Battle of the Bay is first track meet in new Davidson Field

For the first time since the completion of the renovations at Davidson Field, Newport Harbor High played host for a track and field meet.

What better way to usher in a new era than to take on rival Corona del Mar in the Battle of the Bay? And yet, it did not seem all that contentious.

Perhaps it was the calm before the storm. After all, the traditional in-city rivals are scheduled to become league foes when CdM joins the Sunset League next year.

“It’s a pretty friendly rivalry, these days especially,” Sailors coach Nowell Kay said. “It was nice because it was our first meet on this new facility, and it gives our guys a chance to see where they stack up against Corona because they’re coming into our league next year. That’s going to be an important league meet next year.”

The Sea Kings swept the meet. CdM’s boys won 77-58, while the CdM girls came away with a 98-28 victory.

What the meet lacked in head-to-head competition, it was clear that the teams have done a good job of creating depth in the events they are strong in.

Newport Harbor has excelled at the throws with regularity, and Sailors throws coach Tony Ciarelli continues to produce. Senior Spencer Blake swept the throws, producing marks of 165 feet, 7 inches in the discus and 52-7 in the shotput.

With Cole Smith out of the picture, the stage is set for a new individual to become the face of the program. Blake says he has company in that regard.

“Me and Aidan [Elbettar] are always neck-and-neck competing against each other,” Blake said. “It’s really fun to watch Aidan as a sophomore. He’s throwing really far.

“We compete every day in practice, and it’s fun to compete in meets.”

Elbettar threw 163-9 in the discus and 49-9.5 in the shotput, finishing as the runner-up in both events.

On the track, CdM’s Paige Damron secured a pair of victories in the hurdles. The junior was coming off a meet-record performance of 46.5 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles at the Irvine Invitational last Friday.

Damron also has a companion to train with in practice, as senior Julianne Bartz is also a strong hurdler.

The meet record at the Irvine Invitational fell short of Damron’s personal record (45.86 at the 2017 CIF Southern Section Division 3 prelims). It was the race after prelims that she learned the most from.

“That was the most nervous I have ever been in my life,” Damron said of last year’s Division 3 finals. “It taught me a lot about how to calm myself down before races, to do my best and see what happens.”

Although it came after her regulation attempts, CdM’s Morgan Simon cleared 12-1 in the pole vault on her fourth try. The senior began vaulting last season, and her success on a new pole added to her confidence for the remainder of the season.

“It’s all going really fast,” Simon said. “I’m really excited to see how the season progresses. I’m hoping to get 13 [feet] by the end of the season.”

In the boys’ meet, CdM’s Charlie Wright won the high jump (5-2), the long jump (20-1) and the triple jump (39-5). Newport Harbor’s Alexis Garcia doubled as the top runner in the 800 and 1,600.

Kay was particularly impressed with the effort of Michael Davey, who celebrated his birthday by chasing down CdM’s Ian Turner for second in the 1,600.

“I told him, ‘You can get him,’ and he took off,” Kay said of Davey, who trailed by 30 meters with 110 to go. “He out-sprinted him down the stretch and beat him pretty easily for second place. It was a really good effort, and it was really close to his PR.”

*

BOYS

Corona del Mar 77, Newport Harbor 58

100 – 1. Espinoza (CdM) 12.06; 2. Coteen (CdM) 12.19; 3. Vicencio (CdM) 12.23

200 – 1. Schlegel (CdM) 24.33; 2. Espinoza (CdM) 24.47; 3. Campos (NH) 24.86

400 – 1. Glessing (CdM) 54.23; 2. Campo (Newport Harbor) 55.14; Dannelly (CdM) 59.08

800 – 1. Garcia (NH) 2:02.42; 2. Means (CdM) 2:04.18; 3. Downing (NH) 2:05.94

1,600 – 1. Garcia (Newport Harbor) 4:30.29; 2. Davey (Newport Harbor) 4:38.68; 3. Turner (CdM) 4:40.62

3,200 – 1. Cianfrani (CdM) 10:16.70; 2. Pence (CdM) 10:19.27; 3.

110HH – 1. Olsen (CdM) 17.86; 2. Lujan (CdM) 17.87; 3. Schneider (Newport Harbor) 18.52

300IH – 1. Lujan (CdM) 43.94; 2. Olsen (CdM) 45.77; 3. Schneider (NH) 46.25

400 relay – 1. Corona del Mar 45.60; Newport Harbor DQ

1,600 relay – 1. Newport Harbor 3:44.22; 2. Corona del Mar 3:51.19

HJ – 1. Wright (CdM) 5-2; 2. Rameson (CdM) 5-0; 3. Giolas (NH) 4-10

LJ – 1. Wright (CdM) 20-1; 2. Afshar (NH) 18-7; 3. Grace (CdM) 18-2

TJ – 1. Wright (CdM) 39-5; 2. Afshar (NH) 36-4; 3. Whipple (NH) 33-1

PV – 1. Cook (NH) 13-0; 2. Ward (NH) 12-0; 3. Testa (NH) 9-6

SP – 1. Blake (NH) 52-7; 2. Elbettar (NH) 49-9.5; 3. White (CdM) 45-1.5

DT – 1. Blake (NH) 165-7; 2. Elbettar (NH) 163-9; 3. White (CdM) 150-1.5

GIRLS

Corona del Mar 98, Newport Harbor 28

100 – 1. Simon (CdM) 13.82; 2. Trigo (NH) 13.98; 3. Jordan (CdM) 13.99

200 – 1. Bixby (NH) 27.40; 2. Dang (CdM) 27.69; 3. Robar (NH) 28.63

400 – 1. Bixby (NH) 59.36; 2. Dang (CdM) 1:00.67; 3. Chinnici (CdM) 1:02.03

800 – 1. Sharp (CdM) 2:27.52; 2. Griffin (CdM) 2:30.05; 3. Downey (NH) 2:30.38

1,600 – 1. Lee (CdM) 5:33.72; 2. Tung (CdM) 5:36.43; 3. Glassen (Newport Harbor) 5:36.54

3,200 – 1. Tung (CdM) 12:03.28; 2. Glassen (NH) 12:06.71; 3. Bacon (NH) 12:53.49

100HH – 1. Damron (CdM) 16.85; 2. Bartz (CdM) 16.91; 3. Cargile (CdM) 20.77

300IH – 1. Damron (CdM) 46.66; 2. Bartz (CdM) 49.77

400 relay – 1. Corona del Mar 51.39; 2. Newport Harbor 53.44

1,600 relay – 1. Corona del Mar 4:14.83; 2. Newport Harbor 4:26.19

HJ – 1. O’Shea (NH) 4-4

LJ – 1. Cargile (CdM) 16-1; 2. Bocancea (CdM) 15-11; 3. Mather (CdM) 15-0

TJ – 1. Cargile (CdM) 32-1

PV – 1. Simon (CdM) 12-1; 2. Kerrigan (NH) 7-6

SP – 1. Bocancea (CdM) 30-3; . Mather (CdM) 27-1; 3. Kobayashi (CdM) 17-2

DT – 1. Bocancea (CdM) 120-2; 2. Mather (CdM) 97-4.5; 3. Kobayashi (CdM) 77-0

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner