Cape Elizabeth swims to title> Bangor falls short of winning fifth consecutive state crown

BRUNSWICK – Bangor High School has dominated Class A schoolboy swimming in the last two decades, often subduing its opponents with an overwhelming combination of talented front-line swimmers and plenty of depth.

This season, the Rams didn’t have quite enough of either. As a result, Bangor was unable Monday to claim a fifth straight Class A swimming and diving state title.

Cape Elizabeth had limited depth, but coach Kerry Kertes boasted a half-dozen standouts who could pile up the points. Only seven swimmers scored Monday for the Capers, but it was enough to propel Cape Elizabeth to the Class A state championship at Bowdoin College’s Greason Pool.

Cape held off Class A newcomer Cheverus of Portland 233.5 points to 219, while Bangor took third with 197. South Portland (134) and Westbrook (116) rounded out the top five. Brewer (82) was seventh, behind Deering of Portland (107).

Cheverus freshman Ian Crocker won the Swimmer of the Meet award. He set a state record with a 47.34 clocking in the 100 free, beating the mark of 47.55 set in 1994 by Fred Stuart of Westbrook.

Crocker also took second in the 50 free, anchored the Stags’ winning 400 free relay quartet, and swam on the fourth-place 200 medley relay squad.

Junior Geoff Hadam was Cape’s catalyst, winning the 200 individual medley (2:03.04) and the 500 freestyle (4:51.73), then anchoring the first-place 200 free relay entry (1:31.85) as the Capers earned the school’s sixth Class A crown.

“I think the kids on our team this year are probably the fastest group that ever swam at Cape,” Kertes said. “What’s really neat about that is we swam finals tonight with six kids.”

Emery lauded the super six.

“Basically, they had more studs than we did. They had more kids up front, kids seeded in the top six,” said Bangor coach Phil Emery.

Bangor went into Monday’s meet in a rare underdog role. The Rams went all-out in the trials to guarantee points in the finals.

“All we talked about was, `give it a shot,’ ” Emery said of Bangor’s approach in the morning session. “We kept having great [trial] swims just to miss [the finals]. By the time we got to the afternoon, we were beat.”

While the Capers didn’t have an excess of talent in reserve roles, Kertes was able to use a few other swimmers in the relay trials.

“They had Hadam and they didn’t use him in the trials, so when they got to their relays in the finals, they were able to do a good job,” Emery said.

Kertes credited assistant Ben Raymond with divising an effective mix of swimmers in the various events to maximize their point-scoring potential.

“It turned out to be a great pick of putting the right kids in the right positions,” Kertes said. “We rested some of our kids in the morning so they could come back at night and swim.”

Cape senior John Sullivan tied for first in the 100 butterfly and took third in the 100 backstroke. He competed on the 200 medley and runner-up 400 free relays.

Casey Doody, another senior, won the 100 back in 55.42 and swam on the 200 medley and 200 free relays. He also took fifth in the 50 free. Seniors Jesse Wendell and Dave Dockendorf, and junior Andy Sirpis were big point-getters.

Bangor received scoring performances from 11 different swimmers, paced by Mike Reid. The junior finished third in the 200 free and fourth in the 500 free, posting personal bests in both events, and competed on the Rams’ third-place freestyle relay teams.

“No one really expected a lot from us,” Reid said. “What we did in trials was we gave ourselves a chance. It was one of the best meets Bangor’s ever had as far as trials go. I think overall we did great.”

Junior Peter Currie and seniors Peter Holman and Nick Carlisle also provided Bangor points in four events apiece. Currie was second in the 100 backstroke.

Brewer’s Dan Lucier captured third place in the diving competition, while Witches Troy Swett, Jeff Whalen and David Noto scored in three events apiece, led by Swett’s sixth in the 100 back.

AT BOWDOIN COLLEGE, Brunswick Class A Boys State Championship

Cape Elizabeth 233.5, Cheverus 219, Bangor 197, South Portland 134, Westbrook 116, Deering 107, Brewer 82, Brunswick 62, Portland 55, Edward Little 38, Thornton Acad. 35, Mount Ararat 32, Traip Acad. 27.5, York 21, Sanford 17, Massabesic 7, Lewiston 5, Biddeford 4 Finals

