NATOMA - The Orange Coast College men's crew had both its first and second novice eight crews win their respective races and capture the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships in those events, this weekend at Lake Natoma outside of Sacramento.The men's first novice eight won both of its races over the weekend, capturing its heat race with a time of 6:13.0 before winning the final with a time of 6:09.8. The second novice crew was also in top form, taking first place in its final with a time of 6:30.9.Also advancing to their respective finals were the men's pair, who took 4th place in 7:51.6 while the men's varsity four was a 6th place finisher with a time of 7:19.4.On the women's side, the second novice eight put in the best team performance of the day, taking runner-up with a time of 7:37.0. The first novice eight took 6th place in its final, crossing the line in 7:25.8.By virtue of its victory, the first men's novice eight crew will head east to Worcester, Massachusetts and take part in the ECAC Championships on May 7-8 on Lake Quinsigamond. The women's novice eight was also extended an invitation to take part in the championships.

This week end marked the conclusion of the racing season for most of the Coast oarsmen. Both Coast Novice teams were victorious in their events. The Second Novice Eight had just a final on Sunday but, it was a barn burner. Coast got out to an early lead on the field (UC Davis, Santa Clara and UC San Diego) and were up by a little open water when the stroke caught a full crab, stopping the boat and turning it broadside into lane one. We were fortunate not to collide with UCSD. The boat got back in their lane and restarted at about 900m into the race. By this time UC Davis had pulled to a length of open water lead. Not to be denied, Coast got back on course and drove the rate up to 36 to catch the Aggies. By 250m to go, Coast had closed the gap and drove the rate up again to 39 to catch and pass Davis in the last 10 strokes. What a race.The Novice Eight had 15 college and universities in their event. Coast won their heat by two seconds over Loyola to advance to Sundays final. Again this proved to be a dogfight with UC San Diego rowing stroke for stroke and seat for seat with the Pirates right down to the wire. Coast held on to win by 3 seats over UCSD and the field. UC San Diego will also be racing in Worcester this weekend with Coast and 16 other colleges. The Varsity Straight Pair had a fantastic heat placing third behind U of Portland and Santa Clara to qualify for Sunday’s final. James Teeter (stk) and Alberto Mendoza (bow) had been rowing the pair for one week prior to racing. An injury in the Varsity boat forced Coast to drop out of the JV event and enter a four with and a straight pair. On Sunday, the pair got off to a shaky start after the strokes oar popped out of the oarlock. Once the oar was secure and they resumed the race, they moved right back into contention. While the other crews were having steering problems, Teeter and Mendoza were moving straight down the course and with 750m gone in the race were contending for the lead. Seattle Pacific got back on course and moved through the field but, it was very close for second through fourth with Coast just missing a medal by .7 seconds. The Pirates wound up fourth out of nine crews. A very respectable showing.The Varsity four also had only rowed together in a four for one week. There were 16 crews in three heats with two top finishers advancing to the finals on Sunday. The Buc’s finished two seconds behind the University of Colorado to advance to the Grand Final. The guys had a great race on Sunday but, were just out rowed by the other five schools. Long Beach State had only rowed in a four all year and was clearly the class of the field, winning by 8.5 seconds over second place University of Oregon. The crew felt good about their race and no complaints from the coach.The Varsity Eight had been improving all year and they had been competitive in all races they rowed. The Varsity was seeded seventh out of 17 crews entered. In the heat on Saturday, the Pirates rowed a “text book race”. They got off to a good start and settled at 35 strokes per minute. By 300 meters into the race they ad established themselves as the leader and gradually moved out to a one boat length lead by the 1000 meter mark. With 500 meters to go, Gonzaga (#1 seed) and Washington State (#6 seed) had begun to move up. At 300m to go Coast was still in the lead with Gonzaga and WSU rowing stroke for stroke and charging hard. The Varsity just did not have enough horse power to hang on and finished third which sent them to the Petite Final on Sunday. The guys had a lot of heart and rowed a great race and there were no regrets by anyone. Sunday found Coast in lane one with University of Puget Sound in lane two. Both crews were with in two tenths of one another in the heat races and with no surprise, these two crews battled all the way down the course. There was never more than two to three seats difference through the entire race with the lead changing hands several times. Puget Sound would take a ten and then Coast would counter and so forth to the end with Coast coming in three seats behind (1 second). Coach Moore was very proud of the entire Coast Crew. “All crew’s raced very well all year and I can honestly say that I am very pleased with the Varsity’s fourth, sixth and eighth place finishes at WIRA.” He went on to say that on the Varsity level, racing against Junior’s and Senior’s is quite challenging in itself but, to have finished all but one race less than two lengths behind the leader shows that the crew rows well and they know how to compete.”The Novice Eight is on its way to Worcester Mass to race this weekend and we wish them all the best of luck. Please check this site for the web link to all the results for the WIRA Championships.

