Orange Coast men capture first conference swim meet of the season
MISSION VIEJO - The Orange Empire Conference swim and dive schedule kicked off this past weekend at Saddleback College and the race to win the OEC title looks like it could be hotly contested. Orange Coast College edged both Riverside City College and Golden West College in the opening conference meet of the season.
The Orange Empire Conference (OEC) has long been one of the top conferences in the state in men’s swimming, winning 14 state titles since the beginning of the century and 33 total titles since the sport was introduced in 1948. From 1990 to 2001 the conference never lost a state title, with Golden West winning nine titles and Orange Coast winning three over a 12-year span.
However, having said that, the OEC has not won a state title since 2018 as Sierra College has won four straight titles while the other two were taken away by COVID-19.
Three programs look ready to make a run at ending the drought in 2025 as Orange Coast, Riverside City and Golden West all look like programs that could make a run.
OCC started the conference season with six individual wins in the pool. The big name was Oscar Cruz, who won three separate events. Cruz started the day with a win in the 500 Freestyle (4:51.30) before winning in both the 200 Freestyle (1:47.74) and 200 Butterfly (1:57.08). Evan Lim followed with two wins of his own, capturing both the 200 Individual Medley (1:59.29) and 200 Breaststroke (2:13.91). Brenden Bellavia was also a winner for the Pirates in the 100 Freestyle (47.22).
Riverside City didn’t take a back seat, winning six events of its own. Zekiah Serrano was a double-winner, taking home first place in both the 100 Butterfly (51.58) and 100 Individual Medley (54.38). The Tigers also had individual wins from Yousef Nahali in the 50 Freestyle (20.85) and Jared Ladinez in the 100 Breaststroke (58.07). Riverside City proved to be a force in the relay events, winning both the 200 Freestyle Relay (1:26.43) and 200 Individual Medley Relay (1:33.97).
Golden West was third overall with four wins on opening day of conference competition. The Rustlers had a sensational performance from Jake Kiss, who won both the 400 Individual Medley (4:13.75) and 200 Backstroke (2:00.96). Daigo Fujita was a winner for Golden West in the 100 Backstroke (59.84) while Ryan Novak took home the top spot in the grueling 1,650 Freestyle (16:39.56).
The other two individual wins in the opening Orange Empire Conference meet were turned in by Cypress College’s Niccolo Scomaienghi on Thursday in diving. Scomaienghi captured both the 3-meter (230.1) and 1-meter (269.30) events.
TEAM SCORES
1) Orange Coast, 690.5
2) Riverside City, 601.5
3) Golden West, 585
4) Cypress, 250
5) Saddleback, 218
6) Fullerton, DNP
(Brad Hoiseth, Orange Empire Conference)