Newport Harbor boys to compete at CIF state swim meet

The Newport Harbor High boys’ swim team will compete this weekend at the CIF State Swimming Championships, to be held at Clovis West High in Fresno beginning Friday.

The Sailors have opted to compete in the state meet again, coming off the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championships. The other local entered into the state meet is Laguna Beach High junior Kasey Karkoska.

Other top local club swimmers have again opted out of the state meet, citing preparation for big club meets ahead. The Speedo Grand Challenge is one such meet, which will be held at Irvine’s Woollett Aquatics Center beginning May 26.

Newport Harbor’s boys are seeded fifth for state in both the 200-yard freestyle relay and 400 free relay. Reece Hemmens, Max Sandberg, Jason Grew and Nick Halphide touched fifth in the 200 at Division 1 finals, in 1:24.32. They were sixth in the 400 free relay, in 3:05.64.

Loyola, which won Division 1 titles in both relays, is top-seeded for state meet.

Individually, Hemmens is seeded 10^th for state in the 100 free (46.07), with Halphide seeded 26^th in 46.74. Hemmens also is seeded 23^rd in the 50 free, with a qualifying time of 21.27.

The Sailors boys have had success at state. Last year, they finished sixth at state in the 400 free relay.

Karkoska is seeded 19^th for state in the girls’ 100 butterfly (55.84) and 27^th in the 100 backstroke (56.55). Karkoska tied for seventh in the butterfly in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 finals, and she was eighth in the backstroke.

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