Pirates dominate OEC, win conference crown
HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Orange Empire Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships were a sea of orange and blue as the Orange Coast College Pirates dominated the local field en route to the team title this past weekend.
With an astounding 14 individual and relay titles won by the Pirates over the three-day event, the Pirates racked up 946 points. Riverside City College was a distant second with 709 points, followed by Saddleback (502) and Golden West (411).
The Pirate pool party began on Thursday when OCC claimed five events. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the foursome of Destiny Hernandez, Brandi White, Grace Hart and Natalia Stanard finished first overall with a time of 1:40.35.
Giselle Quinonez showed her endurance by blowing away the competition in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:11.31, nearly eight seconds faster than the rest of the field.
It was a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 50 freestyle as Hernandez edged out her Pirate teammates with a time of 24.61, followed by White (25.19), Stanard (25.2) and Marissa Percy (25.27).
In the 400 medley relay, the Pirate squad of Percy, White, Stanard and Quinonez took the fastest time with a 4:08.25, while in 1-meter diving, Lia Borja earned the top mark with a score of 201.20.
On Friday, the fun continued for the Pirates with six more conference titles. In the 200 medley relay, it was Percy, White, Tyra Le and Brooke Munoz with the winning time of 1:54.15.
Gabriella Hester showed her quickness in the 100 butterfly, topping the competition with a time of 1:03.54.
Quinonez claimed her second individual OEC title, winning the 200 free with a 1:57.19.
Coast had a pair of 1-2 finishes in the 100 breast and the 100 back. Le topped the field in the 100 breast (1:09.97), followed by White (1:10.24), while in the 100 back, White took first with a 1:01.93, followed closely behind by Pearcy's runner-up time of 1:02.94.
Borja made it 2-for-2 in the diving events, taking the gold in the 3-meter event with a score of 193.65.
On Saturday, Quinonez earned her third individual OEC title with a winning time of 18:05.35 in the 1,650 freestyle.
White took the top spot in the 200 back (2:11.61) before joining Munoz, Quinonez and Pearcy in the 400 free relay, winning the meet finale with a time of 3:41.87.
The three-time defending state-champion Pirates will now look towards the season's final meet -- the California Community College Athletic Association State Swim/Dive Championships -- which will take place on May 4-6 at East L.A. College.
