Varsity 4 wins Crew Classic for Pirates
SAN DIEGO -- Three finals and three top-three results for the Orange Coast College women's crew, as the Pirates capped off a fine weekend at the 2016 San Diego Crew Classic.
Highlighting the busy weekend for the Pirates was the performance turned in by the Varsity 4, which advanced to the finals on Sunday and from there, the group of Frankie Garzzi, Alexis Aeolli, Natasha Rojkind, Kaylee Goff and coxswain Sophie Blair set the pace and topped the field with a time of 8 minutes, 57.6 seconds, nearly 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Cal, who clocked in with a time of 9:07.26.
In the Varsity 8 race, the Pirates battled their biggest nemesis -- UC Santa Barbara -- down to the wire in the finals before the Gauchos managed to pull away late with a winning time of 7:16.76. OCC was a close second at 7:19.66 and it's a gap that is closing with each matchup throughout the season.
In the Novice 8 final, it was another strong performance for the Coast crew as the Pirates battled UCSB and UC Davis among others and finished third overall with a time of 7:22.92.
"It's never an easy place to row and I'm proud of the girls and how they competed hard the entire weekend," OCC head coach Laura Behr said. "Our times are getting better and we continue to improve each week."
The Pirates will host UC Irvine for the 2016 Collins Cup on Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m.
