Pirate women top Golden West, Cypress at OEC Dual event

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- There were plenty of stars that performed well for the Orange Coast College swim team during Friday's dual meet with host Golden West and Cypress College.

With wins in nine different events, the Pirates earned victories over the Rustlers (146-119) and the Chargers (194-84) in a crucial OEC matchup.

Coast had a pair of double-winners in the water, led by the duo of Candice Buck and Alexa Clayfield

Buck, last year's state runner-up in the 3-meter diving event, dominated the field with a score of 219.50, 50 points ahead of runner-up Leigh Hodgson of Cypress. The sophomore standout wasn't finished as she 1-meter event with a score of 209.73, 68 points ahead of Hodgson, who again placed second.

Joining Buck as a two-time winner on Friday was Alexa Clayfield, who, won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2 minutes, 14.83 seconds. In the race, Clayfield jumped ahead by three seconds after the 50-meter mark and continued to build her lead the rest of the way. She finished nearly eight seconds ahead of GWC's Olivia Romo (2:22.34).

Clayfield continued her fine swimming with a win in the 200 IM with a time of 2:16.73. Once again, Clayfield led from start to finish and touched the wall nearly three seconds ahead of GWC's Suzanna Gonzales (2:19.68) and five seconds ahead of OCC teammate Chloe Kim (2:21.75).

Perhaps the most dominating performance of the afternoon came in the 1,000 free, where Pirate standout Nacinda Paap cruised to a 36-second victory with a time of 11:46.34. Teammate Lauren Babb placed second with a time of 12:22.73.

It was another 1-2 finish for the Pirates in the 200 free as Rebecca Aguilar claimed first place with a time of 1:58.36, six seconds ahead of Coast teammate Kessy Hickey's time of 2:04.77.

It was touch matchup for the Pirates in the 100 breaststroke as OCC's Valerie Acosta went at it with Golden West's Tori Cree. Cree held a .23 second lead over Acosta at the halfway point before Acosta turned on the jets and edged out Cree at the wall with a time of 1:13.36. Cree came in with a 1:14.2.

Also for the Pirates, both the 200 medley relay (1:51.5) and the 200 free relay (1:41.07) teams earned victories to help push Coast to the team win. 

Coast will return to OEC action on Friday, March 27 at Riverside City College in a dual matchup with the Tigers and Santa Ana College.