Barons, Sailors split meet

Ross Sinclair carried a couple of “Happy Birthday” balloons with him off the pool deck at Fountain Valley High on Tuesday evening.

The Newport Harbor High boys’ swim coach turns 32 years old on Wednesday. The gift the Sailors gave him in the Sunset League meet at Fountain Valley was simple.

They kept winning.

Newport Harbor’s boys beat the Barons, 102-68, to improve to 4-0 in the Sunset League. On the girls’ side, Fountain Valley earned a 106-74 win to also improve to 4-0 in league.

The Sailors boys showcased their depth against Fountain Valley (1-3 in league). No swimmer won twice, but five different swimmers each won an event.

Reece Hemmens won the 50-yard freestyle in 22.59 seconds,and Nick Halphide won the 100 butterfly in 54.53. Ian Hanson won the 500 free in 4:53.55, and Jason Grew won the 100 backstroke (58.98), with teammate Michael Paduano a close second in 59.01.

Jerod McMillen was the fifth individual winner, capturing the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.43 for the Sailors, who also won both freestyle relays. They went one-two in the 200 free relay, with Hemmens, Max Sandberg, Charlie Covina touching in 1:30.32 and Matthew Carlson, Paduano, Grew and Cole Brosnan touching in 1:33.05.

“Especially this year, I think it pays off to have that depth,” Sinclair said. “It’s a big strength for us. We’ve got some good freestylers, and as the season is moving along, we’re starting to really develop the stroke specialists. It’s pretty big for us. We’re in a good spot right now, and I think the guys are pretty fired up.”

The Sailors were behind by 10 points early in the meet, but clawed their way back. It’s nothing new, Sandberg said.

“Every meet, we’ve been behind just a little,” said Sandberg, who finished second in the 50 free and third in the 100 breast. “But we trust our swimmers, we trust our depth, we trust our training. We know that if we stay together as a team and race hard, we’ll pull away and get the win that we want.”

One of the closest races was actually the 500 free, where Hanson out-touched Fountain Valley’s Anthony Pham to win by nine-hundredths of a second.

“It was good,” Hanson said. “Before the race, I told myself that I’m going to come out with a first [place] or on a stretcher. I knew the guy who I was swimming against, and my club coach [at SOCAL] would be mad [if I lost].

Senior Justin Nguyen led Fountain Valley, with easy wins in the 200 free (1:44.95) and 100 free (45.87). Anthony Pham won the 200 individual medley for the Barons, in 2:03.29.

On the girls’ side, the meet was close early. But that was at least partially because Newport Harbor’s star sophomore twins, Ayla and Zoe Spitz, had to leave early. They both swam their individual events near the beginning, going back-to-back for wins.

Ayla won the 200 free (1:51.58) and the 200 IM (2:05.69). Then it was Zoe’s turn to win the 50 free (25.02) and 100 fly (58.06). Both twins also teamed with Kili Skibby and Dinny Stevens to win the 200 medley relay in 1:49.87.

The Sailors (1-3 in league) were down by just two points after Zoe Spitz won the 100 fly, but Fountain Valley’s depth won out later in the meet.

“For us, it was a meet that we were excited for,” said Fountain Valley junior Shayla Erickson, who was second in the butterfly and won the 500 free in 5:04.65. “It wasn’t going to be an easy win, but it wasn’t going to be as stressful as some of other meets. But we were excited. Ayla swimming the 200 free, it was different, but it was fun to watch her swim that race, especially knowing how fast she is in that race. Racing Newport is always fun, because I know the twins, and Carly [Yasko] and Dinny too. It was a fun meet today, and winning is nice … going into spring break.”

Senior Carly Perri won the 100 free in 54.93 for the Barons, out-touching Skibby by a tenth of a second. Sophomore Hannah Farrow was a double-winner for the hosts, capturing the 100 back (1:02.22) and the 100 breast (1:07.79).

Abbie Nelson, a junior, finished second in the 50 free and breaststroke.

The Barons girls indeed go into spring break next week, and return on April 25 for their last Sunset League dual meet against Los Alamitos. It’s a big one, as the Griffins are also 4-0 in league.

“It’s exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time,” Erickson said. “I feel like that’s definitely going to be the meet of the season for us, besides league [finals]. I’m excited to see our girls step up.”

Fountain Valley Coach Kyle Naumann would agree with that last statement.

“We’re just going to hit it hard like we’ve been doing all season,” Naumann said. “They’re going to be dying during spring break practice … but bring it. I’m stoked. I think it’ll be a great meet. I hope they show up as much as they have been, push our girls.”

Newport Harbor girls’ coach Brian Melstrom highlighted sophomore Annie Rankin, who swam the 500 free for the first time Tuesday and placed fourth.

The Sailors boys and girls return to action on April 20 when they play host to rival Corona del Mar in the annual Battle of the Bay meet.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo