Huntington Beach boys, Newport Harbor girls capture Sunset League swim titles
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Individual performances amazed spectators at the Sunset League swim finals on Friday at Golden West College, and for good reason.
Newport Harbor High senior Connor Ohl went under 20 seconds in the boys’ 50-yard freestyle — again — and set a meet record in the 100 free. Fountain Valley junior Alyssa Ton showed a mastery in easing to wins in the girls’ 100 and 200 free.
The teams jumping into the pool at the end of the long meet, though, combined for just three event wins. For the Huntington Beach boys and the Newport Harbor girls, it was about depth.
Each team won the title Friday, the first since 2022 for the Oilers boys and the fourth league crown in a row for the Sailors girls.
“I think the thing I’m most proud of is that we won only one race today,” Huntington Beach coach Ryan Camps said. “It just shows you the depth you need to be successful. It shows how much our team worked together this year.”
That race was won by senior Isaac Squires, racing in his future pool as he’s headed to Golden West next year. Squires touched first in the 200 free, in 1 minute, 41.03 seconds, and he was second to Fountain Valley’s Peter Vu in the 500 free.
Huntington Beach lost two dual meets during league, but because frontrunners Corona del Mar and Fountain Valley both also lost once, the Oilers knew that they could still capture the league title with a first-place at league finals. Squires said the team had about a 50-point lead after preliminaries on Wednesday, and carried that into Friday.
Sophomore Evan Parilla finished fourth in the 50 free and seventh in the 100 free for the Oilers, who also got a key consolation finals win in the 50 free from sophomore Devin Riley. The Oilers finished with 463.5 points, ahead of CdM (426.5) and Fountain Valley (414).
“We had four scorers in every event, the only team that had that,” Camps said.
Newport Harbor’s girls, meanwhile, were undefeated in league dual meets and dominant at league finals, finishing with 620 points, followed by Edison in second place (405) and Fountain Valley in third (387).
Junior Emerson Mulvey was a standout for the Sailors girls, winning the 50 free (24.07) and touching third in the 100 free. Teammates Mallory Collins, Madison Mack and Kennedy Fahey followed three-four-five in the 50 free.
Sadie Ricks, also a junior, won the 500 free for the Sailors and was third in the 200 free. Senior Shay Nussbaum helped by making two “A” finals as well, and coach Kevin Potter also highlighted freshmen like Valentina Molina, Harper Melstrom, Cami Chomchavalit and Ayla Ahmed.
“A lot of depth, and well-balanced, young all the way to old,” Potter said. “We’re in a good position for the years to follow, because we have a lot of people coming back with experience on varsity that made it to the finals.”
Ohl, a Stanford commit for water polo, went 19.90 to win the 50 free, backing up his sub-20 second performance at last year’s league finals. He remains one of just two Orange County boys’ swimmers to go that fast in the event.
He then motored to a 44.08 in the 100 free, breaking the league record set by Olympian Tom Shields of Edison from 2009.
Ohl also split 19.37 as the anchor in the 200 free relay, helping the Sailors nearly catch race winner Edison. He got a later start to the swim season this year but thanked his coaches, Potter and Carson Sand, for their assistance,
“I can sort of hear a hush go over the pool deck, and it just gets me in the zone,” Ohl said. “I get so excited to race. I know that there are a lot of people watching me, and I have to perform. It’s super-fun to have that pressure on you, and then be able to turn that pressure into an amazing time like that.”
Vu and Edison senior Holden Lee were the other double-winners on the boys’ side. Vu, a Princeton commit, also won the breaststroke, while Lee captured the butterfly and the backstroke, becoming a four-time league winner in the latter event.
Lee, a Pomona-Pitzer commit, said he was most proud of Edison setting the school record in the 200 free. The all-senior group of Matthew Langford, Micah Baltzer, Lee and Coulter Dilts touched in 1:24.37.
“I’m just happy, last league, to end it on a bang,” Lee said.
Ton, who is committed to the University of Tennessee, swam county-leading times to win the 200 free (1:45.37) and the 100 free (49.10). Ton was last year’s CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion in the 200 and 500, and will attempt to defend those titles next week at Mt. San Antonio College.
CdM junior Sofia Szymanowski won the 200 IM and breaststroke, also helping CdM earn 200 medley relay and 200 free relay wins.
The University of Michigan commit said she wants to go under two minutes in the individual medley at CIF, but added that she was happy with the 2:03.31 she swam on Friday as she’s been busy studying for Advanced Placement tests this week.
“I think the training that I’ve done this year is going to pay off, because I’ve trained really hard,” Szymanowski said. “I feel like the training will show.”
The CIF Southern Section Division 1 swim preliminaries will take place Thursday at 9 a.m. at Mt. San Antonio College, with the finals on Saturday at 10 a.m.
