Community College Notebook : Orange Coast Goes for Clean Sweep in Cross-Country Conference Finals

Orange Coast College will try to continue its dominance of Orange Empire men’s and women’s cross-country teams in the conference finals Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Orange’s Irvine Park.

The Pirates finished the dual-meet conference season as champions with 5-0 records. Gordie Fitzel coaches both teams.

The OCC men are led by sophomore Dave Parcel of Estancia High School and the Alcaraz brothers from Santa Ana Valley, sophomore Sal and freshman Jose.

Jose won with his best four-mile time (19:39) of the season last Friday as the Pirates clinched the title with victories over Citrus and Cypress.

The women’s program has enjoyed great success also, winning the state championship in 1980, ’81 and ’82.

This season’s team is known for its depth and proved it last week, defeating Citrus and Cypress. OCC was able to win even without its top three runners--Harolene Walters, Lois Curl and DeLinda Patino, who had minor injuries.

Tracy Wright, Debbie Lies, Julie Yost and Michele Anderson finished second through fifth.

The top two teams in both divisions in the conference finals advance to the Southern California Regionals at Guajome Park in Vista, Nov. 7.

The top five teams at the regionals advance to the state meet in Fresno, Nov. 15.

“Unless there is an earthquake and our whole team falls into the crack, I think we should advance to the regionals,” Fitzel said. “We are strong on both teams and should be able to do well.”

The Saddleback women’s team and Rancho Santiago’s men could have the best chance of upsetting OCC.

Sophomore Deirdre Vaughan of Saddleback is expected to challenge for the individual conference title and the Gaucho women (4-1) could also challenge OCC for the team title.

Vaughn, a sophomore from Dana Hills, is Saddleback’s only runner back from last season. Maura Daly, Nancy Wilson, Kim Gilde and Harriet Braverman all need to run well for the Gauchos to have a chance at an upset of OCC.

The Rancho Santiago men’s team upset the Pirates at the Irvine Park Invitational Oct. 10, and will need outstanding performances from its top five runners to do it again.

Brian Goodwin of Cypress College goes for his fourth consecutive tournament championship Saturday in the one-day Cypress wrestling tournament. Goodwin, a sophomore from Eisenhower High School in Rialto, is 13-0 this season with 5 pins.

He has won the 190-pound division at the Cuesta, El Camino and Lassen tournaments.

As a freshman, Goodwin finished seventh in the state tournament.

The 13-team field has defending state champion Palomar, Cypress, Golden West, Rancho Santiago, Cerritos, Rio Hondo, Moorpark, Cuesta, Mt. San Antonio, L.A. Pierce, San Bernardino, El Camino and Napa Valley.

Wrestling starts at 9:30 a.m. and goes all day.

Where did all the defense go? Community college football isn’t known for its dominating defenses, but last Saturday’s games were ridiculous.

The county teams, which all won in the same week for the first time this season, outscored their opponents, 195-104. The 10 teams gained 4,290 yards in total offense.

The most impressive offensive showing was in the Fullerton-El Camino game. The teams combined for 992 yards in the Hornets’ 33-31 victory.

There were 982 yards of offense in Saddleback’s 48-31 victory over Southwestern. Rancho Santiago and San Diego City had 838 yards in the Dons’ 45-7 win. Orange Coast and San Diego Mesa totaled 776 yards in OCC’s 24-14 upset. Golden West and Compton combined for 702 yards in the Rustlers’ 45-21 win.

All five county football teams take to the road this Saturday. In the South Coast Conference: first-place Golden West (3-0, 6-0) is at Mt. San Antonio (0-3, 2-3-1) at 7:30 p.m. and Fullerton (2-1, 3-3) is at Cerritos (2-1, 3-2-1), also at 7:30.

In the Mission Conference: Saddleback (3-2, 4-2) is at San Diego City (0-5, 1-5) and Rancho Santiago (2-3, 3-3) is at Palomar (4-1, 5-1), at 1:30 p.m. Orange Coast (2-3, 2-4) is at Southwestern (4-1, 4-2) at 7:30 p.m.

Golden West is ranked third in Southern California this week but Glendale (7-0) remains first, receiving all 12 first-place votes. Riverside (6-0) is second.

Saddleback, which fell from the No. 1 to No. 9 after losing two straight, moved back to No. 6.

The Golden West water polo team gets a second chance to upset Long Beach City Friday.

The teams play at 3:30 at Golden West. The Rustlers defeated Long Beach City, 9-7, to win the Cypress tournament championship last Saturday.

Despite the loss, the Vikings remain the top-ranked team in the state.