Pirates finish third at GWC Invitational

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Orange Coast College women's swim team may lack roster volume, but they definitely do not lack talent and quality as the Pirates finished third overall at the Golden West College Invitational on Friday at GWC.

The Pirates finished with 422 total points against some of the top programs in the area, trailing only Riverside City College (510 points) and Miramar College (495). El Camino finished fourth with 352 points, followed by Golden West (340), Craffton Hills (173), Grossmont (160), Palomar (154), Fullerton (139), Cerritos (124), Rio Hondo (103) and Southwestern (48).

Coast dominated the field in the relay events, earning four first-place marks for their collective efforts. Emma Steffens, Analiece Duncan, Leyna Nguyen and Caprie Troccoli were the victorious OCC foursome in three of those relays, including the 200-yard medley relay (1:53.72), 200 freestyle relay (1:43.6) and the 400 medley relay (4:18.55), Ariah Martinez, joined Duncan, Steffens and Nguyen to win the 400 freestyle relay with an impressive time of 3:51.34, nearly 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the competitors.

Duncan and Nguyen also excelled in the individual events for the Pirates. Duncan took first overall in the 100 butterfly (1:00.34) as well as the 100 breaststroke (1:07.75), touching the wall in that event a full 7 seconds ahead of her closest competitor.

Nguyen took care of business in the 100 backstroke with a winning time of 1:03.01 and she also touched the wall first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.7.

Troccoli earned a runner-up time of 34.15 in the 50 breaststroke, while Steffens finished runner-up in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:24.61.

OCC's Kendra Escarzaga placed second in the 50 butterfly with a time of 31.26, while Martinez finished third overall in the 50 freestyle (26.6).

The Pirates will return to action on Friday down at Saddleback College for an Orange Empire Conference matchup, beginning at 9:30 a.m.