This past weekend marked the most important race to date for the OCC Novice. The WIRA regatta had fifteen colleges and universities entered in the Novice Eight event. The Coast Novice went into the weekend with high expectations for the best outcome possible and those expectations were fulfilled. The hard work that the Novice have put forth since summer paid off with a 1st place win in the qualifying heats and FIRST PLACE IN THE GRAND FINAL on Sunday. The WIRA regatta race was the hardest all year, with competition coming from all over, and all crews racing to win. All of the Novice are extremely excited about the outcome of this race and we now look forward to the ECAC’s in Worcester, Massachusetts, this coming weekend. (East Coast Athletic Conference National Invitational Rowing Championships)Brad Stapleton
Novice Co-Captain
Go Coast!

More good news from the OCC Men’s Crew! It was good weather and good racing in Saturday’s Newport Regatta. Starting at about 7:30am, all crews put out a great effort and it’s safe to say that we all had a lot of fun.The varsity eight came in a hard fought 3rd place finish over local rivals USC and UCLA among other crews. Crews that have given us trouble from day one were overcome in a very close race. 3rd place might not seem so great to some, but it was big power struggle between us and USC, and we are proud to say that we came out ahead. In the final, USC got ahead and stayed ahead of us while we slowly caught up to them through the whole race until the very end. With only 300 meters to go, we decided that we were not going to lose to USC, and managed to pull ahead and beat them by 1 or 2 seats.This is a momentum that we hope to carry on through the rest of the season. Saturday’s racing gave us high spirits and left us anxious to buckle down and finish strong.

UC Davis           6:00.4
UC San Diego    6:04.3
OCC                   6: 07.1
USC                    6:07.6
UCLA                 6:12.4
UCSB                  6:17.1

Santa Clara         6:11.2
UCI                     6:12.7
LMU                   6:18.3
SDSU                  6:20.0

Gel. It’s something no Coach can teach and no boat can explain how it happens, it just does. Something is going on down at the David A. Grant Boathouse and people are noticing. With the recent Varsity 4th place petite final finish at the Crew Classic the guys got together and knew they underperformed, that they needed to ask more of themselves and could do better. And better we did. Our first conquest was UCI, Coast came out on top defeating UCI with an 8 second victory. This weekend at the Newport Regatta the Coast Varsity oarsman accomplished more. With some of the top crews from along the west coast including UC Davis, UCSD, UCLA, USC and others the boys knew it would be a good race. Qualifying was our first step in the right direction. In the final our Oarsman went after it. Davis had a strong start and never looked back facing challenges from UCSD. But the real race was for third. USC was up more than 8 seats on Coast in the second 500, while UCLA had a strong 3rd 500. But the Rob Jordan boat would not go away. “Gel”ing together for the last strokes of the race and pulling away past UCLA and USC. Coast Varsity posted a proud 3rd place finish this weekend by not letting any boats row through us in the last third of the race. We look forward to another good race at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships (WIRA) in 2 weeks on Lake Natoma in Sacramento, CA.Elliot Hayes
7 Seat
ASOCC President

The JV Eight had just a six boat final on Saturday morning. All six crews got off to a great start and the first 500m was closely contested. UC Davis began to pull away from the field in the second 500m with UC San Diego close behind. UCLA Coast and UCI were fighting for that third spot. UCLA pulled ahead of Coast and UCI going by the boathouse. Coast and UCI were separated by only a seat or two. The Pirates rowed hard in the last 250m of the race but, could not catch UCLA while holding off a strong performance by the Anteaters and with the USC Trojans trailing the field.

