Pirates go 5-for-5 against UC Davis in season opening regatta

NEWPORT BEACH -- Orange Coast College men's crew kicked off its 2018 season with an impressive showing against UC Davis on Sunday, going a perfect 5-for-5 against the Aggies under chilly conditions on the Newport Harbor.

Things kicked off with the Varsity 4 race, where the Pirates boat of Noah Greenslit, Clayton Holmes, A.J. Emick, Chase Parker and coxswain Lauren Kiszkiel pulled away from the UCD "A" boat and won the 2,000-meter race with a time of 7 minutes, 10 seconds. UCD "A" came in at 7:15, while UCD "B" finished third at 7:39.

That turned out to be the closest the Aggies would get to a first-place result the rest of the morning as the Pirates continued to put out quality race after quality race.

In the Second Novice 8 matchup, the Pirate group of Jackson Homan, Cole Hanck, Julian Clyne, Chase Smith, Cole Villa, Amir Makarehchi, Aaron Wilson, Kyle Woertink and coxswain Brottany Werstine blew away the UCD squad with a time of 6:42, a full 41 seconds ahead of the Aggies (7:23).

It was more of the same in the Novice 8 as the squad of Joe Battisti, Chris Guithues, Cameron Kielty, Christian Rotschedl, Colin Crawford, Clayton Cannon, Holden Bailey, Bryce Moon and coxswain Holly Ulicki posted a 43-second win over UCD with a time of 6:11.

In the Second Varsity 8 matchup, UCD hung tough with the Pirates early on, but in the end, Coast's boat of Andrew Garrow, Hayden Hill, Kyle Gocan, Marshall Cyrus, Rocket Stickney, Stephen Hospedales, Seve Badajoz, David Duffy and coxswain Ally Nordlie notched a 12-second win with a time of 6:14.

Finally, in the Varsity 8, it was no contest as the squad of Caleb O'Neil, Daniel Amado, Axel Witt, Ken Poncak, Cole Guild, James Kerrigan, Tanner Godfrey, Jordan Teisan and coxswain Cambria Stirrat cracked the 6-minute mark and cruised to a 17-second win with a time of 5:57.

"It was great to see that all of the hard work and preparation through the Fall and Winter showed through this morning as we were able to have a strong performance from top to bottom through the program," OCC head coach Cam Brown said. "I am excited to see what this group of athletes can achieve as we continue through the season."  

Coast will return to the local waters on Sunday at the 53rd-annual Newport Regatta. The Pirates will take on some of the top four-year programs in the region, including defending national champion UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UCLA, Loyola Maramount, San Diego State and Long Beach State. The first race is scheduled for 7:45 a.m.