Tuesday Time Machine: NATYCAA Greatness
COSTA MESA -- "I LOVE winning, man. You hear what I'm saying?!?! It's like better than losing?!?!" -- Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh in the movie Bull Durham
People ask me about what it's like to work at Orange Coast College and what my favorite part of the job is. While it's true, OCC has some of the best facilities and the student-athletes are some of the nicest young people you'll ever want to meet and yes, our coaches are second to none when it comes to teaching these kids everything about their sports and beyond.
But ... the one thing that has continued to give me the biggest boost in my step over the past 14 years??
We're just damn good.
I've spent 14 years at Orange Coast College and another 15 years as a sports reporter watching thousands of different sporting events over my lifetime. But, when the contest is over and its time to write what I just witnessed, believe me when I say this ... a winning story is a helluva lot more fun to write than a non-winning story.
Orange Coast College athletics has been a championship-producing machine since its inception, winning its first state title back in 1956. Over the next 60-plus years, the Pirates have racked up 94 state and national championships. As mentioned before, in my 14 years here, I've watched our programs conquer the top of the mountain 28 different times and in those 14 seasons, Coast has been one of the most consistent athletic programs from top to bottom throughout all of California Community Colleges.
I love going to other community colleges and seeing their CONFERENCE banners up on their walls and I think to myself, "Awe ... that's neat."
At OCC, there's simply not enough wall space for that.
There were two years in particular -- the 2006-07 season and the 2009-10 season -- where the Pirates earned the statewide attention they richly deserved by winning the CCCAA/NATYCAA Cup (formerly known as the Pepsi Cup).
For those unfamiliar, this prestigious honor is awarded for the California community college with the most successful and consistently winning programs on both the men's side and the women's side for that particular season. Since not every school has 24 sports in their corral, the CCCAA awards points for each team (20 for state champ, 19 for second place, etc) and at the end of the school year, the highest five scores from the men's and women's side are tabulated. It's all right here if you want the specifics.
The 2006-07 year was my first full season with the Pirates and they really spoiled me right off the bat. Before I even had my first Christmas break, I had two state champions to write about. OCC's women's volleyball team successfully defended its title with its second straight championship, as did the women's cross country team ... FOR THE SIXTH STRAIGHT TIME!
OCC's women's cross country -- led by head coach Marco Ochoa -- put together a run that hasn't been seen by too many as the Pirates won six straight state titles (2001-06), then added more titles in 2008, 2012 and 2013. But that 2006 squad -- a squad that finished fifth at the SoCal Regionals -- turned things up at the right time and destroyed the competition with 71 points, 63 points lower than runner-up Glendale (134). All six of OCC's point-producing runners finished in the top-30 and were led by a sixth-place showing from Elda Hernandez and a seventh-place performance from teammate Erendira Uriostegui.
Later that spring, the OCC men's swim team successfully defended ITS title from a year ago with a dominating performance at the CCCAA State Championships. Double champions Joe Krone and Damien Bernard helped pave the way for the Pirates, who racked up 601 points to lap the competition. Ventura was a distant second with 530 points, while Diablo Valley (333) took third overall.
In addition to the state champions, Coast had deep playoff runs in other sports, which produced the points needed to win the overall state title, including women's tennis (17.5 points), women's swimming (17), women's soccer (14.5), men's tennis (14.5), men's cross country (14), men's water polo (13.5) and men's track and field (13).
In 2009-10, the Pirates returned to the top of the California Community College mountain with its second NATYCAA Cup after racking up 167 points. With two state championships and FOUR state runner-ups, the points came fast and furious that year.
In the fall, the women's volleyball program overcame an early loss in the state tournament to pull off the championship, beating Orange Empire Conference foe, Cypress, in four sets, before winning a one-set winner-take all, 25-16. Tourney MVP Kimya Jafroudi dished out 52 assists in the championship match, while teammates Poerava Gantt, Nikki Osuna and Karlee Skalla each earned all-tourney honors. After falling to Sierra in the opening round, Coast needed to win four matches over the next two days -- which they did -- setting up the showdown with the Chargers.
In the spring, it was the women's swim team to begin its three-year run as state champions, taking the 2010 title with 543 points, thanks to an incredible EIGHT individual and team relay state title performances over the three-day event. Sophomore standout Danielle Lavery captured three individual state titles and was the anchor swimmer on two state-winning relay teams for the Pirates that year. Michelle Kirkpatrick made CCCAA state meet history in the 100-yard individual medley with a winning time of 57.91, topping 58 seconds for the first time in the history of the event.
In addition to those championship teams, the Pirates finished second in the state in four other sports, including women's cross country, men's cross country, men's swimming and men's volleyball. Let's just say I had a much-needed and restful summer break after that year!
Sometimes the most successful program from top to bottom doesn't always win this thing ... just ask the 2013-14 Pirates. In spite of having the most all-around points, the rules state that only the top five programs from men's and women's sports qualify. With that in mind, Mt. San Antonio finished with 176.5 points, just ahead of OCC's 172.5. Coast finished that year with state championships in baseball, and women's cross country and had point-producing performances from an incredible FOURTEEN different sports that school year.
Year in and year out, the Pirates have been setting the pace throughout the state. The Pepsi/NATYCAA Cup was created in 2003-04 and over the history of this award, Orange Coast College has been ranked in the top-10 an astounding 15 times. (Oh ... the one year we didn't crack the top-10, we were 11th.) That is an absolute testament to not only the student-athletes who have excelled here, but to the coaches and administrators at OCC who give the platform to succeed to these athletes.
While I jokingly "complain" to my fellow SIDs around the state that all of these championships just lead to more work for me for the same pay, it's work I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. We've had our share of "clunker" seasons too and believe me ... it's a much happier place at OCC when teams are winning.
Fortunately for all of us ... we're usually pretty happy around here.
