College crew: OCC rowers capture Palmer Cup

NEWPORT BEACH - The Orange Coast College men’s crew captured the

Palmer Cup, which goes to the overall champion, at Sunday’s Newport

Regatta, contested in the Lido Channel.

The Pirates, who fielded entries in only four of the six divisions,

still amassed 28 overall points to best runner-up UC Davis (23).

OCC, the lone community college in the 12-school field, finished first

in the novice eight A and B finals, as well as the junior varsity eight

final.

Coast’s novice A crew battled UC Davis from start to finish, jumping

out to a quick four-seat advantage and extending the lead to a full boat

length by the halfway mark of the 2,000-meter course. Davis closed to

within six seats by the 1,200-meter mark and was just one seat back with

250 meters to go. However, the Pirates held off the Aggies’ late sprint

to win by less than a seat. OCC’s winning time was 5:59.6, four-tenths of

a second faster than the UC Davis boat.

In the novice A boat for OCC were Mike Krueger, Steve Wukawitz, Joey

Findmore, Matthew Sutton, Chris Pope, Brian Sweet, Oscar Correa, Stuart

Blair and Raylan Willis.

OCC’s novice B crew, consisting of Alan Lovegreen, Phillip Gerg, Louis

Van Der Westhwizen, Garet Laningham, Chris Bonnaud, James Holmstrom,

Michael Hard, Milan Rousset and Kristal Maw, built less than a

boat-length lead over UC Davis at 1,200 meters and felt the pressure from

the Aggies all the way to the finish line. But the Pirates maintained

their lead, winning in 6:06.2, nearly two seconds better than UC Davis.

In the junior varsity eight final, the Pirates once again battled UC

Davis the entire way in the closest race of the regatta. OCC athletes

Todd Seligman, Leo Shook, Matt Hietbrink, Ethan Zotovich, Gints Salaks,

Scrin Hoppe, Alan Twigg, Todd Sakaria and David Tso, posted a time of

6:00.3, narrowly besting the Aggies (6:06.8).

In the varsity eight final, UC Davis earned some revenge by defeating

OCC, after both had won their respective heats.

OCC’s varsity unit, comprised of Chris Kolstad, Bill Clifford, Dan

Toth, Brian Scheele, Brett Winfield, Aaron Clousing, Lucas Rioinger, Ryan

Davidson and Sam Yost, trailed UC Davis from start to finish, crossing

the finish line in 5:52.2, well behind the winners’ time of 5:49.3.

OCC won its varsity eight qualifying heat in 5:54.5, more than five

seconds ahead of San Diego State.

The novice eight A crew from OCC took an early lead and held on to win

its qualifying heat, ahead of UC San Diego, Santa Clara, UC Santa

Barbara, USC and Long Beach State. No time was recorded for the Pirates.

OCC had no entries in the varsity or novice fours, won by UC San Diego

and Santa Clara, respectively.

Loyola Marymount, UCI, UCLA, Chapman and the University of San Diego

also competed.

All races featured a tail wind, which helped speed their course north

along the Lido Channel.

{{Gina, these are 6-point agate results}}

NEWPORT REGATTA

Palmer Cup (overall standings)

1. Orange Coast 28; 2. UC Davis, 23.

Varsity eight

Final - 1. UC Davis, 5:49.3; 2. OCC, 6:00.3; 3. San Diego State,

5:59.5; 4. Loyola Marymount, 6:03.8; 5. University of San Diego, 6:06.5;

6. UCI, 6:11.8.

Varsity four

Final - UC San Diego, 6:21.9; 2. Santa Clara, 6:23.2; 3. UC Davis,

6:23.8; 4. UCLA, 6:24.1; 5. UCI, 6:26.6.

Junior varsity eight

Final - 1. OCC, 6:00.3; 2. UC Davis, 6:00.8; 3. UC Santa Barbara,

6:11.3; 4. San Diego State, 6:26.1; 5. LMU, 6:34.8; 6. USC, 6:40.6.

Novice eight A

Final - 1. OCC, 5:59.6; 2. UC Davis, 6:00.0; 3. UCI, 6:09.0; 4. UCSD,

6:10.6; 5. USD, 6:15.7; 6. Santa Clara, 6:19.8.

Novice eight B

Final - 1. OCC, 6:06.2; 2. UC Davis, 6:08.1; 3. UCSB, 6:23.4; 4. UCSD,

6:33.5; 5. UCLA, 6:46.2.

Novice four

Final - 1. Santa Clara, 6:35.8; 2. UC Davis, 6:52.0; 3. Long Beach

State, 6:47.2; 4. UCI, 7:23.5; 5. LMU, 7:38.4.

Varsity eight

Heat one - 1. OCC, 5:54.5; 2. San Diego State, 5:59.9; 3. LMU, 6:11.7;

4. UCLA, 6:24.0.

Heat two - 1. UC Davis, 5:48.0; 2. USD, 5:51.7; 3. UCI, 5:52.9; 4.

Long Beach State, 5:53.4.

Novice eight A

Heat one - 1. UC Davis, 6:03.7; 2. UCI, 6:09; 3. USD, no time; 4.

UCLA, 6:14.6; 5. Chapman, 6:20.9; 6. San Diego State, 6:40.9.

Heat two - 1. OCC, no time; 2. UCSD, 6:02.1; 3. Santa Clara, 6:02.6;

4. UC SB, 6:07.6; 5. USC, 6’:19.8; 6. Long Beach State, 6:22.2.