High School Swim: CdM girls win
With the meet already decided on both the girls’ and boys’ side, the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay was still notable at Wednesday’s Pacific Coast League swim meet between host Corona del Mar High and University.
CdM girls’ Coach Doug Volding, with the meet in hand, scratched his top quartet from the relay.
CdM boys’ Coach Barry O’Dea watched as the CdM and Uni boys had fun with their close relay, since the Trojans already had the meet clinched.
The Sea King girls improved to 3-0 in league by topping the Trojans, 95-75. The Sea King boys fell to 2-1 in league after losing, 107-63, to the defending CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion Trojans in a battle of the top two teams in Orange County.
Volding was happy with the swims from his girls, who have solidified their position as favorites to repeat as league champions. He said that the “A” relay team of senior Meagan Popp, sophomore Nicole Lin, senior Eliza Britt and freshman Eva Merrell was happy when told its meet was done early.
“Once you hit that 86 [points] figure, it’s over,” explained Volding. “I knew those girls have been working hard ... and their faces lit up [when I told them]. They already got the automatic [CIF Southern Section Division 1 cut], so there just wasn’t any reason to have them swim.”
The Harvard-bound Popp and Merrell each won two events for the CdM girls. Popp captured the 200 freestyle in 1:54.75, and the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.50. Merrell won the 100 butterfly in 54.95 seconds, and the 100 backstroke in 56.56.
For the first time this season, Volding stacked his 200 freestyle relay with Merrell, Lin, senior Sami Pratt and Popp. They responded by winning the race in another Division 1 automatic time, 1:38.88.
“It was kind of cool that we swam so well today that we got a break for the last relay,” Popp said. “But it would have been fun to swim it too ... It was fun [to swim the 200 free relay]. It was different. It was nice to get away from the medley and the 4x100 [relays]. And I got to anchor for the first time, so that was fun.”
Popp said she is having fun with having Merrell on the team, too. The freshman has already set three school records and tried for a fourth Wednesday, as her 50 free time from the 200 free relay would have counted since she led off. She didn’t break the record, but her split of 23.70 was definitely quick.
“I really enjoy swimming with Eva,” Popp said. “It’s nice to have a really competitive relay. I’m really looking forward to how we’re going to do at CIF, especially our medley. I think we can do really well. I think Eva and I push ourselves, and push the team to be the best it can be.”
CdM has adjusted after losing junior Maddie Musselman, who left the school before swim season to train full-time with the U.S. women’s senior national water polo team. Musselman was to be the fourth swimmer on the relays along with the club swimmers, Popp, Merrell and Lin. But Volding said water polo players like Pratt, Britt and senior Kaybree Albright, who are bound for Michigan, Princeton and Indiana respectively in water polo, have stepped up.
Lin won the 200 IM in 2:15.55 on Wednesday. CdM also swept the top three spots in the 200 free (Popp, Bridgett Storm and Britt) and the 500 free (Jaleh Moaddeli, Devon Cooper and Emily Ritner).
On the boys’ side, three-time defending league champion University won eight of 11 events. Seniors Will Hofstadter (50 and 100 free) and Daniel Tran (200 IM and 100 back) were double-event winners.
“They’re pretty good,” O’Dea said. “I think we were showing our spring break [hangover] a little bit in some areas. We’ll get that back here in a couple of weeks. We haven’t done our annual post-spring break 100 100s yet, and that’s coming in the next day or two. I usually do it on the Monday [after spring break], but I didn’t do it this year because I kind of wanted their shoulders to be in one piece for today.”
CdM senior Justin Hanson won the 100 butterfly in 51.01, and his junior brother Tim Hanson won the 500 free in 4:37.66. Senior Tyler Lin captured the 100 breaststroke, in 57.56. The Sea Kings nearly got the 400 free relay too, but the CdM “A” team of Lin, Justin Hanson, Taylor Cortens and Tim Hanson was out-touched by University’s Alejandro Ortiz, Tran, Andrew Knoell and Judd Howard, 3:12.25 to 3:12.19.
University also swept the top three spots in the 100 freestyle, which has typically been a strong event for CdM.
“We have some guys that need to step up, and we’re going to be talking about that [Thursday],” O’Dea said. “We haven’t come through. There are some guys that haven’t come through there yet for us, and they will. I think they just need to step up and take responsibility. The five club guys we’ve got are doing their job, and I think Uni’s entire lineup across the board is all club, [but] our polo guys need to carry their weight. That’s the talk I had with some of them today ... I really don’t have any doubt that my freestyle guys are going to come through toward the end of the season.”
CdM swimming returns to action with a league meet April 22 at Beckman.
