Mesa teams roll through Estancia
Bryce Alderton
Defying preseason predictions, Costa Mesa High’s boys and girls swim
teams continued to glide through the Golden West League waters again
Wednesday, this time against arch-rival Estancia.
Picked to finish in the middle of the pack by the league’s
coaches, Mesa’s boys and girls teams both improved to 3-0 in league
play with convincing victories Wednesday in a league dual meet in the
Eagles’ pool. The girls won, 115-55, while the boys netted a 112-55
victory, this after the meet was delayed about 15 minutes because
there was no official. Estancia Athletic Director Tim Parsel called
in Jack Busacher, a longtime track and field official, to oversee the
meet. Busacher promptly shot off his pistol to signal the start of
the races, which were controlled by Costa Mesa for the most part.
“I think we’re doing pretty good,” said Mesa’s Allison Bunnell
after exiting the water following her win in the 100-yard freestyle,
an event she said she normally doesn’t swim.
Bunnell teamed with Allie Gravis, Christine Twohig and Jessica
Steenhard to win the 200 freestyle relay in 2:00.06 while Allison
Harris, Quyen Nguyen, Steenhard and Sarah Bowman also placed first in
the 200 medley relay in 2:10.31.
Mesa girls won eight events to Estancia’s three. Katie Thorsness
took first in both the 200 individual medley (2:33.86) and the 500
free. Steenhard won the 100 butterfly (1:13.38) while Harris touched
first in the 200 free (2:15.43).
Carolina Barnes won both the 100 backstroke (4:02.5) and the 50
free (29.47) while Marilyn Reich prevailed in the 100 breaststroke (44.34).
Mesa improves to 4-1 while Estancia falls to 4-4, 2-3 in league.
Shupp shuffled his lineups for both teams, giving swimmers a
chance to swim different events than they normally do.
The strategy paid off.
Sophomore Adam Douglas doubled in the 200 free (2:00.23), the
first time he has swam the event, and the 100 free (53.3). He also
solidified both relay wins for Mesa (5-1).
“I started the 200 in 53 seconds, but went longer on the final
leg,” Douglas said. “I didn’t pace myself too good.”
Turns out, Douglas and his teammates held up just fine.
Douglas, along with Evan Spencer, Brian Tipton and Kyle Thorsness
won the 200 medley relay (1:52) while Douglas, Anthony Adamowicz,
Thorsness and Spencer took the 400 free relay in 3:51.28.
Spencer won the 200 IM in 2:23.30 while Tyler Choi bested the
field in the 100 fly (1:05.50). Tipton took first in the 100
breaststroke (1:11.98) and was joined in the win column by Thorsness
in the 100 back (1:07.68).
Estancia’s Frank Gamboa set personal bests in winning the 50 free
(25.44) and taking second in the 100 free (55.59). Chad Kunert also
broke personal marks with a 2:04.44 in the 200 free [good for second]
while shaving six seconds off his previous-best time to finish second
in the 500 free (5:28.34).
Gamboa, Sean Goodman, Paul Collier and Kunert led the 200 free
relay team that took first in 1:43.69 for Estancia.
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