Archer, Nguyen, Spitz emerge as champions

RIVERSIDE — Corona del Mar High senior Ethan Archer and Fountain Valley senior Justin Nguyen stood on the side of the pool deck and shared a laugh. A moment earlier, they had provided an electrifying race at the CIF Southern Section Division 1 swimming championships Saturday night at Riverside City College.

The battle in the boys’ 100-yard backstroke came down to the wire between Archer, bound for UC Santa Barbara, and the USC-bound Nguyen. Ultimately, Archer denied Nguyen’s bid to repeat as Division 1 backstroke champion by a slim margin, winning the race in a personal-best 48.95 seconds. Nguyen was second, in 48.97.

“It was pretty good,” said Archer, who was seventh in the 100 butterfly. “Justin’s a great guy. If he won it, I would have been happy. I don’t think he was too upset that I got it. It was still good times from the both of us, considering we’re not rested. We’ll be back at it [in club at the Speedo] Grand Challenge [in two weeks], and I’m excited to see what we can do.

“He’s a great racer, and I think he’s still pretty happy with the time, and I’m happy too. I really wanted to do a 48. I knew it had it in me.”

Nguyen couldn’t be too upset. He defended his Division 1 title in the 100 freestyle, lowering his school record to 44.47.

“I didn’t think I’d be that fast [in the backstroke],” Nguyen said. “It’s not a bad time. I like racing [Archer], it’s fun. We’ve known each other for a while, and it’s always a good time … [The 100 free] was the event I wanted to win the most. I cramped up on the last 25, so I think I could have been faster, but it was probably because I just didn’t warm up enough.”

It was a strong team meet for local schools, particularly on the girls’ side. Four Sunset League teams placed in the top 10, including Fountain Valley in fifth, Newport Harbor in seventh and Marina in 10^th.

The other local to win an individual title was Newport Harbor sophomore Ayla Spitz, who blazed to a 49.80 in winning the 100 freestyle. Spitz, was out-touched in the event last year at CIF, would not be denied this time.

“I was not expecting that,“ said Spitz, who also placed third in the 100 backstroke. “I do best when I’m next to a lot of girls that are pushing me. On the last 25, I looked over and I saw two girls. I just tried to put my head down the last few strokes, and sprint into the wall. It was a good race.”

Newport Harbor’s girls’ 200 free relay (fifth, 1:37.07) and 400 free relay (second, 3:27.80) also broke their own school records. Coach Brian Melstrom switched it up in the 400 free relay, leading off with Zoe and Ayla Spitz on the first two legs before Carly Yasko and Stevens anchoring. They ended up beating Marina (Jacqueline Harris, Madeline Sandstead, Terra Matsushima and Sage Matsushima), which finished third in 3:28.59. The Vikings had beaten the Sailors in a close race at Sunset League.

“It hit us right before the race that it was our last race of the season, so might as well go out with a bang,” Stevens said. “We started really strong, so might as well end it that much stronger. We wanted second … We were still hungry from getting out-touched by Marina. Those are definitely worthy competitors, so we just wanted to get that back.”

The girls’ 100 butterfly was a fun race, with four Sunset League competitors in the championship final. Marina’s Sage Matsushima finished in second place for the second straight year, in 54.29, followed by Fountain Valley’s Hannah Farrow (third, 54.84) and Marina’s Jacqueline Harris (fourth, 55.54). Fountain Valley senior Carly Perri was eighth, in 56.56.

Farrow broke Perri’s Barons school record in the event.

“I missed it last year by like 0.2 [seconds], so it was exciting to finally get it,” said Farrow, who also was sixth in the girls’ 200 IM. “It was pretty exciting [to get third], because it was hard competition with Sage and Jacqueline … It’s cool to be able to race them. It’s fun knowing you have your friends in the race with you, because you work together [in club with Novaquatics at the Los Caballeros site] and you race together. It’s just fun.”

Matsushima also finished sixth in the girls’ 100 backstroke (56.14). Harris, bound for UC Santa Barbara, finished seventh in the girls’ 50 free in 23.90. Edison’s Meghan Kluck was ninth in that race, in 24.26.

Fountain Valley’s Shayla Erickson finished tied for third in the 500 free (4:51.73) and sixth in the 200 free (1:51.39). She said she was happy with the times, as well as the Barons’ big team season that included the first Sunset League title in two decades. The Barons 200 medley relay placed seventh Saturday, as Perri, Farrow, Erickson and Kennedy Hood touched in 1:47.75.

“It’s been a super-exciting year,” Erickson said.

Kluck finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.42. CdM’s Ryan Schildwachter finished in the same place, sixth, in the boys’ breaststroke in 56.79.

Huntington Beach’s boys also had an impressive meet. Senior Ethan Wojciechowski was sixth in the 50 free (21.03), with teammate Jacob Cavano in seventh (21.10). Cavano also set the school record in the boys’ 100 butterfly (49.72), winning the consolation final.

“Wojo” then came back for a fourth-place finish (45.71) in the 100 free. And the Oilers 200 free relay of Cavano, Ryan Hurst, Grant Brehm and Wojciechowski finished a strong third place in 1:23.98. As a team, the Huntington Beach boys placed eighth, tops among local boys teams.

“I think [Wojciechowski] has really helped change the culture at Huntington,” Oilers coach Ryan Camps said. “He really has been the spearhead. We sat down and talked to him as a freshman, and his goal was to make some changes and have us be more competitive. As as a coach, having someone like Ethan is one in a million, with how he’s affected the program.”

CdM’s 200 medley relay of Archer, Schildwachter, Tanner Pulice and Davis Wong placed sixth in 1:34.36. It was another strong swim to see for longtime CdM Coach Doug Volding, who coached in his final high school meet as he is retiring.

Newport Harbor senior Reece Hemmens won a pair of individual consolation finals. He was 10^th in the 100 free in 46.07 and finished with a 21.27 in the 50 free, which tied with Marko Vavic of Loyola for the consolation title.

“A tie for first, you’re still first,” Hemmens said. “It’s always cool tying with someone, because you know how hard that is. If you tried to tie on purpose, you couldn’t do it.”

Edison’s Nora Deleske was eighth in the girls’ 200 IM, and Marina’s Terra Matsushima was also eighth in the 100 freestyle.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo