Pirate men capture the top spot at first OEC Meet

MISSION VIEJO -- The Orange Coast College men's swim team earned the top team spot at this year's first Orange Empire Conference meet, hosted by Saddleback College, on Friday afternoon.

With 10 first-place performances throughout the meet, Coast topped the field with a team score of 704.5, ahead of runner-up Golden West (634.5) and Riverside City College (427). Saddleback (311), Cypress (127), Santa Ana (26) and Fullerton (11) round out the team scores.

Pirate standout Dawson Sloan picked up a pair of first-place times, winning the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.01 and the 200 free with a time of 1:42.63.

Teammate Michael Jones, after notching a runner-up spot behind Sloan in the 50 free (21.37), touched the wall first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.67, ahead of Sloan's runner-up time of 53.85.

The closest race of the day came in the 500 free, where OCC's Diego Pabalan battled Golden West's Jacob Thompson right down to the final lap, and in the end, Pabalan edged out Thompson with a time of 4:55.74. Thompson finished second, less than a second behind Pabalan with a 4:56.64.

In the 200 back, OCC's Hayden Hemmens dominated the field and led a 1-2-3 Pirate finish with a time of 1:53.39, ahead of runner-up Pabalan (2:01.35) and third-place Jones (2:01.46).

In the 100 butterfly, Akili Allen edged out teammate Pabalan (53.54) to win the race with a time of 53:04. Allen took second in the 100 free (47.55) behind Coast standout Reece Hemmens (47.00).

Coast went a perfect 2-for-2 in the relay events, taking home the gold in the 200 free relay (1:26.83) as well as the 200 medley relay (1:36.54).

OCC diver Cole Gerard earned the top marks in the 3-meter event, placing first with a score of 206.45.

Coast will head up to Cuesta College for the 2018 Cuesta Invitational, beginning on Thursday and going through Saturday.