Forever Pirates -- Tracy Wright
Our first installment in our "Forever Pirates" series comes from Tracy Wright, who attended OCC from 1986-88 and was a member of the Pirate track and cross country teams.
I am a former Pirate athlete that competed in Cross Country and Track from 1986-88 under Gordie Fitzel. I had planned to run on an athletic scholarship to UCLA straight out of high school, but an injury my senior year at Irvine High School shattered that dream ... but it was to be a blessing in disguise.
Orange Coast was a far cry from the universities on my list, but everything happens for a reason and the two years I had at OCC turned out to be the best times of my athletic career and life. I made friends that were in my wedding and who I am still are very close with today.
It took me a full year to get back to my previous high school level, but with Gordie's coaching, I was on my way by my second year. We had a strong cross country team that year, even though we had graduated a few strong teammates. One of my teammates was 36-year-old Loi Curl. She was such an inspiration and role model for all us younger girls and was usually our top two our three runners in each race, finishing consistently in the low 19:00s. Only at a community college can something like that happen!
Our team won the conference champioship that year against strong teams. The SoCal Meet would be a bigger challenge against the likes of Mira Costa who got us by five points. But ... we would get our revenge as we headed up to Fresno to run the 5,000-meter course at Woodward Park at the State Meet.
Only five runners score in cross country but that day, it took all seven of us. We beat Mira Costa 62 to 68 and we were the Cross Country State Champions in 1987!
The team finished in the following order. Tracy Wright 9th (18:02), Debbie Lies 19th (18:55), Loi Curl 22nd (18:58), Delinda Patino 24th (19:04), Candice Hansen 41st (19:37) with Deanna Feser and Mendi Webb to round out the team.
It was a long struggle back for the OCC squad who had won the championship in 1980, '81 and '82. In the nine years under Gordie Fitzel, the women's team qualified seven times and won four state championships as well as taking two seconds and a third. A coach I will never forget and teammates that, to this day, I wish I could have competed with for a full four years.
I eventually ended up competing and finishing up my collegiate career at San Diego State University.
OCC gave me a solid foundation in both academics and athletics to move on to a four-year university, but it was never the same as those two amazing years at OCC.
We are looking for more Pirate Athlete Alum to share their stories and memories of their time at OCC! Just email your story to Sports Information Director Tony Altobelli at aaltobelli@occ.cccd.edu. Please include any pics you'd like to share as well.
