Girls swimming: CdM takes strong second at PCL Finals

Tony Altobelli

CORONA DEL MAR - It was the kind of drama one might find in the

sudden death of an National Hockey League game, but it actually was

Pacific Coast League girls swimming. The water gave it away.

Corona del Mar and University high schools, locked in a five-hour

struggle in the PCL Finals, were a point and a half apart heading into

the final event of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay.

When the waves subsided, University walked away victorious, but you

couldn’t tell from the face of Sea Kings girls coach Doug Volding.

“I tell you it was quite a day for us,” Volding said, following the Sea

Kings’ overall second-place showing. “Great things just kept happening

one after another. We were in a dogfight right down to the end. You

couldn’t ask for much more than that.”

The girls 200 free relay of Bridgett Inglis, Lauren Powers, Brittney

Bowlus and Heather Hapeman set a new school record with a 1:43.85,

bettering the previous mark of 1:44.48 set in 1997, as well as Uni by six

one-hunredeths of a second.

“They killed us in this race in the dual meet,” Volding said. “Our girls

just gutted out and we did the job.”

Lauren Powers hung tough in the 200 individual medley (2:15.00) and the

100 butterfly (personal-best 1:00.84), taking second in both events.

For the Mustangs, who placed third overall with 267.5 points, Jody

Martinovich and Erin Bayes each captured PCL titles in individual events.

Jody Martinovich took first in the 500 free with a personal-best 5:23.21,

while Bayes ripped through the 50 free with a personal-best 25.56

“They are both extremely tough and really want to compete every time they

hit the water,” Coach Todd Kolber said.

Bayes also took second in the 100 free at 57.20, with Jody Martinovich

placed third in the 200 IM (2:17.16).

Jody’s sister, Wendy Martinovich, placed second in the 100 breaststroke with a solid time of 1:13.31.

The Mustangs’ 200 (1:47.49) and 400 (3:58.59) relay teams each received

CIF consideration with their performances.

Estancia High finished sixth in the meet with 61 points, but had a number

of personal highlights.

The Eagles’ 200 medley relay team swam a 2:14.86, shattering their old

best time, while Jennifer Cassity’s 2:17.87 in the 200 free and Somer

Flaherty’s 6:33.36 in the 500 free, each set new personal highs.

“I was very proud of them today,” girls coach Michelle Spanley said. “We

had some PR’s shattered today.”

For the Sea Kings, there were a ton of personal-bests set Friday.

The 200 medley relay squad of Melinda Tucker, Jackie McCoy, Jessica

Luchesi and Inglis, posted their best time of the year with a third-place

time of 1:58.52, while the 400 free relay squad posted a personal-best

3:44.79.

Hapeman set a new high mark in the 100 freestyle at 57.40, good enough

for fourth place in the finals.

In a glimpse of the future for the Sea Kings, freshman Christina Hewko

placed fourth in the 100 back at 1:04.33 and the 200 free 2:07.00, both

new top times for her.

McCoy, another CdM freshman, posted a 1:11.40 in the 100 free, good

enough for third place and a consideration to the CIF Southern Section

preliminaries.

The CIF office will determine the cut-off times for all events this

weekend and should be available on the Internet at www.cifstate.org.

The preliminaries will be held Thursday at Belmont Shores, with the

finals to be held on Saturday.