Pirate crew leave lasting performances at ACRAs

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- Led by a national-championship performance from the Novice 8 squad, Orange Coast College men's crew earned four grand final spots and left home with plenty of medals at the 2025 American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship Regatta this past weekend.

"It was an excellent culmination of the season and very proud of the whole  team," OCC head coach Cam Brown said. "Every regatta we solidified Coast Crew as the Best in the West, including in the National Championships where we were the highest-ranked, West-Region Team in the final points standing – 5^th in the country ... only behind major university teams including Michigan, Purdue and Virginia."

For the Novice 8 boat took on powerhouse programs like Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue and UCLA and used a final push over the final 600 meters to win the 2,000-meter race with a time of 6 minutes, 14.74 seconds. Michigan State took second with a time of 6:17.59, followed my Michigan (6:18.57), UCLA (6:18.57), UCLA (6:18.72), Purdue (6:19.39) and Minnesota (6:26.52). "When they focused this year on rowing as one unit, they were unbeatable," Brown said. 

For OCC's Second Novice boat, they used a big final push of their own and edged out UCLA for the silver medal with a national runner-up time of 6:07.48, topped only by the University of Michigan's winning time of 6:03.81. UCLA was just .2 seconds behind the Pirates and finished third at 6:08.69, followed by Minnesota (6:09.5), Purdue (6:12.89) and Washington State (6:25.01). "It was an incredible performance, including that inspired sprint to the finish for the silver medal," Brown said.

OCC's Second Varsity 8 boat used a strong Pirate finish to find its way to second place in the nation with a time of 6:24.58, topped only by the University of Notre Dame's time of 6:17.28. OCC edged out Rutgers (6:25.18), Washington State (6:26.26), Minnesota (6:27.15), George Washington (6:28.75) and UC Davis (6:31.59) in a tightly-contested race from start to finish.  

In the Second Varsity 8 race, Coast saved its best performance for the end, finishing eighth in the entire country with a strong second-place time of 6:24.58 in the "B" final. The 8th-place finish equalled the best-ever Second Varsity 8 finish in OCC men's crew history.

Finally, in the Varsity 8 race, Coast took on the best of the best and qualified for the Grand Final after an inspired finish in the final heat race. The experience of the older crews proved too much to overcome, but the Pirates still earned a sixth-place national finish with a time of 6:04.09. "This group was resilient and worth of the 'Giant Killer' name all season," Brown said. "They definitely continued the legacy of Coast Crew and continuing to build the team stronger than ever before."

OCC Men Crew also picked up several National Awards  – All-American West Coast Awards for Max Gibson, Octavio Alva, Sharlene Stedfield (Coxswain), Cam Brown (Coach of the Year).