Newport Harbor wins on 11th-hour reversal

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Even Newport Harbor High girls swimming coach Ken

LaMont didn’t know how prophetic he was when he said there were a couple

races that could have gone either way in the Sailors’ Sea View League

meet against visiting Laguna Hills Monday.

LaMont’s comments came about 10 minutes after the final event, after

which the computer scoring system, and both coaches, had Laguna Hills,

ranked No. 6 in Orange County, upsetting the No. 3-ranked Tars, 87-83.

Both coaches spoke with reporters in attendance, LaMont expressing his

disappointment and Laguna Hills’ Carrie Pardoe her satisfaction.

But, at some point after reporters had left the scene, the score was

reversed, after a review of the computer results, giving Newport Harbor

the victory.

LaMont was unavailable to discuss the scoring change, but the reversal

of an 87-83 loss into an 87-83 victory was apparently made official

before the Laguna Hills bus left the Sailors’ campus.

LaMont said he expected the Sailors to come out on top and, before the

reversal, said his athletes would share the disappointment. He also said

he would use the defeat to “get them going,” as they approach league

preliminaries and finals next week.

LaMont said Monday’s meet, coming on the first day after a week off

for spring recess, was somewhat hard to gauge, because not all his

swimmers attended workouts last week.

But he said he used his “A lineup” against the Hawks, who may now find

some unexpected motivation for the postseason.

The Sailors, who host Aliso Niguel Wednesday to complete the league

dual-meet season, improved to 6-1, 2-1 in league.

Laguna Hills fell to 1-2 in league, having lost previously to league

leading Irvine.

Whatever computer machinations allowed the Sailors to claim victory,

those most responsible were trusted standouts Carly Geehr, Nicole Mackey,

Hayley Peirsol, Mai Tajima and Jennifer Arrow.

Geehr, a junior and the defending league champion in the 200-yard

freestyle and the 100 backstroke, won the former in a season-best

1:51.55. She also won the 100 breaststroke (1:06.97) and anchored the

victorious 200 medley and 400 free relays. As it turns out, her

come-from-behind anchor leg on the 400 free relay, helped the Sailors

hold off the Hawks.

Mackey, a sophomore and the defending league champion in the 200

individual medley and the 100 butterfly, won both events. Her time in the

fly (56.65) was a season-best and she also chipped in on both winning

relays. Mackey inherited more than a body length deficit on the third leg

of the 400 free relay and sliced the margin to mere inches, before Geehr

made up the difference and touched first.

Peirsol, another sophomore and the reigning Sea View 500 free

champion, won her featured event in a season-best 5:07 flat. She swam

backstroke on the medley relay and led off the 400 relay victory.

Tajima was second in the 100 backstroke and the 100 freestyle, the

latter a quality time of 55.86, to earn praise from LaMont. Tajima was

also on the winning free relay.

Arrow, a senior, clocked a season-best 1:04.87 to finish second in the

100 breaststroke, and swam the breaststroke leg of the medley relay.

The Sailors overcame a disappointing second-place finish in the 200

free relay, when a slip at the start put the Tars behind by almost a body

length and they could not make it up. Laguna Hills touched out in

1:46.39, just ahead of Harbor’s 1:46.90 in that event, one LaMont cited

as critical, when he thought the Hawks had won the meet.

Newport sophomore Jenna Murphy added a second-place finish in the 50

free to round out the Sailors’ top-three finishers.

Laguna Hills was paced by winners Amanda Luciano (both freestyle

sprints) and Lindsey Buck (100 backstroke).