Girls swimming: Sailors take care of Sea Kings

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - The aquatic version of the “Battle of the Bay” left

both Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar high school girls swim teams in a

good mood following the Sailors’ 95-68 nonleague win.

“Hey, we put up some great times, too,” CdM Coach Doug Volding said.

“I was able to get a good look at some of our swimmers for the first time

today. I was very pleased with our times.”

The mood was even lighter for the victorious Sailors. “It’s always fun

running this meet with CdM,” Newport Harbor Coach Ken Lamont said. “We’ve

got some fast girls on this team and they surprise me every time they hit

the pool with their times.”

The Sailors (2-0) were led by their usual cast of standout swimmers,

including Nicole Mackey and Carly Geehr.

Mackey and Geehr each won two events, and each were major factors on

the Sailors’ victorious 200-yard medley relay team.

Mackey jumped out to a fast start in the 200 freestyle and cruised

with a winning time of 1:53.57, nearly 16 seconds ahead of CdM runner-up

Heather Hapeman (2:09.10).

In the 100 butterfly, Mackey’s time of 59.96 bettered the CdM duo of

Lauren Powers (1:02.58) and Nikola Hendrickson (1:06.52).

“We’re right where I expected to be,” Lamont said. “Our times are

right on, or even a little ahead of schedule, so I’m excited so far.”

Geehr won both the 200 individual medley (2:08.33), as well as the 100

free (53.51). She will be called upon to provide solid times in the

Sailors’ Sea View League opener with Irvine on March 21.

Sophomore Hailey Peirsol showed some major versatility, winning the

500 free (5:16.70) and nearly pulled out a win in the 50 free (26.79),

but was edged out by CdM’s Hailey Sheetz (26.36).

“That was definitely the fun event for me to watch,” Lamont said of

Peirsol’s sprint. “We gambled a little with that one, but she pulled it

off great.”

Mai Tajima (100 back, 1:02.44) and Jennifer Arrow (100 breaststroke,

1:08.99) each pulled out individual victories as the Sailors won all but

one individual event.

The Sea Kings pulled off a mild upset in the 400 free relay. The

foursome of Powers, Hapeman, Kim McKay and Vivian Liao swam an impressive

time of 3:47.60.

“That was a very nice way to end the meet,” Volding said. “We swam

that race with two freshmen, a sophomore and a senior, so we’re

definitely excited.”

McKay also placed second in both the 500 free (5:25.41) and 200 IM

(2:17.92), while Liao took third in the 200 free (2:09.87).

“This meet gave me a great indication of where we stand against a

top-quality program,” Volding said. “University would rank among our top

competitors in our league and I think we’ll hold our own against them. We

look pretty strong in each event. I congratulate Newport on swimming a

great meet against us. They’re outstanding.”