Badminton

Steve Virgen COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College women's badminton team will remember its first match as a loss, a great loss of energy. But, the Pirates still found fun in playing San Diego Mesa, the defending state champions. OCC's badminton team opened its inaugural season with a 16-5 decision to the visiting Olympians at Coast on Friday afternoon. "I'm sure some of these gals aren't going to be able to walk tomorrow," OCC Coach Barbara Bond said.

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College women's badminton team, which featured state champion Cynthia Tran in its inaugural season last year, suffered its third straight loss of the season after a 21-0 setback to visiting Irvine Valley Friday. The Pirates (0-3) are without standouts Rosie Pham and Tran this year, but are gaining experience, Coach Barbara Bond said. "We have 10 girls, but we are totally beginners," Bond said. OCC has five badminton members who played soccer for Bond in the fall, including Lauren Cassity, Summer Chaldu, Lindsey Smoot, Laurie Perkins and Cristina Guerin.

IRVINE - Orange Coast College's Rosie Pham and Cythnia Tran, seeded No. 1, defeated two opponents Friday in women's doubles and advanced to today's semifinals of the state badminton championships at Irvine Valley College. Tran, seeded first in singles, won two matches after a first-round bye and will face Katsue Takahashi of San Diego Mesa in the semfinals today at 10 a.m. at Irvine Valley. OCC will play fourth-seeded Christine Lee and Diana Chuang of De Anza in the doubles semifinals at 11 a.m. "We're getting our beginning program on the map," OCC Coach Barbara Bond said.

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College women's badminton team remains searching for its first win in its inaugural season. The Pirates dropped a 17-4 decision to visiting Irvine Valley in Orange Empire Conference action Wednesday. OCC's Cynthia Tran won both of her singles matches and is now 4-0 this season. She teamed with Hoaimi Nguyen to earn a 15-8, 15-7 win over Jacqueline Myers and Lisa Apel of IVC (2-0, 2-0 in conference). The Pirates (0-2, 0-2)

COSTA MESA - Attention badmintoners: Orange Coast College will be adding women's badminton to its list of athletic programs. The state-sanctioned program will begin conference play in the spring following basketball season and student rerouting will begin in the fall. "This will be our 24th sport to take place at OCC," Athletic Director Jane Hilgendorf said. "I would like to eventually see badminton become a coed sport in the future." Current women's soccer coach Barbara Bond will take over the program.

IRVINE - Orange Coast College freshman Cynthia Tran swept to the state badminton singles crown and also teamed with Rosie Pham to to win the state doubles title Saturday at Irvine Valley College. Tran, the top seed, defeated Phyrun Than from El Camino, 11-3, 11-2, in the title match, after besting San Diego Mesa's Katsue Takahashi, 11-5, 11-2, in the semifinals. Tran and Pham earned a 15-7, 15-1 win over Takahashi and Rachelle Manzano in the title match, after eliminating Christine Lee and Diana Chuang from De Anza in one semifinal.

IRVINE - The Orange Coast College women's badminton team continues to improve in its inaugural season. The evidence came in the Pirates 14-7 victory over host Irvine Valley Wednesday. OCC had lost to the Lasers, 17-4, in its second match of the season. Pirates freshman Cynthia Tran remained undefeated in singles matches this season as she defeated Alice Chan, 11-4, 11-1 and took care of Jaqueline Meyers, 11-9, 11-6. Coast Coach Barbara Bond said freshmen Rana Duszynski and Tina Nguyen played extremely well.

Steve Virgen Though winning matters, the inaugural season for the Orange Coast College women's badminton team is all about fun. And that fun couldn't have come at a better time for Kelly Overby. Five months ago, Overby went through a kidney tranplant. Today, her eyes light up when she talks about the sport she is learning and the friends she has made because of it. "We have a lot of laughs," says the easy-going Overby. She built her love for sports at Calvary Chapel High in Costa Mesa.

