Mesa sweeps swimming Battle of the Bell

Swimming against a rival is motivation enough in the Battle for the Bell meet that features crosstown foes Costa Mesa and Estancia.

But Wednesday’s Orange Coast League swim meet at Estancia High also was the last dual meet of the season. The postseason is around the corner, starting with league finals next week.

The Costa Mesa boys will be trying to win their first league title since 2008. They certainly looked impressive against the rival Eagles.

Mesa easily won the meet on the boys’ side, 122-48. The Mesa girls also took home a 94-76 victory, ensuring the Mustangs would sweep the rivalry meet for the third straight year.

Jacob Petersen, Augie Cunningham and Aidan Blair were all double-event winners for the Mesa boys, who won every event. They will carry momentum into league finals after finishing a perfect 5-0 in league dual meets, including a 97-73 win over eight-time defending league champion Laguna Beach on March 29.

“We felt pretty good today,” said Petersen, a senior who won the 50 freestyle in 22.93 seconds and the 100 free in 49.32. “We started our taper this week, so we were having a little bit more energy. We’re still swimming a good amount of yardage, so hopefully next week we’ll be dropping time.”

Cunningham won the 200 free (1:52.24) and the 500 free (5:08.27). Blair, a freshman club swimmer who swims for Golden West, was victorious in the 100 fly (53.35) and the 100 back (56.08). In the fly, he was part of a one-two-three Mesa finish along with teammates Misael Andino and Teak Zachary.

“Club meets are usually so uptight, everyone’s nervous,” Blair said. “But high school meets, you can just have fun and swim your best … I thought my times were pretty good. I’ve been averaging that. I hope to go lower at league finals.”

Andino won the 200 IM for the Mesa boys in 2:06.54, while Nick Ly captured the 100 breast in 1:10.60. The Mustangs also won all three relays.

Highlights for Estancia included the 200 free relay. Jason Chesemore, Alex Epperson, Kent Lim and Cobi White finished second in 1:34.95, but just earned a CIF Southern Section Division 2 consideration time.

Nobody won two events for the Mustangs girls, but they proved to be the deeper team. The meet was tied at 39-39 after five events, but Mesa’s Kendra Ferguson (1:02.99), Kaylie Tickenoff and Sey Currie went one-two-three in the 100 free.

Mesa’s Lauren Kiefer, who won the 500 free (6:07.35) in the next event, said it was important to head into league finals with momentum.

“A lot of the girls are seniors, so we didn’t want to finish senior year, our last league [match] on a bad note,” she said.

Costa Mesa’s Sofia Rice won the 200 free in 2:17.60, and Karlee Kistler came back to edge out Estancia’s Annie Mitchell to win the 100 fly in 1:16.85. The Mustangs also won the two freestyle relays, although Estancia’s Kaitlyn Chesemore, Hayley Hopp, Mitchell and Sydni White won the 200 medley relay in 2:09.46.

White, a freshman, was a double-event winner for Estancia, along with sophomore Chesemore. White won the 200 IM in 2:34.57, and the 100 back in 1:07.55. Chesemore won the 50 free (26.96) and the 100 breast (1:17.09).

“I felt pretty good with my backstroke time,” White said. “That was my best time so far. The last few weeks, I’ve had a consistent time of like a 1:08, and I beat it by a second.”

White’s dad, Mitch, is the Estancia head coach.

“I think they swam well,” Mitch White said of the Eagles’ performance on Wednesday. “We’re just short on boys. I thought we were going to win the girls, because we do have the numbers. We just didn’t have the numbers placing where we need them.”

The Orange Coast League swimming finals are next week at Costa Mesa High, with preliminaries on Tuesday and finals on May 4.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo