Killer Whales feed on Penguins

As the largest warm blooded predator, Killer Whales have been known to feed on a wide variety of fish and mammals---even polar bears and moose. This past Saturday, Penguins were in their sights in Newport Beach waters, as the Newport Hills Killer Whales hosted the Pacific Sands Penguins in South Coast Swim Conference action, and swam to a strong 846-434 win.

Newport Hills was led by its under-6 boys, 7-8 girls, 11-12 boys and 13-14 boys. The Killer Whale under-6 boys took first in both the medley and freestyle relays, and grabbed first, second and third place honors in the 25-yard freestyle, the 25 breaststroke and the 25 backstroke, as well as first and second in the 25 back.

The 7-8 girls were first in both the medley and freestyle relays, and they took first, second and third in the 25 free, the 25 breaststroke and the 25 butterfly. They also were first and second in the 25 back and 50 free. The 11-12 boys won both the medley and free relays, and they were first, second and third in the 50 freestyle, 50 breaststroke and 50 fly, and they were first and third in the 50 back and the 100 individual medley.

The 13-14 Killer Whale boys had a special day, with the foursome of Christian Garkani, Nick Furgatch, Blake Motal and Richie Barden starting out the meet by setting a new pool record in the 200 medley relay, breaking the record that had been set last year by the Harbor View team of Marks, Berry, Bandaruk and Leach. In addition to winning the free relay, the 13-14 boys swam to first-, second- and third-place wins in the 50 free, 50 breaststroke, 50 fly, 50 back and first and second in the 100 IM.

Four Newport Hills swimmers were three-time winners in individual events. In the under-6 boys, Speedy Laster won the 25 free, 25 breaststroke and 25 back. Chloe Harbilas in the 7-8 girls swam to first-place honors in the 25 freestyle, 25 fly and 50 free. Killer Whale Madeline Musselman in the 9-10 girls, was first in the 50 free, 25 fly and 100 IM, and Taylor Cortens in the 11-12 boys grabbed the gold in the 50 breaststroke, 50 back and 100 IM, where he broke the old pool record of 1:07.72 with a swim of 1:06.96.

There were also five two-time individual event Killer Whales winners. In the 7-8 boys, Wyatt Genc was first in both the 25 free and 25 breaststroke, while Jake Bays swam to wins in the 25 fly and 50 free. Brett Greenlee in the 11-12 boys won the 50 yard free and 50 fly, In the 13-14 girls, Cassidy Papa was victorious in both the 50 free and 50 back, and in the 13-14 boys, Christian Garkani won both the 50 yard free and 50 breaststrioke.

Briana Daboub led the Killer Whale individual event winners by setting a new team record in the 11-12 girls 50 back, with a time of 32.47. Other Newport Hills individual event winners included Georgia Salvino (25 breaststroke) and Ava Elliott (25 back) in the under-6 girls, Tommy Bethel (25 fly) in the under-6 boys, Sophie Wallace (25 breaststroke) and Anna Wilde (25 back) in the 7-8 girls, Connor McManigal (25 back) in the 7-8 boys, Lauren Openshaw (50 breaststroke) in the 9-10 girls, Rourke Funke (50 breaststroke), JT Russell (50 back) and Henry Wilde (100 IM) in the 9-10 boys, Blake Motal (50 fly), Alex Wilde (50 back) and Nick Furgatch (100 IM) in the 13-14 boys, Hollace Barden (50 fly) in the 15-18 girls and Willy Reese (50 back) in the 15-18 boys.

The brother-sister combination of Natalie May and Billy May led the Penguins group that were unfazed by the Killer Whales circling in the waters----Natalie May was a three-time winner in individual events, winning the 11-12 girls 50 free, 50 breaststroke and 100 IM, and Billy May won the 9-10 boys 50 freestyle and 25 fly----setting a new pool record in the 50 free with a time of 28.12, breaking the old pool record of 28.27 set by Taylor Cortens in July 2008.

Two-time winners for Pacific Sands included Cate Morton (25 free and 25 fly) in the under-6 girls, Lucy Hall (50 fly and 100 IM) in the 13-14 girls, Haley Cunert (100 free and 50 back) and Kierstin Colesen (50 breaststroke and 100 IM) in the 15-18 girls and Matthew Ferretti (100 free and 50 fly) and Troy Edwards (50 breaststroke and 100 IM) in the 15-18 boys.

Individual event winners for the Penguins included Tara Shaughnessy (9-10 girls 50 back), Delaney Cleveland (11-12 girls 50 fly) and Adriana Privett (13-14 girls 50 fly).

The Killer Whales travel to Lake Forest Saturday to take on the Lake Forest II Dolphins, with the meet beginning at 8 a.m.