Newport Harbor swim team sweeps Battle of the Bay
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A swimmer can compete in two individual events and two relays in a high school dual meet, allowing for a considerable amount of points to be earned.
Still, it takes a big team effort to get past the 85-point mark and clinch the meet.
Newport Harbor used its depth to sweep the Battle of the Bay meet at rival Corona del Mar on Tuesday afternoon. The Sailors girls won, 95-75, while the boys were victorious by a 99-71 score.
Newport Harbor, which beat Edison last week to open Sunset League competition, improved to 2-0 in league in both genders.
The Sailors girls won just one individual event and one relay against CdM (1-2 in league), but that 200-yard freestyle relay win helped shift the momentum in the middle of the meet. Newport Harbor’s “A” team was disqualified as a swimmer left the blocks early, but the depth shined through.
The Newport Harbor “B” team of Sophia Verdugo, Kennedy Fahey, Italia Molina and Harper Price still ended up winning the race. And the Sailors’ “C” team of Addison Ting, Sadie Ricks, Kylie Robison and Malia Cottriel touched second.
Despite the disqualification, Newport Harbor gained 10 points from the event, took a 12-point lead and did not look back.
“When one of our teammates is down, you just have to step up and come together as a team,” said Price, one of two Newport girls’ water polo seniors out for swimming along with Caitlin Stayt. “You can push through the hard times and work really hard and be consistent in practice. Something like that [DQ] can happen, and if you all come together you can still succeed and do great.”
Stayt finished second in both the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke. Sailors senior Ariana Amoroso, a talented club swimmer committed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, won the backstroke in a minute flat and was second in the 50 free.
Molina and Ricks — both freshmen — and sophomore Madison Mack all earned top three finishes in both of their individual events to help guide the Sailors to victory.
CdM’s three girls’ club swimmers, seniors Alex Milisavljevic and Nikki Lahey and sophomore Sofia Szymanowski, were all double event winners. Milisavljevic won the 200 and 500 freestyle, Lahey the 50 and 100 free and Szymanowski the individual medley and 100 breaststroke.
Milisavljevic, bound for the University of Chicago, won the 500 free in 5:10.66 but said she’d like to be sub-five minutes by the end of the season. She’s accomplished that twice in club swimming, but never in high school.
“It’s always fun competing against Harbor,’ she said. “The rivalry’s fun. They definitely have depth. It’s kind of hard, we have to be really strategic about who’s swimming what, especially since we only have three girls’ club swimmers. The senior water polo girls are stepping up a lot this season with the relays and stuff, which we appreciate.”
A water polo senior, Didi Evans, won the girls’ butterfly event for the hosts.
On the boys’ side, Newport Harbor used double event wins by senior club swimmer Aidan Arie and junior boys’ water polo player Connor Ohl to come out on top.
Arie won the 200 freestyle (1:44.35) and IM (1:57.09), while Ohl captured the 50 and 100 free in quick times of 20.91 and 47.10.
Arie has always enjoyed the teamwork between club swimmers and water polo players. He grinned as Newport Harbor freshman Mateo Micheloni-Creazzo had a big celebration after touching first to win the open boys’ 400 free relay.
“You don’t really get that with swim kids, just water polo kids,” Arie said. “It’s so fun … The swimmers just think about their times, and he was just thinking about winning.”
Ohl said he never went under 21 seconds last year in the 50 free without a technical suit on, so he’s already ahead of that pace this season. The Sailors swept the top three spots in the 50 free, with Ohl, Dash D’Ambrosia and James Mulvey. All three are water polo players.
“It’s amazing,” Ohl said. “It just shows the pure power and strength of water polo players. We can do everything. We can play water polo and we can swim fast.”
Mulvey won the butterfly event for the Sailors, with Tyler Jameson capturing the 500 free.
CdM out-touched Newport Harbor to win the medley relay, though the Sailors won both freestyle relays. The Sea Kings (0-3 in league) also got individual event wins from Henry Chang in the backstroke, and Will Weir in the breaststroke.
Newport Harbor swims at Los Alamitos on Monday in a key league meet, while Corona del Mar swims at Edison on Tuesday.
The Sailors girls are going for their third straight league title, after winning the Wave League two years ago and the Surf League last year. This year, there is one larger seven-team league instead of the two-league format that the Sunset Conference had in the past.
“I think we have a really good shot,” Sophia Verdugo said. “We’re all really competitive, and we’re going to do the best we can to win it again and put our best foot forward.”
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