Sailors out for aquatic redemption

Chris Yemma

The Sea View League girls swimming title will now come down to league

finals, but with Newport Harbor High and Foothill battling it out,

the heated league race isn’t really a shocker.

The Sailors won the league water polo title in February, but the

Knights countered with a CIF Southern Section Division I title-game

conquering of Newport in March.

Now, the Sailors are looking for redemption in the other aquatic

sport of this year.

“Foothill’s the big competition for us right now,” Newport Coach

Ken LaMont said Wednesday after his girls cruised to a 108-61 league

victory over host Woodbridge at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics

Center.

“They’ve got a very good team. They beat us in a dual meet, but

the standings in the league championship meet are weighed more.”

Meaning, if Newport wins the league meet, Newport wins the league

title.

Meanwhile, Foothill was on the other side of the wall Wednesday at

the aquatics center suffering its first league loss of the year -- an

87-83 nail-biter to Irvine, creating a tie for first between the

Sailors and Knights.

Both teams have one Sea View dual-meet loss, and both teams, led

by some of the top high school water polo players and swimmers in the

country, will be in top form Wednesday in the league finals at

Newport Harbor, with the next aquatics crown back on the line.

LaMont didn’t want to offer any predictions into Wednesday’s

finals.

“Foothill’s good, I’ll tell you next week,” he said after a long

pause, choosing his words carefully.

Junior Kally Lucas has contributed a good portion of the Sailors’

success this season. The water polo team’s third-leading scorer,

Lucas won the 500-yard freestyle Wednesday at the Woollett Center in

a CIF qualifying time 5:31.85, and won the 100 free in a CIF

qualifying 55.70, the latter race being somewhat of an experiment.

Lucas usually competes in the 200 free, accompanying her 500, but

LaMont said he was shifting people around to test for league finals.

The outcome of the 100 was a bit of a surprise for Lucas.

“I was really surprised,” she said. “That was pretty big. I’m not

used to [swimming] the 100. We were just trying to rotate and see who

does well where.”

Lucas also anchored the winning 200 free relay that clocked in

with a CIF qualifying 1:45.50. Bryndis Klein, Kayley Oka and Melissa

Wheeler swam the first three legs.

“[Lucas] has done a nice job,” LaMont said. “She fills in a lot of

stuff. She gets tired of doing the 200 and 500 every single meet, so

that’s why you see her doing the 100. But we can put her in events

like that and she can still do a good job, wherever we put her. We

can put her in any of the freestyles.”

Newport won eight of the meet’s 11 races, with Wheeler (200 free,

2:04.57), Katie Kepner (50 free, 26.22), Anne Belden (100 backstroke,

1:02.84) and Oka (100 breaststroke, 1:12.00) winning their events.

Jillian Chiapuzio and Marisa Cottam were second and third,

respectively, in the 200 free; Ashling Taylor and Katie Pedersen were

second and third, respectively, in the 200 individual medley; and

Blair Zeiser was third in the 100 free.

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The Newport and Woodbridge boys entered Wednesday’s meet untouched

in league and looking to feel each other out for the league

championship meet next week.

Woodbridge won, 95.5-74.5, to gain an inside track on the league

race, although Newport Coach Jason Lynch remained confident his team

will pull through in the finals.

“We’re second in dual meets now, but you can still be second and

win the whole thing,” he said. “Now we just have to win the

championship meet. I think we have a good shot.”

Max Joseph won the 100 butterfly in 56.16 for the Sailors, and

James Jackson clocked in with a CIF qualifying 56.36 in the 100

backstroke for the win.

Kyle Sherman swam an automatic time 47.99 in the 100 free for

second place, while also grabbing third in the 100 backstroke and 100

breaststroke.

Lynch said he is counting on the fourth swimmers to give him an

advantage at the league finals. In regular dual meets, each school

gets three swimmers for each event, but at the league championship,

each school will have four.

“Our depth I think is a little bit better,” Lynch said. “Our

junior varsity won handily [Wednesday], so it looks like our fourth

swimmers are better than theirs. But they’re very good, don’t get me

wrong.”