100 State Championships ... and counting!
On May 26, 1956, the Orange Coast College baseball team picked up state title No. 1 by defeating Coalinga College in a best-of-three series, played on the OCC campus.
Sixty-eight years later -- or to be more specific ... 24,808 days later -- on April 27, 2024, the Pirate men's volleyball team (ALSO at home, no less) swept past San Diego Mesa for the 100th state/national championship in school history, becoming the first California Community College to reach such an incredible accomplishment.
Whether it was the championship event itself, whether it was an inspired coaching effort, whether it was a heroic performance from an athlete ... ALL of these state championships are special.
Here is a break down the numbers and the stats that help show the gravity of this 100 championship accomplishment.
- Orange Coast College's 100 state titles have come from 19 different programs. The ability to be good at a sport or two can be found up and down the California Community College landscape. Whether its due to geographic location or just the successful history and reputation of a program, schools can dominate here and there. But to win state championships in nearly TWENTY different sports ... well, that's success on an entirely different level.
- Led by some of the most forward-thinking minds during a crucial time of historic inclusion, the Pirate Athletic Department not only embraced the importance of Title IX, OCC leaders like Jane Hilgendorf, Barbara Bond, Sue Brown and many others paved the way for female sports to thrive and succeed at this level. Of OCC's 100 crowns, 59 titles have come from women's sports, including 21 women's swimming, 16 women's cross country and 10 from women's tennis.
- The sustained excellence of the Pirates cannot be ignored. Over the past 50 seasons (excluding the two COVID years), the Pirates have one at least one state championship in FORTY-FIVE of them. Winning breeds winning. Success breeds success. And ... championships breed championships. The bar has been set high here at Orange Coast College. You won't see too many (or ANY, for that matter) conference championship banners displayed around our sports facilities. Go big, or go home. (Plus, we don't have the space.)
- Best championship decade?? That would be the 1980s. During that 10-year span, the Pirates racked up 23 state championships. The 2000s saw Coast pick up 22 titles, with 19 in the 1990s and 17 in the 2010s.
- Most dominant program ... the aforementioned women's swim program, which has captured 21 of OCC's 100 titles. Over a 14-year span (from 1984-1997), the Pirates won TWELVE state titles in women's swim.
- Women's swim/dive also holds the OCC record of consecutive state titles won with seven 1989-1995, with women's cross country taking six straight titles from 2001-06.
- And for the record, these 100 titles do not even include the countless national titles won by our OCC Cheer/Dance programs as well as our men's and women's crew!
The road to 100 titles did not come without tragedy along the way. OCC has seen its share of heartache with current and former students passing away as well as current and former coaches and administrators passing away. That pain and heartache only makes this landmark number of championships by this college all the more special because we all get to share in this achievement ... not just current OCC family, but our Pirate families of the past and those who are no longer here with us. The ENTIRE Pirate family should be proud of this milestone and know that everyone played a part in it.
It's been an incredible run to 100 and the question is ... what's next?
The answer is simple ... 100 more of course!
With the perfect blend of young and seasoned coaches throughout our 25 sports programs, the sky is the limit as to what the Pirates can do this year, next year and in many years to come. Throw into that mix and determined and dedicated administration, a college campus that offers the best facilities and college experience that cannot be matched athletically and academically, it's no wonder why this special place has generated special athletes, teams and championship memories for close to eight decades now.
FOREVER A PIRATE!
