Pirates, ‘Eaters are on a row

SACRAMENTO ? Orange Coast College’s rowing team advanced to four championship finals on the first day of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Assn. Championship Regatta at Lake Natoma.

The Pirates’ men’s varsity, novice and second novice eights qualified, as did the men’s novice fours, with the women reaching the finals of the D2/D3/Club varsity eights. UC Irvine reached two championship finals ? the men’s second novice eights and novice lightweight fours.

In all, OCC will have five races today, with UCI in four races.

Under the competition format, the top two finishers in each heat advanced to the championship final, with third- and fourth-place racing in a second final, and fifth- and sixth-place in a third race.

Orange Coast won of its two heats in Saturday competition. The men’s varsity eights won handily over Washington State, finishing in 6 minutes, 17.1 seconds to the Cougars’ 6:09.1. UC Irvine was third at 6:14.8.

The Pirates also took first in their men’s novice eights heat, finishing in 6:17.1 ? nearly seven seconds ahead of Long Beach State.

In the men’s novice fours, OCC was edged by Western Washington in the third heat. The Warriors won with a time of 7:09.6, just three-tenths of a second ahead of the Pirates, with UCI taking third in 7:22.7.

OCC Coach Larry Moore said it was the team’s first race this season in the novice fours.

Both Orange Coast and UCI finished fifth in their heats in the men’s varsity fours, dropping into the third-final. The Pirates led for most of the final, but lost to Santa Clara at the end, finishing second in the final and 13th overall in 7:06.1. The Anteaters were third in 7:19.1, placing 14th overall.

In the women’s competition, OCC took second in its heat of the varsity eights in 7:17.3, finishing behind Sonoma State’s 7:12.5.

With limited numbers available for the regatta, four of the Pirates’ women ended up racing four times, which was reflected in the finishes. OCC finished fourth in its women’s novice fours heat (8:34.0), and placed sixth in the third-level final (8:52.8) to end up 18th overall. The women’s varsity fours were third in their heat and placed second in the petite final (7:49.1) to finish eighth overall.

The women’s novice eights were sixth in their heat and sixth in the third-level final (8:03.8) to finish 18th overall.dpt.30-occ-row-1-CPhotoInfoER1QFOBN20060430iyiapwncDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)The OCC men’s varsity eights, in the yellow boat, pulls away to win its heat at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Assn. Championships in Sacramento.