Pirates go 3-for-3 in races to win 2022 Berg Cup
NEWPORT BEACH -- It was a perfect 3-for-3 for the Orange Coast College women's crew as the Pirates earned enough points to capture the 2022 Berg Cup on Saturday down in Newport Harbor.
On a beautiful day for racing, the Pirates hosted teams from UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State and Arizona State University and competed in three of the four races and topped the field in all three of them.
It was a battle down to the wire in the Varsity 4 race as the boat consisting of Kendall Colbert, Becky Huang, Sarah Chiaromonte, , Julia Dervieux and coxswain Isabella Sendowsky edged out the boat from UC Santa Barbara with a winning time of 8 minutes, 10.7 seconds, edging out the Gauchos' time of 8:11.8.
It was another close call in the Novice 8 as the Pirates took on all three four-year programs and the squad of Emmerson Cirillo, Becky Huang, Kendall Colbert, Emma Hallums, Lauren Koermer, Alina Van Eeghan, Sarah Chiaromonte, Julia Dervieux and coxswain Margaux Hart held off a late charge by the Sun Devils and crossed the finish line first with a time of 7:26.7, followed by ASU (7:30.8), UCI (7:58.1) and UCSB (8:06.5).
In the Novice 4 race, it was NO contest as the Pirates led from the opening stroke and pulled away from the field for a winning time of 8:09.1, 38 seconds ahead of runner ASU's "A" boat (8:47.2). UCSB finished third at 8:57.8, followed by the ASU "B" (9:23.1) and Long Beach State (9:31.7). OCC's Novice 4 boat included Sarah Hooper, Kelly Dory, Elena Estwick, Christian Cristobal and coxswain Margaux Hart.
"The rowers have been working hard all season so it was good to win the Berg Cup, our home event," OCC head coach Laura Behr said. "We do have some work to do as competition will get tougher as the season progresses. We have a strong bunch who finally got to race after COVID hit us so hard and we have all new rowers who have been racing for the first time the last few weeks. It's an athletic bunch who are picking the sport up well and having fun."
Coast will head to San Diego for the Crew Classic, which kicks off on Sunday at 7 a.m.
