Kossub Realizing Her Goals at OCC

Brandi Kossub decided to come to Orange Coast College long before she knew anything about the women’s swimming program, which is the best in the state.

Kossub, from Katella High School, said she was looking for a place that felt more like college than Fullerton and Cypress, where many of her high-school classmates went.

“I didn’t know anything about (OCC’s team),” Kossub said. “I was going to come here anyway.”

But at Orange Coast, Kossub discovered much more than atmosphere.

She met Coach Don Watson, who challenged her to work harder and perform better than she thought she could.

Kossub started swimming with the Anaheim Aquatics Assn. when she was in junior high school. She swam four years of varsity, advancing to the Southern Section swim meet each year. She was the Empire League swimmer of the year in the spring of 1992.

But with Watson’s help, teammates’ encouragement and Kossub’s desire, she continued to improve and has become one of the best swimmers in the state.

Kossub remembers her first meeting with Watson, who told her she could trim her time in the 100-yard backstroke to 59 seconds.

“I thought there was no way I could ever go that fast,” said Kossub, who eventually got down to 58.88 last year. “Even when I did, I didn’t believe it.”

Kossub set a national record in the 50 backstroke (27.56 seconds) and also won the 100 backstroke at last year’s State meet.

She was also on the 400 medley relay team that set a State record as OCC won its fifth consecutive State title and its ninth in 10 years.

Kossub has had another strong season this spring and has made an oral commitment to Drury College, an NAIA school in Springfield, Mo.

She has two meets left in her OCC career. The Pirates are the overwhelming favorites at the Orange Empire Conference championships Thursday through Saturday at Saddleback.

OCC will also be the favorite when Kossub defends her titles at the State meet May 5-7 at Cypress College.

“There’s really just nothing not to like about her,” Watson said. “When she does really well, it has a snowball effect. The rest of the kids really feed off her success.”

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Baseball update: The Orange Empire Conference race enters its final two weeks today.

Riverside (27-8, 14-5 in conference), leads second-place Cypress by half a game. The teams meet at Cypress at 2:30 p.m. today. The Chargers (27-10, 13-5) visit sixth-place Fullerton (16-17-1, 7-12) at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, then play host to seventh-place Orange Coast (7-24, 2-17) at noon Saturday.

Riverside has a bye Thursday, then plays host to Fullerton at noon Saturday.

Rancho Santiago, which has won five of the last six conference titles, won three games last week to move into third place, two games out of first.

The Dons (29-9, 12-7) have a bye today but visit fifth-place Golden West (15-17, 8-11) at 2:30 p.m. Thursday and play host to fourth-place Saddleback (20-12-1, 10-9) at noon Saturday.

Jason Scanlon, a sophomore on the Saddleback tennis team, has been selected as the Orange Empire Conference player of the year.

Scanlon, from Santa Margarita High School, was 13-5 overall and 8-1 in conference at No. 1 singles. He was 12-3 in doubles, including 7-0 in conference. He is top-seeded in the conference tournament Thursday to Saturday at OCC.