UC Davis 6:09.3
UC San Diego 6:15.8
UCLA No Time
OCC
UCI
USC

NOVICE EIGHT

This weekend was the Newport Regatta, the last home race of the season. Conditions were pristine, with a very light breeze, warm sun, and large crowd. In the first heat, the Novice A placed third, rowing hard enough to secure a spot in the final later that day. Ten College crews had entered forcing two heats of four with the top three finishers moving on the Grand Final. Two hours later, after hitting the water again, the Novice A raced the Grand Final against UCLA, LMU, UCSD, UC Davis, and UCI. It was a hard race, with all crews within seats of each other. The Coast Novice finished first, after slugging it out with all crews in the last 300 meters of the race. Now, the Novice look forward to the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in two weeks at Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova Ca. This will be the biggest challenge yet for the Novice team. Having had a successful season so far, the Novice have been invited to the East Coast Athletic Conference National Invitational Rowing Championships in Worcester Mass. Pat Gleason and the Crew will be flying east on May 4, 2005 and returning May 9th.

OCC         6:04.1
UCSD       6:07.2
UC Davis 6:08.3
UCLA       6:09.9
UCI           6:13.0
LMU         6:15.1

The Newport Regatta was a strong showing for Coasts novice crew. With both the A and B boats taking their events in a strong fashion and sending a message that at WIRA Coast will not be easily defeated. The first novice boat had a strong qualifying race, easily placing them in the final later that morning. The second novice had a very strong race with only a final and no qualifying heat. The boat decided to race the event at a higher stroke rate than in its previous races. The second novice came off with a bad start leaving it two seats down to Davis, but the boat had an extremely strong settle taking us from two seats behind to a boat length ahead and then holding on to that lead until the 1500 meter mark where a final push pulled us out to an open water lead finishing 6.7 seconds ahead of Davis. The First Novice boat final was a strong showing for Coast and after jumping to an early lead by the 500 meter mark; Coast then battled a strong UCSD boat to the 1500 meter mark. A strong effort in the final 500 pulled Coast to open water on the field and hammered home the dominance of Coasts novice oarsmen.

By Geoff Pietrok novice co captain
Please visit our photo gallery for photos of the Newport Regatta.

The OCC Men’s Varsity crew had a small change of pace this last Saturday; we actually won. The previous races in this season have been hard fought and were rowed to the best of our ability. But in the dual race against UCI this last Saturday, we managed to get ahead and stay ahead.It was a rather hard race. The weather conditions were not that favorable with a stiff headwind that blew straight down the channel. That slowed our time considerably. ( OCC 6:39 def UCI 6:47) In order to battle the wind up the course, we had to put in temporary oar spacers that extend the leverage of the oar a couple of centimeters and therefore lighten the load.All teams on the Men’s crew swept every event that day. It was very successful, but most importantly, we all had a lot of fun.

With a Stiff wind continuing to blow from the west, the JV eight got off to a good start and settled a low rate of 31 strokes per minute. It turned out to be a long race (OCC 7:19 def UCI 7:46) but, OCC was never challenged down the course. The Newport Regatta is scheduled for Saturday April 16th with racing beginning at 7:30 am. There will be heats and finals in both the Varsity Eight and Novice Eight events. Thirteen colleges and Universities will be competing.Sam Proctor
Varsity Co-Captain

This weekend brought about another race for the Novice A, against UCI, CSULB, and Chapman. Conditions were not entirely ideal, with moderate to strong winds and lots of choppy water in the harbor, but the Novice Men endured, rowing their way to a victory against all crews. It was a hard race, with a crab at the start slowing down the OCC novice, and a persistent UCI crew holding a boat length of lead up to the 1,000 meter mark. However, this didn't demoralize the OCC novice, who held on and pulled through to walk by the UCI eight in the next 1,000 meters for a hard-earned victory. (OCC 6:42 def UCI 6:50, OCC ‘B’ 7:00, CSULB 7:22, Chapman 8:01)The Novice eight broke down into two fours after the eights race and raced two other OCC fours plus Chapman, CSULB and UCI in a seven boat Novice four event. Conditions remained choppy. (OCC ‘A’ 8:08 def OCC ‘B’ 8:14, CSULB 8:37, OCC ‘C’ 8:46, Chapman 8:56, UCI 8:58, OCC ‘D’ 9:01)
Brad Stapleton
Novice Co-Captain

