Pirates retain P.A. Palmer Cup at Newport Regatta
NEWPORT BEACH -- With conditions far less than ideal, the Orange Coast College men's crew overcame the elements and the defending national champion, UCLA Bruins to take the top spot in three races and earn the P.A. Palmer Cup for most points at the 59th Annual Newport Regatta.
With the Bruins carrying a 21-20 advantage heading into the final event of the competition -- the Varsity 8 race -- the Pirates new they needed a win to not only take first in the prime race of the morning, they needed the six points for first place to retain the Palmer Cup for overall team performance throughout the regatta.
With steady head winds and current working against all of the boats, it was a dogfight for the lead between the two top boats in the seven-boat race. As the race headed past the OCC Boathouse, a standing-room only crowd of fans and teammates rooted the boats on as the Pirates held onto a 3-seat lead over the Bruins.
After edging out UCLA in their previous race by less than a second, the Pirates knew they had the full attention of the Bruins' squad, but with 500 yards to go, Coast found another gear and pulled away further from the four-year school.
Coast crossed the finish line with a winning time of 5 minutes, 43.7 seconds. UCLA finished second with a time of 5:49.86, followed by UC Davis (6:05.85), UC Santa Barbara (6:11.49), Loyola Marymount (6:19.23), UC Irvine (6:26.09) and Long Beach State (6:40.06).
The Varsity 8 win pushed OCC to 26 points, while UCLA earned four for the runner-up time, leaving the Bruins one point short of the Palmer Cup with 25 points.
In the regatta opening race, OCC's Novice 8 boat pulled away early and dominated the field with a winning time of 5:26.8, nearly 13 seconds faster than runner-up UC Davis, who clocked in with a time of 5:39.51, followed by UCLA (5:43.89), UCSB (5:44.04) and UCI (6:18.91).
It was a three-boat contest for the Norman E. Watson Cup as the Pirates took on UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara in the Second Novice 8 race and, much like the Novice 8 race, it was NO contest as the Pirates picked a 42-second lead on the competition, en route to a winning time of 6:07.95, with UCD (6:49.99) and UCSB (6:57.94) well behind.
OCC earned valuable points in two other races, finishing second in both the Second Varsity 8 race (6:16.59) as well as the Novice 4 race (8:38.14).
Up next for the Pirates will be a trip to San Diego's Mission Bay for the 2024 San Diego Crew Classic, which takes place on Saturday, April 6 at 7 a.m.
