Sailors boys, Barons girls win titles

With everything at stake, pandemonium struck at the end.

The Newport Harbor High boys’ swim team had just won the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay in a meet-record 3 minutes, 4.75 seconds on Friday at Golden West College. Nick Halphide, Max Sandberg, Jason Grew and Reece Hemmens celebrated wildly after clinching the Sailors’ first Sunset League title since 2010.

That win, combined with the Sailors’ Charlie Covina, Makana Sanita, Ian Hanson and Zach Dethloff winning the “B” relay, was enough to give Newport Harbor the title.

Or so they thought. When the final score was read, it had Los Alamitos up by two points. Now it was the Griffins who were cheering wildly. Newport Coach Ross Sinclair didn’t get it.

“They had the scoring wrong, the way it was programmed into the computer,” Sinclair said. “We knew we were down by 10 [points] going into that last relay, and we knew if we won both ‘A’ and ‘B’ relays, we would win [the meet]. The way they scored the ‘B’ relay was not the correct scoring.“

After a recount, the league champion changed. It was the Sailors who actually won league by two points over the Griffins.

On the girls’ side, Fountain Valley also won league for the first time in a long time as well. The Barons busted a longer streak, capturing their first league title since 1997. Edison finished second.

Newport Harbor’s boys did not win an event until that final relay but their depth helped them. Halphide finished second in the 100 butterfly (51.23), and Hemmens was second in the 100 free (46.07).

“It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever been through,” Halphide said of eventually being named league champion. “I think today, when we all competed, we weren’t competing for a time. We were all out there competing for each other … We don’t have any Justin Nguyens [of Fountain Valley] who are committed to USC, but we have a team. That’s going to beat any individual swimmer, any day.”

The Sailors also finished second in the 200 free relay, despite Hemmens, Sandberg, Michael Paduano and Halphide turning in a school-record time of 1:23.65. Huntington Beach’s quartet of Ethan Wojciechowski, Ryan Hurst, Grant Brehm and Jacob Cavano set the meet record in 1:23.34.

Nguyen also set a meet record in winning the 200 free in 1:36.65, breaking the mark of 1:36.68 set by former Edison star Tom Shields in 2009. The Fountain Valley senior was a double-winner, also capturing the 100 backstroke in 49.64.

Wojciechowski won the 100 free in 44.84, and Cavano won the 100 fly in 50.30. Marina senior Leo Yuno won the 100 breaststroke in 58.84.

Edison sophomore Taylor Whitmore won the 200 IM in 1:54.35, and he was also second in the backstroke. The Chargers also won the medley relay in 1:35.74.

For the Fountain Valley girls, the league title was definitely sweet after completing an undefeated dual meet season. Shayla Erickson was a double-winner for the Barons, in the 200 free (a personal-best 1:49.16) and the 500 free (4:54.52).

“Honestly, I think it’s our amazing depth, especially with our freshmen,” Erickson said. “It’s always nice to get first in those races, but it comes down to the relays, the people who in prelims got eighth instead of ninth, or 16^th instead of 17^th. It’s about the ones who really push themselves to maybe beat the person next to them … It’s really cool to see our depth step up.”

Fountain Valley also won the 200 free relay after Los Al was disqualified due to a swimmer leaving early. Carly Perri, Monet Favreau, Abbie Nelson and Kennedy Hood touched in 1:37.28.

Those were the only two events the Barons won, but their depth did win out. Sophomore Hannah Farrow was second in the 200 IM and the breaststroke.

“It feels amazing,” Hood said of winning league. “After 20 years, and always being right there, and finally winning? I can’t stop smiling. I cried over there a little bit. This group of girls, they’re like my family. I don’t know how to describe it … I’ve wanted this for so long, and to finally have this for my last thing for swim ever, it’s honestly the biggest reward.”

Newport Harbor and Marina girls also had some fast swims. The Sailors’ Ayla Spitz won both her individual events in meet record times. She won the 100 free in 49.64, and the 100 back in 54.16. The latter time shattered Cindy Tran’s time from 2008.

Ayla Spitz, Kili Skibby, Zoe Spitz and Dinny Stevens also won the 200 medley relay in 1:45.76, another meet record time as well as a school record.

“That was awesome,” Ayla Spitz said. “I was just so happy when Dinny touched the wall. We were all cheering, and it was super-exciting. A great team effort. I mean, we’ve all been working on our strokes, so for us to come together and win like that was really awesome.”

Ayla nearly caught Marina’s Sage Matsushima on the anchor leg of the meet-ending 400 free relay, but the Vikings’ Jacqueline Harris, Madeline Sandstead, Terra Matsushima and Sage touched in 3:28.10. Newport’s Zoe Spitz, Stevens, Carly Yasko and Ayla Spitz were second in 3:28.33.

Marina senior Jacqueline Harris was a double-winner, in the 50 free (23.70) and the 100 fly (54.57). Harris, bound for UC Santa Barbara, defended her league titles from last year in the two events.

In one of the more exciting races of the day, Harris won the 50 free from Lane 8, holding off hard-charging Natalie Crocker of Huntington Beach (23.73) and Sydney Rouse of Los Alamitos (23.77) by less than a tenth of a second.

“I had a really bad race in prelims, so I wanted to finish that one strong like last year,” Harris said. “I kind of just decided to be ‘outside smoker’ on that one. I couldn’t see anyone though, so I felt like I was racing myself.”

Sage Matsushima was second in both the 100 fly (54.68) and the 100 back (56.05) for the Vikings. The latter time was a school record.

Nora Deleske won the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.73 for Edison.

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