The OCC Varsity crew returned to the San Diego Crew Classic as the reigning champions for the Men’s Cal Cup. Unfortunately, the Cup did not return home with us this year. Although, we went down to the Crew Classic expecting a good outcome, morale was high and we were prepared to give it all we had, things just didn’t go our way.The weather was good but slightly windy with the Varsity racing both the heat and the petite final in a cross breeze. In the first race of the day, 7:30am on Saturday, we crossed the finish line 3rd to Gonzaga (1st) and Colorado (2nd) with a time of 6:23.94. In Sunday’s petite final at 11:20, we finished a disappointing 4th behind UCSD, WSU, and UCLA with a time of 6:15.33. We came off the water very disappointed but knowing that we were just going to have to work that much harder if we wanted to redeem ourselves at the WIRA Championships. Coach Larry Moore, as always, was very supportive and is confident that there is much we can still learn.All in all, the Crew Classic was one more notch of experience in the racing belt of the OCC crew and we look forward to races to come. Sam Proctor
Varsity Co-Captain

The JV Eight had a great heat race on Saturday. There were fourteen crews entered in two heats. Coast was in the second heat with Northeastern, Penn, Minnesota, USC, UCI and SDSU. All crews got off cleanly and gradually Penn and Northeastern pulled away from the field. The race was for the third and final qualifying spot. Coast Minn. USC and UCI were stroke for stroke coming into the last 250m of the race with just about 3.5 seconds separating these four crews at the finish. Coast was able to hang on and finish about .4 second ahead of Minnesota with USC, UCI and SDSU trailing in that order.Sunday’s Grand final found OCC over powered and out rowed by the field. Cal Berkeley A won in a time of 5:58.1 with Northeastern, Cal B, Penn, Stanford and Coast following.Find all the times of the heats and finals at www.crewclassic.com and click on 2005 race results.Saturday April 9th we will be racing UCI and Long Beach in Newport and the following Saturday April 16th we will be hosting the Newport Regatta with one of the largest field ever. Twelve Colleges and Universities will be involved. There will be heats in the Varsity and Novices eights as well as Petite and Grand Finals.

This weekend marked the first true test for the Novice A Boat. Over the course of three days at the San Diego Crew Classic, the Novice A Boat took to the water with more zeal and intensity then ever before. We were ready for a strong performance against upwards of 20 different crews. After practicing for an hour on Mission Bay on Friday, the Novice retired to bed early, readying for Saturday’s first heat. After a sound sleep, the crew arrived at Mission Bay on Saturday morning ready to race in the third heat. With the main competition coming from Stanford, Washington State, and our fellow oarsmen in the Novice B boat, the Novice A took off from the starting line and didn’t look back. Coast won the heat in a time of six minutes and thirty seconds. This guaranteed the Novice A a spot in Sunday’s Grand Final. The Grand Final had the top two place finishers from all three heats. Sunday arrived quickly, and the Novice A took to the water once again. We had great conditions and a strong warm-up making the prospects of doing well in the Final promising. The competition included the Berkeley A and B boats, LMU, Stanford, and UCSD. As soon as the race began, the Cal A boat jumped to a large lead, leaving the Novice A to battle for second place with the Cal B boat. The Novice A held the 2nd place position by 2 seats or so for the first half of the race but, it was not to last, as a crab caught by the OCC novice gave Cal B a half a boat lead. However, the eight oarsmen did not break, nor did we give up any more seats to the other crews in the race. Also, the crab had snapped the backstay of one of the riggers, which became jammed in the water, creating drag that hindered the ability of the Novice to walk back on Cal B. After many more power 10’s and immense efforts by all nine members of the boat, the OCC Novice A crossed the finish line in third place. It was a great race, all things considered, and the Novice will learn from this experience and take these lessons into the upcoming regatta against UCI and CSULB this coming weekend. Go Coast!
Brad Stapleton
Novice Co-Captain

The San Diego Crew Classic was a great learning experience for the second novice boat. Going into the race, most of the oarsmen were not yet comfortable with rowing a 2k at the intensity needed to be successful. We suffered a tuff loss in our heat toWashington State and UCI. Both crews walked through us in the last five hundred meters and sent us to the third level final 6 hours later. Our boat raced well and finished fourth, just fractions of a second behind third place USD. After that, the entire boat is now ready to step up to the next level and perform well in out two home races.

With inclement weather causing a last minute change in race sites, the Bruins came down to Newport early Saturday to race against the Pirate Crews. With a slight wind blowing and a light drizzle falling, the Novice took to the water with high hopes and plenty of anticipation for what the race would hold. Despite a shaky start at the beginning of the race and being down a half a boat length for the first 1000 meters of the race, the Novice didn't give up, slowly walking on the Bruins, and then passing them for an open water lead in the last 200 meters of the race, winning the duel. It was a hard row and UCLA was a tough opponent. The race was a dogfight for every seat. Now, with two races under our belts, the Novice are looking forward to two tuff weeks of training. The upcoming San Diego Crew Classic will be a true test of our ability. We plan on continuing to improve our strength and technique for this important race.

