Pirates capture second place at 2014 State Meet

LOS ANGELES -- Sophomore diver Rae Adams and her freshman teammate Candice Buck helped lead the Orange Coast College women's swim team to an impressive second-place team finish at the 2014 California Community College Athletic Association State Meet, held at East Los Angeles College.

OCC finished with a team score of 400 points, just slightly behind champion Diablo Valley's 414 points. Santa Rosa (364.5), Golden West (352) and Sierra (313.5) cracked the top-five.

Adams, who won the OEC and Southern California titles in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events, added the state championship to her resume in the 3-meter with a score of 242.45 points. She edged out Buck, who finished second with a 237.95 and dethroned defending state champion Aimee Burns of Riverside City College, who placed third with a 227.30.

The diving twosome wasn't through contributing points to the Pirates' cause. Buck got the better of her Pirate teammate and finished fourth in the 1-meter dive with a 203.55, while Adams (198.80) finished fifth.

Their strong performances were inspired by OCC diving coach Bryan Franzen, who was named State Diving Coach of the Year.

Freshman Kellie Thorsness made the most of her first trip to the State Meet, earning a pair of second-place marks in the 50-yard freestyle (23.77) and 100 freestyle (52.15). Teammate Claire Aguilar took seventh in the 50 free (24.75) and sixth in the 100 individual medley (1:01.6).

A trio of top-three times were turned in by three of OCC's relay teams. Coast's 200 medley relay squad finished second with a 1:47.15), the 200 free relay took runner-up with a 1:35.88 and its 400 free relay took third with a time of 3:34.87.

Chloe Kim earned a pair of top-six marks in both the 100 butterfly (4th, 59.77) and 50 fly (6th, 26.89).

Sophie Shiba finished seventh in the state in the 100 backstroke (1:00.33), while teammate Jacqueline Whitehead finished eighth in the 200 free (1:58.5).

OCC's 800 free relay pulled out a sixth-place performance as the final swimmer touched the wall with a time of 7:58.26). The Pirate 400 medley relay finished eighth with a 4:04.3.

Coast's second-place state performance capped off another stellar season in which the Pirates claimed the Orange Empire Conference title for the 10th consecutive year.