Pirates top field to win Coast Classic
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's track and field team took care of home business on Friday by taking first place overall at the 2022 Coast Classic.
Taking on eight other colleges from throughout Southern California, the Pirates picked up a team-best 180 points, followed by Saddleback (153), Southwestern (79), Fullerton (56), Glendale (51), Golden West (31), Palomar (31), Santa Barbara (25) and Santa Monica (9).
The Pirates earned four individual and team first-place performances on Friday.
In the 4x100 relay, the OCC foursome of Summer Farage, Razanne Dawood, Yasamin Zand and Kailey Frye found enough gas in the tank to hold off Saddleback's relay and posted a winning time of 49.54 seconds, just ahead of the Bobcats' time of 49.97.
Distance runner McKay Arvidson had a tough battle against unattached runner Nataly Rosales in the 3,000. In a literal tie with one lap to go, Arvidson turned on the jets down the stretch and pulled away for an 11-second margin of victory with a time of 11:07.18. Arvidson also finished second overall in the 1,500 with a time of 4:57.23 and she was just one of two runners in the field who finished under 5 minutes.
The OCC 4x400 relay team of Dawood, Whitney Johnson, Farage and Jacqueline Rodriguez took the top spot with a time of 4:21.25.
Pirate high jumpers Nicolette Gruber and Taylor Eddleman each cleared 5-feet, 2 1/2 inches with Gruber winning on fewer attempts and Eddleman placing third overall.
OCC returns to action on Friday in a head-to-head matchup against the Bobcats at Saddleback College, beginning at 10 a.m.
