Pirate Second Novice 8 claims ACRA national title!

GAINESVILLE, GA -- Goals were met and topped this past weekend for the Orange Coast College men's crew as the Pirates took on the best of the best at the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) National Championships.

The Pirates had four boats qualify for the nationals and after the preliminary rounds, Coast earned spots in the grand finals of all four races, much to the delight of first-year head coach Cam Brown.

"Our main goal going into the ACRA was to have four races in the grand finals and we were able to achieve that goal," Brown said. "This has been a terrific season in a year of transition and I'm quite pleased with the results this year."

The highlight of the weekend came in the Second Men's Novice 8 grand final, where the Pirates raced against UC Santa Barbara, the University of Colorado and Notre Dame. It became a two-boat race to the finish line between the Pirates and Gauchos with the Buffaloes and Fighting Irish falling behind early on.

At the end, the Pirates' squad of coxswain Karina Dubourdieu, Josh Tandy-McGlasson, Sawyer Schardt, Garrett O'Neill, Grant Midstokke, Bryan Fullam, Jose Llanes, Ryan Russell and Cole Parsons found that extra gear and held off UCSB to win the national championship with a time of 6 minutes, 18.8 seconds, followed by the Gauchos (6:19.7), Colorado (6:33.4) and Notre Dame (6:43.0).

"The athletes showed great resiliency and determination all year to overcome their challenges. I am glad they were about to finish the season with strong racing and success."

In the Men's Novice 8, the crew of Dan Ross, Mark Town, Rob McClure, Connor Breen, Rhodri John, Troy Harding, Gordon Pershall, John Kinnear and Riley Ritchie (coxswain) fought hard against the best of the best and earned bronze medals for their efforts, taking third place with a time of 6:10.8, just behind the University of Michigan (6:06.8) and Grand Valley (6:09.9). UCSB finished fourth with a time of 6:12.8, followed by Virginia (6:13.2), Washington State (6:13.9), Bucknell (6:18.0) and Notre Dame (6:19.1).

On the varsity side, the Pirates went up against 25 of the top four-year universities in the nation and earned top-8 grand final spots in both races. The Men's Varsity 4 team of Lorenzo Salvio, David Elder, Andrei Iantichii, Josh Wills-King and Kristina Lambert (coxswain) finished seventh in the nation with a time of 6:54.2.

For the OCC Men's Varsity 8 team of Weston Cole, Luke Morton, Ben Orem, Logan Carter, David Ulicki, Max Hadden, Jacob Studer, Sam Melvin and Chasy Wray (coxswain) battled all the way to the finish line and finished sixth in the nation with a time of 6:04.5.

"The Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 showed great fight and determination to place sixth and seventh, respectively, out of a field of more than 25 four-year universities," Brown said. "They've set the bar for years to come."