Connor Ohl, Newport Harbor girls shine at Sunset League swim finals
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Connor Ohl sprinted into history on Friday at Golden West College.
Before he even looked up at the scoreboard for his time after swimming the 50-yard freestyle at Sunset League finals, the Newport Harbor High junior heard the crowd cheering.
“I knew right then that I went 19 [seconds],” Ohl said. “When I looked up, it was just the icing on the cake.”
With his time of 19.79 seconds, he became the second-fastest high school swimmer in the event in Orange County history. The county record is a 19.69 by Olympian Michael Cavic of Tustin, set in 2002.
Los Alamitos won the boys’ Sunset League swimming championship, while Newport Harbor’s girls used their depth to capture their third straight league crown.
There were plenty of fast swims at the six-hour meet. Fountain Valley set five league records, with sophomore Alyssa Ton and junior Peter Vu setting two each in their individual events.
Ohl was electrifying, splashing the water after seeing the time and clasping the hand of senior teammate James Mulvey to his right.
Ohl, Mulvey and Dash D’Ambrosia swept the top three spots in the event for the Sailors.
“One-two-three is just incredible,” said Ohl, who also repeated as the boys’ 100 free champion in 44.86 seconds. “The fact that it’s three water polo guys and not trained swimmers, it’s even more incredible.”
He added that he would be gunning for Cavic’s county-record mark at next week’s CIF Southern Section Division 1 championships.
“I never thought I’d ever be reaching levels like this,” Ohl said. “It’s unbelievable. … First it was breaking the Newport record, then it was breaking 20 [seconds] and now it’s breaking this next record. It’s just this progression of going faster and faster.”
Newport Harbor’s girls had lost by four points to Fountain Valley in a league dual meet, but won going away at league finals for their third straight crown.
Senior Ariana Amoroso finished second in the 50 free and third in the backstroke to pace the Sailors. Amoroso is going to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which announced in March that it would be cutting its swimming program, though the school’s swimmers are scrambling to raise money to try to save it.
“I’m happy to end on a win senior year,” said Amoroso, adding that it was bittersweet that the CIF finals would likely be her final swim meet. “I’m happy to see improvements in my times after recently switching club teams, too.”
Caitlyn Stayt finished third in the 200 individual medley and fourth in the backstroke for the Sailors girls, who also got a pair of ‘A’ finals appearances by freshman Vivian Muir.
Stayt is one of two seniors who came out for swimming after helping the Sailors make the CIF Southern Section Open Division title match in water polo, along with Harper Price.
“The senior leadership has been amazing,” Newport Harbor coach Kevin Potter said. “They came back and just really stepped up. Harper swam the breaststroke. Last time she swam breaststroke was freshman year at league finals, and this year, we needed a breaststroker. She stepped in and scored huge points for us in that ‘A’ final.”
The versatile Ton won the girls’ 200 freestyle in 1:44.50 and backstroke in 53.68, each time a personal-best. She said she enjoyed the fact that her events were spaced apart, which allowed her to cheer for her teammates.
“There’s still some things to work on, but I’m really excited heading into CIF,” said Ton, a CIF champion in the 200 freestyle last year.
Her Barons senior teammate, USC-bound Kaitlyn Nguyen, won the 200 IM (1:59.76). Nguyen was second in the breaststroke to Corona del Mar sophomore Sofia Szymanowski (1:00.97), who placed second in the IM.
“I think Sofia’s got a really good chance of winning [CIF] next week [in the breaststroke], and I think Kaitlyn can also win it,” said Fountain Valley coach Nathan Wilcox, who coaches both in club swimming for Irvine Novaquatics. “It’s just going to come down to who wants it more. … I definitely think those girls are both top three next week.”
Fountain Valley’s girls’ 200 medley relay, featuring Ton, Nguyen, freshman Audrey Prall and senior Leyna Nguyen, also won in a meet-record time of 1:44.00.
Among other top girls’ swimmers, CdM senior Nikki Lahey became a three-time league champion in both the 50 free (23.42) and 100 free (50.38).
“It’s really focusing on the little details and improving those next week,” said Lahey, bound for San Jose State. “I feel like I’m in a pretty good place with my times right now.”
Edison senior Gaby Kelly became a four-time league champion in the 500 free, winning it in a school record time of 4:52.27. Kelly never lost the race in a league meet during her entire high school career.
“I was really stoked about it,” said Kelly, who placed second in the 200 free. “Especially with all of the new teams coming into the league, I was a little nervous, but I was really stoked with how I went. Being able to have that achievement is really nice.”
On the boys’ side, Fountain Valley’s Vu claimed the 200 individual medley (1:48.77) and breaststroke (54.62).
Newport Harbor senior Aidan Arie blasted to a school-record 48.28 in the butterfly, and also won the 500 free in 4:36.93. He celebrated wildly after winning the butterfly, as he said he earned a Summer Junior Nationals cut.
Add Arie to the list of those incredulous at what Ohl is doing.
“At this point, if he told me he was going 18 [seconds], I’d believe him, the way he’s dropping,” he said. “It’s crazy. It’s not normal.”
Edison’s Holden Lee won the backstroke (49.88) and was third in the butterfly.
Isaac Squires, a talented water polo player, helped Huntington Beach win the medley relay and also was an individual champion in the 200 free, touching in 1:42.91.
“If I can’t beat them in water polo, it’s nice to beat them here in swim,” Squires said. “It’s fun, because it’s competitive, but it also helps because you get faster and you’re always conditioned.”
Most of the league’s top swimmers will compete in the Division 1 meet, which will have preliminaries at 9 a.m. Thursday at Mt. San Antonio College and finals at noon on Saturday.
Fountain Valley looks to excel. Ton is seeded first in the girls’ 200 free, while Nguyen and Vu are seeded first in 200 IM for both genders.
Vu is also seeded first in the boys’ breaststroke, and Szymanowski and Nguyen earned the top two seeds in the girls’ breaststroke.
Ohl and Arie are seeded first in the boys’ 50 free and butterfly, respectively, with Ohl seeded second in the 100 free. Lahey earned top-four seeds in each of her sprint freestyle events, and Kelly is seeded third in the girls’ 500 free.
Edison’s Lee is seeded third in the boys’ backstroke.
Wilcox said he’s looking for a top-three finish at CIF for Fountain Valley’s girls, who finished fifth last year.
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