Pirates take on all comers at 2016 Berg Cup
NEWPORT BEACH -- Orange Coast College women's crew hosted several of the top rowing programs throughout Southern California at the 2016 Berg Cup on Saturday morning at the Newport Harbor.
Under overcast conditions, the Pirates competed in four races and earned two first-place finishes as well as two third-place results, earning the praise of head coach Laura Behr.
"Four good races for us ... our girls have worked hard for these results and I was pleased with the times they earned," Behr said. "It's the start of the season and I knew that if we continue to work hard before each race we will show improvements as the season goes on. All-in-all, it was a good regatta for all four boats."
OCC kicked things off with the Varsity 4 race and the Pirates earned a boat-length victory over Loyola Marymount and Long Beach State with a winning time of 7 minutes, 45.02 seconds. LMU (7:48.09) finished second, while CSULB (7:49.35) took third, followed by UC Santa Barbara (7:51.14) and Chapman (7:51.34).
In the Novice 4, the Coast foursome finished third with a time of 8:45.5, trailing only UC Irvine (8:16.3) and UCSB (8:26.3). Chapman finished behind the Pirates (9:10.39), while Long Beach State was disqualified.
It was a hard-fought Novice 8 race between the Pirates and both UCSB boats, but in the end, Coast outlasted both of the Gauchos' efforts and won the race with a time of 7:32. UCSB "A" finished second with a time of 7:34.43, while UCSB's "B" squad took third with a time of 7:40.23, followed by CSULB (7:54.1), USCB "C" (8:38.08) and UCI (8:49.2).
In the final collegiate race of the morning -- the Varsity 8 -- the Pirates battled LMU and UCSB for most of the race before settling for a third-place time of 6:52.01, as the Lions took first place with a 6:39.3, followed by the Gauchos at 6:46.32. Long Beach State placed fourth at 7:05.09, while UCI (7:10.55) finished fifth.
The Pirates will return to competition on Saturday, April 2 down in Mission Bay at the San Diego Crew Classic, beginning at 7 a.m.
