Women's Crew earns two silvers at ACRAs!

GAINESVILLE, GA -- For the first time in school history, the Orange Coast College women's crew earned grand final medals at the 2016 American College Rowing Association (ACRA) National Championships this past weekend at Lake Lanier.

The Pirates qualified two boats to this annual event and both crews earned silver medals for their second-place performances.

The women's Varsity 8 boat advanced to the grand final, where they took on an old, familiar opponent in UC Santa Barbara, as well as Grand Valley State University, the University of New Hampshire, Purdue University, Wichita State University, Emory University and the University of Georgia.

Fresh off of a victory against the Gauchos at WIRA two weeks ago, the Pirates battled UCSB and the rest of the field all the way down the 2,000-meter course. In the end, Santa Barbara was able to edge the Pirates for the national title, but Coast earned a hard-fought silver medal with a time of 6:50.9, just two seconds behind the Gauchos (6:48.8). Grand Valley (6:52.3) finished third, followed by UNH (6:53.7), Purdue (7:07.7), Wichita State (7:08.4), Emory (7:21.1) and Georgia (7:26.3).

Members of OCC's first-ever women's crew national runners-up include Sophie Blair (coxswain), Tess Burney, Claireliece Kennedy, Maya Takeuchi, Elery Bermudez, Marissa Bonnefin, Kristen Klein, Abigail Daniels and Danielle Dubois.

"What an incredible way to end such a fantastic season," OCC head coach Laura Behr said. "At the beginning of the season, it's always the goal to make it to nationals and for this group to get here, earn a finals spot and win silver medals is incredible. I'm so proud of everyone on this team and for the effort they gave throughout the season."

In the women's Novice 4 race, again, the Pirates advanced to the grand final, where they took on UCSB, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia Commonwealth, William & Mary, Cincinnati and Grand Valley. 

The Pirates (coxswain Frankie Garzzi, Jacqueline Stockton, Danielle Lurya, Abigail Morgan and Madison Hank) joined the Ducks as the only two boats in the championship to finish in under 8 minutes as Coast took home the silver medal with a time of 7:55.09, just five seconds behind Oregon's time of 7:50.0.

OCC also competed in a singles race, where Coast rower Alexis Aeillo took on other single rowers from Virginia, Long Beach State, Alabama-Huntsville, Texas and Georgia Tech and finished fourth with a time of 9:02.1.

The Pirates finished the competition with 211 points, third-best among all universities at the championship. Their 211 points were the biggest improvement against the rest of the field.