UC Irvine won the Badminton Collegiate Nationals at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania recently, making it the second straight year the Anteaters have won the event. “We were confident going into the competition. We sent 11 players hoping to defend our title and won in a narrow victory,” said Alexandra Easton, UCI’s badminton club treasurer. “It was a great opportunity to represent UC Irvine on the East Coast and return home with the national title.” This is UCI’s third national championship in the last five years.

Elia Powers An Olympic athlete, reality television host and motivational speaker lives among us here. He trains professional athletes, appears on soap operas and, just when you think his schedule is full, there he is in a flash, standing in front of a pack of students. In the classroom, Howard Dell is no pushover. Just look at his favorite T-shirt -- which reads, "Discipline, Dedication, Desire" -- for evidence. He finds it amusing when students test his authority.

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College women's badminton team, which featured state champion Cynthia Tran in its inaugural season last year, suffered its third straight loss of the season after a 21-0 setback to visiting Irvine Valley Friday. The Pirates (0-3) are without standouts Rosie Pham and Tran this year, but are gaining experience, Coach Barbara Bond said. "We have 10 girls, but we are totally beginners," Bond said. OCC has five badminton members who played soccer for Bond in the fall, including Lauren Cassity, Summer Chaldu, Lindsey Smoot, Laurie Perkins and Cristina Guerin.

IRVINE - Orange Coast College freshman Cynthia Tran swept to the state badminton singles crown and also teamed with Rosie Pham to to win the state doubles title Saturday at Irvine Valley College. Tran, the top seed, defeated Phyrun Than from El Camino, 11-3, 11-2, in the title match, after besting San Diego Mesa's Katsue Takahashi, 11-5, 11-2, in the semifinals. Tran and Pham earned a 15-7, 15-1 win over Takahashi and Rachelle Manzano in the title match, after eliminating Christine Lee and Diana Chuang from De Anza in one semifinal.

IRVINE - Orange Coast College's Rosie Pham and Cythnia Tran, seeded No. 1, defeated two opponents Friday in women's doubles and advanced to today's semifinals of the state badminton championships at Irvine Valley College. Tran, seeded first in singles, won two matches after a first-round bye and will face Katsue Takahashi of San Diego Mesa in the semfinals today at 10 a.m. at Irvine Valley. OCC will play fourth-seeded Christine Lee and Diana Chuang of De Anza in the doubles semifinals at 11 a.m. "We're getting our beginning program on the map," OCC Coach Barbara Bond said.

Steve Virgen Though winning matters, the inaugural season for the Orange Coast College women's badminton team is all about fun. And that fun couldn't have come at a better time for Kelly Overby. Five months ago, Overby went through a kidney tranplant. Today, her eyes light up when she talks about the sport she is learning and the friends she has made because of it. "We have a lot of laughs," says the easy-going Overby. She built her love for sports at Calvary Chapel High in Costa Mesa.

Steve Virgen COSTA MESA - The wins have been piling up for Orange Coast College freshman Cynthia Tran and she can also take much of the credit for the improvement in the inaugural season of her women's badminton team. Tran swept both of her singles matches and teamed with Rana Duszynski to pick up two more wins in doubles, while the Pirates dominated in a 20-1 Orange Empire Conference victory over visiting San Diego City Friday. Tran is now 22-0 in singles matches and has outscored her opponents, 486-137, without losing a game.

IRVINE - The Orange Coast College women's badminton team continues to improve in its inaugural season. The evidence came in the Pirates 14-7 victory over host Irvine Valley Wednesday. OCC had lost to the Lasers, 17-4, in its second match of the season. Pirates freshman Cynthia Tran remained undefeated in singles matches this season as she defeated Alice Chan, 11-4, 11-1 and took care of Jaqueline Meyers, 11-9, 11-6. Coast Coach Barbara Bond said freshmen Rana Duszynski and Tina Nguyen played extremely well.