Pirates’ crew defeats UCLA

The Orange Coast College men’s eight crew easily handled UCLA in its

only race of the day at the Stanford invitational on Redwood Shores

Saturday.

The Pirates finished in 6:06.2, which was 24 seconds ahead of the

Bruins in the two-boat race. OCC’s junior varsity eight also defeated

UCLA, as the Pirates finished in 6:19.8, 29 seconds ahead of the

Bruins. The OCC novice defeated UCLA, as well, finishing in 6:29.7,

and UCLA was at 6:47.

OCC crew coach Larry Moore said the Pirates will receive their

stiffest challenge of the season today at the Stanford invitational,

where they will take on UC Berkeley’s novice eight and also go up

against the Cardinal. The Pirates will host the Newport Regatta April

25.

OCC duo crowned

* TENNIS: The Orange Coast College tandem of Leah Becker and

Sabrina Tanamal were named the Orange Empire Conference doubles

champions after the title match against Saddleback was rained out

Saturday.

OCC Coach Janice Maran said Becker and Tanamal become the OEC

champions based on their No. 1 seed in the tournament. The match

cannot be rescheduled so the conference decided the winner Saturday.

Becker and Tanamal defeated Saddleback, the second-seeded duo of

Megan Ehlers and Eliza Francisco, twice during the regular season.

Liou wins steeplechase

* TRACK AND FIELD: UC Irvine senior Jenny Liou won the 3,000-meter

steeplechase with a time of 11 minutes, 2.43 seconds at the

Pomona-Pitzer invitational at Strehle Track in Claremont Friday.

Junior Kelli Vanderburg finished second in the 5,000 meters

(17:45.30) and freshman Chelsey Traylor was sixth in 18:19.73. Junior Kimberly Harper placed fifth in the high jump (5 feet, 5 inches) and

sophomore Randi Houston was ninth in the 100 (12.24).

In men’s competition, freshman Dayne Comrie was fourth in the 400

hurdles in 52.38 for the No. 7 time on the school’s career top-10

list.

Junior Omar Lopez placed fourth in the 400 meters in 47.70, the

ninth-fastest time in Anteater history. Sophomore Brandon Lucero

finished second in the 10,000 meters (32:37.54) and sophomore John

Kluve picked up a fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase

(9:42.15).

Freshmen Tim Hearst and Ryan Ketcham placed 7-8 in the 5,000

meters with respective times of 14:59.17 and 14:59.95, and junior

Jeremy Torres finished 10th in the 200 in 21.69. The Anteaters’ 1,600

relay team placed second in 3:12.60.

UCI upsets Northridge

* VOLLEYBALL: The UC Irvine men’s volleyball team upset No. 5 Cal

State Northridge, 30-27, 30-25, 21-30, 30-27, in the regular-season

finale at Crawford Court Saturday night.

UCI improves to 14-17 and 8-14 in the Mountain Pacific Sports

Federation, securing the eighth spot in the league.

The Anteaters will travel to No. 1 BYU for a first-round MPSF

championship match on Saturday. Cal State Northridge dropped to 19-10

and 13-9 in MPSF play and will travel to No. 4 Pepperdine for a

first-round match.

UCI senior Spencer Bemus totaled a career-high 20 kills to lead

all players. All-American Jimmy Pelzel and freshman Matt Webber each

added 15 kills for the Anteaters.

Senior Middle blocker Kyle Weichert had 11 kills and five total

blocks. With four block assists, Weichert broke the UCI career record

for block assists with 373, passing Chris Harger’s record of 372 from

1994-97. Senior libero Greg Ford passed 53 service attempts with no

errors. He also totaled 14 digs. Freshman setter Brett Reid tallied

60 set assists for the Anteaters.

UCI jumped out to a 4-0 start in game four, but the Matadors

quickly returned the favor tying the score at 5. The crowd became

energized with neither team getting more than a three-point

advantage. The teams were tied at 22-22, when a David Smith off-peed

serve landed in the middle of the Northridge court, followed by a Cal

State Northridge hitting error to give UCI a 24-22 cushion. UCI would

not relinquish the lead as Pelzel and freshman Smith rejected a

Matador attack attempt to end the game 30-27.

Lions solid at Pomona

* TRACK AND FIELD: Several athletes from the Vanguard University

men’s and women’s track and field teams achieved top-10 finishes and

personal-best marks at the Pomona-Pitzer invitational Friday.

Junior Christol McDonald met an automatic qualifying time for the

outdoor nationals in the 800 meters, finishing second in her heat.

McDonald’s time of 2 minutes, 16.22 seconds was a personal best and

was under the standard of 2:17.05. She also won her heat of the 1,500

with a personal best of 4:52.26, although, her time fell short of the

qualifying standard of 4:44.75.

The women’s 400 relay team of Megan Leapaldt, Laine Stevens,

Jenifer Zipprich and Debby Chop finished eighth overall and lowered

its school record nearly a half second to 50.07 with an impressive

come-from-behind win over Golden State Athletic Conference rival

Point Loma, which finished ninth in 50.22.

Chop, a junior had a big day in the sprints running to a personal

best in the 200 (26.47) and a season best in the 100 (12.78). Her 100

time is just .09 off her personal best (12.69) and just .11 off the

school record (12.67, set by Isis Gonzalez in 1999).

Senior Mikael Larsson ran to a personal best in the men’s 5,000

meters (15:12.65). He finished 10th overall and improved his previous

best by 12 seconds.

Sophomore Liz Huipe, a former Estancia standout, finished seventh

overall in the women’s 5,000 (18:26.29) just two seconds off her

personal best. Senior Tony Magana came in sixth place overall in the

men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase with a season-best 9:46.41.

Jesse Kern went 19 feet, 7 inches in his first long jump

competition this season. Levi Seekins, who also played on the Lions

men’s basketball team, finished 13th overall in the men’s high jump

with a 5-11 1/4 clearance.

Leapaldt completed a season-best 27.99 in the 200.

Stevens, scheduled to run the 100 and 200, did not compete due to

a hamstring cramp suffered in the women’s 400 relay. Billy Smith and

Sarah Hall did not compete, as well, because of illness and fatigue.

UCI falls to Bulldogs

* TENNIS: The UC Irvine men’s tennis team lost for the third time

in its last four matches, falling to nonconference host Fresno State,

5-2, Saturday.

The Bulldogs (12-8), ranked No. 46, snapped a two-match losing

streak, while No. 69 UCI dropped to 11-9. Fresno State is 10-0 at

home this season.

The Anteaters’ Brian Morton and Ryusuke Kashiwabara were the only

players to grab victories in singles. Morton, a Corona del Mar High

product, defeated Alex Krohn, 6-2, 7-5.

*--*

Nonconference

Fresno State 5, UC Irvine 2

Singles -- Endrikat (UCI) lost to Shearer, 2-6, 4-6; Morton (UCI) def. Krohn, 6-2, 7-5; Kashiwabara (UCI) def. Suta, 6-1, 7-5; Ulukan (UCI) lost to Irie, 2-6, 2-6; Wijemanne (UCI) lost to Cech, 3-6, 1-6; Surapol (UCI) lost to Sinn, 6-4, 4-6, (10-6).

Doubles -- Surapol-Morton (UCI) lost to Suta-Modoc, 6-8; Endrikat-Williams (UCI) lost to Krohn-Cech, 6-8; Ulukan-Wijemanne (UCI) lost to Shearer-Sinn, 1-8.

*--*