The Second Novice got off to a good start and settled well. By 500 meters, OCC had the race under control. The Buc’s had pulled out to an open water lead well before passing the 1000 meter mark. With cheers from both Bruin and Coast supporters helping to move the crew’s, the Pirates had moved out to a two boat open water lead at the boathouse. OCC continued to move away from UCLA, finishing about 6 lengths ahead. The next race for the Second Novice Eight will be at the San Diego Crew Classic where they will compete in the Novice Eight event with 17 other Collegiate Novice Crews.

Brad Stapleton
Novice Co-Captain
Check the photo gallery for pictures of the event

Welcome to Spokane, Washington! The outdoor lovers paradise! This past weekend of racing took place just outside the city at Medical Lake. The races were fast, fun, and once again, another great experience to look back on. The whole crew was excited at the chance to go up and dual race Gonzaga on Friday, and endure some rough weather for Saturdays regatta.Fridays 2000m dual race had OCC v. Gonzaga in the Varsity event which went to Gonzaga, and the OCC JV and Novice against the Gonzaga Novice which finished OCC Novice 1st, Gonzaga Novice 2nd, OCC JV 3rd.Saturday brought different luck by way of some very strong wind blowing South down the course, creating choppy and difficult conditions. The crews racing included OCC, Gonzaga, University of British Columbia, and Washington State. The events consisted of three timed pieces: a 4’30”, a 3’, and a 2’. The Varsity started at approximately 9:00am and the three-minute piece was won by OCC, the other pieces gave one to Gonzaga, and one to Washington State. In the JV event, starting at about 10:00am, OCC did not finish due to breakage when they collided with the Washington State and Gonzaga crews. Conditions worsened over the course of the morning and unfortunately led to the cancellation of the Novice event.All in all it was a great weekend, and it gave us a taste of the racing to come. We now know that we need to expect great things of ourselves, before we can expect great things to happen.We would like to thank Dr. Cary Simonds (OCC Crew 68’) for letting the team into his amazing home and for catering lunch on such sort notice.   We all greatly appreciate your hospitality and you are an inspiration to all of us. The possibilities are endless.Pictures of the weekend are in the Gonzaga 2005 photo gallery.

Varsity 8+

Gonzaga      6:01.5
OCC          6:04.0

Sam Proctor
Chris Hernandez
Varsity Co-Captains

This weekend was the most exciting yet for the Novice Crew, being our first real race and first road trip for the team. Everyone entered the weekend excited and prepared for this first race, and nobody really knew what to expect. On a sunny, chilly, and pristine Friday morning, the Novice Eight went against our own JV Eight and the Gonzaga Novice A Eight. After a fast start, the Novice Boat stayed a half a boat length up on Gonzaga, and never gave up those seats for the duration of the race. Despite a valiant attempt by Gonzaga and the JV boat in the last 500 meters, the novice were able to cling on to their lead and come out on top with a victory. This was the first real race for the Novice Eight, and we are all excited with the results, and everyone's hopes are high in anticipation for what the rest of the year holds.

OCC        6:06.7
Gonzaga    6:08.7
OCC JV    6:17.0

Next Saturday March 19, 2005 the Pirates return to Balona Creek in Marina Del Rey for the first time this decade to take on the UCLA Bruins. Racing begins at 8 am.
GO COAST!

Brad Stapleton
Novice Co-Captain

NEWPORT ATUMN ROWING FESTIVAL
Sunday, November 7, 2004

narf04

NEWPORT AUTUMN ROWING FESTIVAL
NOVICE EIGHTS

The novice men’s program got off to a great start on Sunday November 7th. They were able to launch four eights for the 10 am race. Many excellent crews were in attendance from up and down the coast. Our boys did quite well finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 10th with 19 entries in the event. Results can be viewed at www.rowingfestival.com The next event is the Newport Sprints Dec 4th . This is an inform sprint format of about 1200 meters. NAC, UCI, USC and OCC will “Sprint” three times up and down the North Lido Channel. Two finishes at the OCC boat house and one start.

