Coast OEC’s finest

For the fourth year in a row and the 22nd time in 26 years, Orange

Coast College has earned the Orange Empire Conference Sports

Supremacy Award for overall excellence in athletic achievement.

Six conference championships helped contribute to the honor. John

Knox, head coach for both men’s and women’s track and field and cross

country teams, led the Bucs to four of the six titles with Dave Salo

and Don Watson teaming up to lead the women’s swimming team to a

conference and state championship. Knox, along with assistant Dave

Fier, guided the women’s cross country team to a state crown as well.

Janice Maran’s women’s tennis team went undefeated in the OEC to

claim its second conference title in three seasons.

The women’s swimming and basketball teams each claimed state

championships with distance runner Michelle Icban defending her

titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the track and field

championships earlier this month. She set a meet record in winning

the 10,000 in 35.49.24, more than 28 seconds in front of the

second-place finisher.

In the fall, Icban won every cross country race she entered but

one, capping the season with a state title in 17:56. The sophomore

was named conference MVP in both cross country and track and field

and also earned OEC Runner of the Year honors. She collected five

state titles in her two years at Coast.

Sherry Tsai set a state and national community college record in

the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.92 at the state meet while

Art Diaz ran the 10,000 in 31:25.58 to claim the race at the state

championships.

Tsai, a freshman, also earned conference MVP accolades along with

goaltender Heather Deyden, who helped the women’s water polo team to

a 29-9 finish, good for fifth in California.

Sophomore point guard Nancy Hatsushi capped her Coast career with

state tournament MVP honors, as OCC won its first state championship

in March. Coach Mike Thornton was named Southern Region Coach of the

Year.

Sophomore Keinan Briggs recorded a leap of 49 feet, 3 inches in

the triple jump at the state meet while placing sixth in the 110 high

hurdles in 14.82. Earlier this season, Briggs, the OEC champion in

the high hurdles and the triple jump, set the school record in the

110 hurdles (14.2). The OCC Athlete of the Year placed second in the

OEC in the long jump and was on the Pirates’ 400 relay team that was

the conference runner-up.

Coast had two teams place second in state (men’s cross country and

women’s volleyball) while the men’s volleyball, men’s swimming and

women’s track and field teams each finished third in California. The

women’s water polo and soccer teams each placed fifth in the state.

Women’s soccer coach Barbara Bond also earned Regional Coach of

the Year accolades.

Coast’s dance and cheerleading teams each won national

championships.