Newport Harbor sweeps rival Corona del Mar in swimming

Sports rivalries don’t only bring out intensity. They also elicit camaraderie.

When Corona del Mar High’s pool closed for repairs at the beginning of March, it was Newport Harbor which let the Sea Kings practice in its pool.

“While it is competitive, there is that respect where if one of our pools break down, we’re always there to help each other out,” said Justin Papa, the CdM girls’ head coach. “Losing your pool for three weeks is never fun. We feel like we are a few weeks behind, but we are definitely catching up.”

That cooperation didn’t lessen the intensity in this year’s Battle of the Bay boys’ and girls’ swimming meets at Newport Harbor.

In the girls’ meet, the Sailors took down CdM 108-62, winning the rivalry meet for the fourth straight year. On the boys’ side, it was swimming’s version of a walk-off victory. The Sailors secured a 86-84 win by claiming the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Newport Harbor improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the Surf League for both the boys and girls, while CdM fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in league play for the boys and girls.

Newport Harbor senior Makana Sanita out-touched Sea Kings junior Tanner Pulice during the final leg of the 400 free relay by a mere one-tenth of a second to seal the win for the Sailors. Newport Harbor’s boys defeated CdM for the second time in three years.

“It doesn’t get any more exciting than that,” Sailors assistant coach Kevin Potter said. “Makana has great senior leadership. He’s going to remember that one for a long time.”

“I knew it came down to us winning,” Sanita said. “I just felt like I had to put everything I had into the pool at the very end. I knew I was ahead for like the first 50, but then I saw him catch up, so I just didn’t really look and buckled down.”

In addition to the relay win, Sanita also took first place in the 100 free (48.55 seconds) and second in the 200 free behind Newport Harbor’s Reed Stemler, who had a time of 1 minute 46.73 seconds.

Corona del Mar High’s Makar Briggs gives a thumbs up after finishing first in the 500-yard freestyle during the Battle of the Bay meet at Newport Harbor on Tuesday.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Carter Park and Makar Briggs had strong performances for CdM. Park won the 100-yard butterfly (54.63) and placed second behind Briggs’ winning time of 4:54.46 in the 500 free. Park also swam the butterfly on CdM’s first-place 200-yard medley relay team.

In the girls’ meet, Newport Harbor won easily.

Zoe and Ayla Spitz, who are headed to Rice and Cal, respectively, swept their races for the Sailors. Zoe Spitz fought off CdM sophomore Karsyn Cook in both races, winning the 50 free with a time of 24.59, just over 0.6 seconds faster than Cook. Spitz took the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.33 just over a second faster than Cook.

“I’ve swum against [Cook] in club a couple of times, and she’s definitely really talented,” Spitz said. “It’s just fun to have someone you know is going to always put up a fight and go really fast no matter what.”

Ayla Spitz won the 200 free (1:48.93) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.04).

Sea Kings junior Leora Rose also performed well. She won the 200 individual medley (2:17.87) by tracking down Newport Harbor’s Caroline Yasko and took first in the 100 back (1:05.24).

CdM and Newport Harbor will both be back in the pool on April 9, the Sea Kings host Fountain Valley and Newport Harbor travels to Los Alamitos.

ANTHONY CIARDELLI is a contributor to Times Community News.