Co-Captain Samuel Proctor

The first race of the fall season began at 6:30am when rowers started trickling into the boathouse. The rain followed soon after and maintained a light drizzle throughout the first half of the day. For the Varsity, the first race came at 8:00 a.m. with three eights entered in the Men’s Open 8+ event. We finished with the “B”, “A”, and “C” boats placing 7th, 8th,, and 15th respectively. The second and last race for the Varsity was the Men’s Open 4+ event. With four four’s entered, the “A”, “C”, “B”, and “D” placed 3rd, 12th, 17th, and 21st respectively.Inspired by Coach Larry Moore, the theme for the day was to work hard but also have fun. To make things interesting, Larry had invited former Olympic sculler Xeno Muller and some OCC alumni to race with us in hopes that some of their experience would rub off. We finished the day having gained experience and insight on future races. Overall, we had a pretty good time racing around on a cloudy Sunday morning.

Samuel Proctor

Orange Coast College won the Palmer Cup Points trophy again this year by an overwhelming margin. With first place finishes in the Varsity, 2 nd Varsity and 2 nd Novice Eight races, 2 nd place in the Novice Eight and Novice Four and a 4 th place finish in the Varsity Four events, OCC Crew retained the Palmer Cup.

NOVICE FOUR VARSITY FOUR SECOND NOVICE EIGHT NOVICE EIGHT
1   CSULB    7:02.0 1   USD         7:05.91   OCC          6.20.5 1   USC           6.29.6
2   OCC         7:14.42   CSULB     7.11.42   UCI           6.48.2 2   OCC          6.32.9
3   USD         7: 20.23   UCSB A   7.20.13   UCLA       7.06.9 3   UCI            6.40.4
4   UCSB       7:50.3 4   OCC         7.33.8 4   UCSD        6.44.7
5   UCSB B   7.53.5 5   UCLA        6.46.4
6   UCSB        6.53.5

VARSITY EIGHT HEAT 1VARSITY EIGHT HEAT 2 SECOND VARSTIY EIGHT VARSITY EIGHT PETITE FINAL
1   UCSD     6.10.41   UCI      6.14.4 1   OCC          6.19.5 1   LMU
2   SDSU2   OCC 2   UCSD       6.25.9 2   USC      NO TIMES
UCLA   TIE3   UCSB 3   UCI           6.36.6
4   LMU4   USC 4   UCLA       6.40.3
5   SDSU B    6.46.0
6   SDSU A    7.01.5

VARSITY EIGHT
1   OCC      6.15.0
2   UCSD    6.19.1
3   SDSU    6.24.9
4   UCI       6.28.0
5   UCSB   6.32.1
6   UCLA   6
Race conditions had an out going tide and slight head wind building to moderate cross head wind by Varsity races.

Race Results

Saturday
Varsity 8      Orange Coast 6:06.2         UCLA   6:30
JV 8             Orange Coast 6:19.8        UCLA 6:48.8
Novice 8      Orange Coast 6:29           UCLA 6:46.7

Sunday
Varsity 8      Orange Coast 6:03.2         Cal Berkeley 6:01
JV 8             Orange Coast 6:24.3         Row Over
Novice 8      Orange Coast 6:22            Cal Berkeley 6:29.44
Varsity 8      Orange Coast 6:07.32       Stanford 6:04.2
JV 8             Orange Coast 6:15.65       Stanford 6:09.5
Novice 8      Orange Coast 6:26.64       Stanford 6:22

Go to www.crewclassic.org and click on results, click on 2004 and all the heats and finals are there. Picture and video clips should be in our site shortly from this week end. The event of the weekend for Coast has to be the California Cup. A great race by the Varsity in the heats on Saturday winning by almost 3 lengths earned them the number one lane assignment for Sunday afternoon. In Sundays' final, Coast lead from start to finish pulling away to an open water victory in the last 500 meters. The JV and Lightweight Varsity boats also made the finals. The Novice eight got in some buoys in the heat and missed the final by .44 seconds and in the Petite final came up .02 seconds (less than a bow ball) short of winning. More news will appear shortly from the oarsmen.

Novice Eight     "C"
OCC 6:32.2
UCSB 6:57.4

Novice Eight     "B"

OCC     6:13.4
UCI       6:24.1

Novice Eight      "A"
OCC 6:06.4
UCI 6:13.4
CSULB 6:24.2
UCSB 6:36.1

JV Eight
OCC6:08.5
UCI6:25.9
UCSB6:26.7

Varsity Eight
OCC 5:50.8
UCI 5:58.6
UCSB 6:04.2