Pirate rowers perform well at WIRAs
FOLSOM -- The Orange Coast College men's and women's crew headed up north this past weekend to Lake Natoma for the 2013 WIRA Championships and both Pirate teams brought home more than their share of awards and honors from the event.
On the men's side, Coast earned two first-place medals, two silver and one bronze, while the OCC women captured two golds and one bronze for their efforts.
On the women's side, the Pirates claimed victory in the Varsity 8 race, winning the D-II/D-III/Club Division race with a time of 7:18. Lewis and Clark finished second with a time of 7:19.3, while Penn State (7:41.5) took third.
Another strong result for the Pirates came in the second women's Varsity 8 race, which saw Coast jump out early and cruise to a 20-second win with a time of 7:46.8.
In the women's Novice 8 competition, Coast fought hard with Gonzaga and SDSU before finishing third with a time of 7:09.9, just nine seconds behind the champion Bulldogs (7:00.4).
For the Pirate men, the Novice 8 boat won its race for the sixth year in a row with a time of 6 minutes, 5.1 seconds, while the Second Novice 8 re-captured their hold of the title from last year's winner, UC San Diego, also with a time of 6:14.2.
The men's Novice 4 fought hard with Loyola Marymount the entire race before a late Lions' burst proved to be the difference as the Pirates took second with a time of 6:53.7, just 1.3 seconds behind the LMU boat.
OCC's next silver came in the men's Lightweight 4 boat, where the Pirates came in with a time of 7;31.1, behind only Washington State (7:04.8).
In the men's Lightweight 8 event, Coast finished third with a time of 6:51.9. San Diego State (6:31.4) won the race, with UC Santa Barbara (6:35.5) taking second.
In a season dominated by UCSB in the men's Varsity 8 division, UC Irvine pulled off the upset and won the race with a time of 6:01.5. UCSB took second at 6:02.3, UCLA (6:08.9) finished third, while OCC (6:11.2) claimed fourth. All four boats have competed against each other throughout the year, with all four boats earning victories against each other.
