Pirates earn four team medals at WIRAs

SACRAMENTO -- It was a historic weekend of rowing for Orange Coast College men's crew as the Pirates earned four top-three finishes in all 8+ boats including two wins at the 2024 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships on Saturday and Sunday on the Gold River.

The Pirates brought home plenty of medals this weekend after going up against the best four-year programs in the region. 

The future is looking bright for the Pirates as they took home a pair of Novice 8 first-place championships. In the Novice 8, the boat of Octavio Alva, Adrien Howe, Jake Johansen, Xander Weber, Harrison Hunt, Joe Morken, Aiden Domingo and Dylan Taylor topped everyone else with a winning time of 6 minutes, 11.92 seconds. Santa Clara finished six seconds behind the Pirates with a time of 6:17.65, followed by UC Davis (6:22.36), UCLA (6:27.42) and USC (6:32).

In the Second Novice 8 race, the OCC boat of Max Gibson, Draegon Hennessy, Jackson Rud, Paul Darakjian, Jackson Fuller, Colin Reilly, Ray Miller and Liam Ferguson blew away a talented field of boats to win by 16 seconds with a time of 6:29.21, followed by Washington State (6:45.16), UC Davis (6:45.24), UCLA (7:16.71) and UC Santa Barbara (7:20.1).

Coast earned a pair of third-place performances in the varsity races. In the Second Varsity 8, the crew of Tyler Duss, Talon Gutierrez, Dylan Casson, Charlie Wilt, Jeff Stallman, Alex Dilday, Ethan Almarez and Torin Parza managed to edge out Washington State for the third spot with a time of 6:27.45, trailing only University of San Diego (6:11.3) and UCLA (6:12.72).

In the Varsity 8, the squad of Earl Marvin, Felipe Artia, Davis Schroeder, Dylan Good, Pablo Lacar, Dallas Watson, Jimmy Curry and Ethan Sollinger battled top boats, including defending national champion UCLA, tooth and nail throughout the race, with Coast finishing third with a time of 6:02.17, just six seconds behind the Bruins (5:56.48) and less than a second behind USD (6:01.55). Washington State finished fourth with a time of 6:09.58, followed by UC Davis (6:13.77) and UC Irvine (6:13.97).

The Pirates will have three weeks to prepare for their biggest challenge of the season ... the 2024 American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championships, set for May 17-19 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.