200 medley relay: Cape Elizabeth (Casey Doody, Andy Sirpis, John Sullivan, D Dockendorf) 1:43.65, Bangor 144:84, So. Portland 144.98, Cheverus 1:45.47, Westbrook 1:50.47, Edward Little 1:52.26; 200 free: Jeff Small (D) 1:45.91, Barrows (C) 1:48.72, Reid (Ba) 1:48.95, Wendell (CE) 1:50.63, Stevens (P) 1:51.31, Nicholas (W) 1:54.95; 200 IM: Geoff Hadam (CE) 2:03.04, Sirpis (CE) 2:05.99, Fox (SP) 2:08.04, Johnson (Y) 2:08.20, Sotiropoulos (C)2:05.99, Fox (SP) 2:08.04, Johnson (Y) 2:08.20, Sotiropoulos (C) 2:11.29, Godin (W) 2:11.38; 50 free: David Lavigne (SP) 21.84, Crocker (C) 21.91, Poirier (TA) 22.69, Rasin (D) 23.12, Doody (CE) 23.32, Dockendorf (CE) 23.48; 1 m diving: Andrew Suseno (Mt. A) 311.80 pts., Fournier (C) 277.20, Lucier (Bre) 269.60, Cobbs (Bru) 264.45, Fogg (Ba) 258.15, Kidman (D) 234.75; 100 fly: Thomas Dowd (Tra) 55.52, Sullivan (CE) 55.52, Sirpis (CE) 56.97, Johnson (Y) 58.99, Prager (W) 59.20; 100 free: Ian Crocker (C) 47.34, Lavigne (SP) 48.48, Small (D) 49.30, Poirier (TA) 49.53, Jonson (C) 49.74, Wendell (CE) 50.43; 500 free: Geoff Hadam (CE) 4:51.73, Barrows (C) 4:54.96, Stevens (P) 4:59.41, Reid (Ba) 5:00.39, Nicholas (W) 5:05.55, Godin (W) 5:12.25; 200 free relay: Cape Elizabeth (Casey Doody, Dave Dockendorf, Jesse Wendell, Geoff Hadam) 1:31.85, South Portland 1:32.75, Bangor 1:33.68, Cheverus 1:34.29, Deering 1:35.29, Brewer 1:39.60; 100 back: Casey Doody (CE) 55.42, Currie (Ba) 55.60, Sullivan (CE) 1:00.18, O’Toole (P) 1:00.48, Carney (Ba) 1:01.31, Swett (Bre) 1:01.74; 100 breast: Tim Johnson (C) 1:02.02, Dowd (Tra) 1:03.65, Rasin (D) 1:04.01, Fox (SP) 1:04.04, Sotiropoulos (C) 1:04.10, Carr (C) 1:06.20; 400 free relay: Cheverus (George Sotiropoulos, Tim Johnson, Dana Barrows, Ian Crocker) 3:24.17, Cape Elizabeth 3:25.75, Bangor 3:28.62, Westbrook 3:33.06, Deering 3:36.81, Brewer 3:47.10 Consolation

200 medley relay: Brunswick (Nicholas Zolas, M. Lemieux, M. Bernier, Timothy Coffin) 1:51.61, Sanford 1:55.73, Portland 1:56.87, Deering 1:57.31, Brewer 1:58.24, Lewiston 1:58.78; 200 free: Jeff Whalen (Bre) 1:57.72, Cohen (Ba) 1:58.24, Noto (Bre) 1:59.54, Rubin (Ba) 2:00.51, Swett (Bre) 2:02.39, Palmer (D) 2:04.42; 200 IM: Peter Holman (Ba) 2:09.65, Carr (C) 2:10.70, Carlisle (Ba) 2:12.93, Prager (W) 2:13.19, Zolas (Bru) 2:13.85, Bernier (Bru) 2:19.11; 50 free: Jake Eberle (SP) 23.44, Rosario (W) 23.93, Cough (Ba) 24.07, Currie (Ba) 24.11, Morton (SP) 24.30, Pearson (Ba) 24.36; 100 fly: Peter Holman (Ba) 58.74, Phillipe (S) 58.76, Kerns (C) 58.99, Bernier (Bru) 59.44, Holt (Mt. A) 59.95, Rubin (Ba) 1:01.21; 100 free: Jon Dewitt (M) 51.38, Dockendorf (CE) 51.61, Cough (Ba) 52.12, Rosario (W) 52.58, Pearson (Ba) 52.88, Hoglund (C) 53.92; 500 free: Ian Cohen (Ba) 5:18.91, Whalen (Bre) 5:19.33, Lemieux (Bru) 5:23.43, Farrnd (L) 5:27.23, French (SP) 5:28.31, Noto (Bre) 5:36.11; 200 free relay: Brunswick (Nicholas Zolas, Aaron Morse, Michael Bernier, Timothy Coffin) 1:39.88, Westbrook 1:40.62, Mount Ararat 1:42.61, Edward Little 1:43.30, Thornton Acad 1:44.98, Sanford 1:53.69; 100 back: Adam Davis (EL) 1:01.80, McLellan (C) 1:02.17, Eberle (SP) 1:02.23, Lewit (EL) 1:02.36, Rodway (Bre) 1:02.84, Kelley (W) 1:04.43; 100 breast: Nick Carlisle (Ba) 1:07.22, Zolas (Bru) 1:07.33, Gould (EL) 1:07.43, Stuart (W) 1:07.63, Lemieux (Bru) 1:07.77, Nguyen (Ba) 1:08.32; 400 free relay: Portland (David St. Pierre, Michael Saucier, Chris O’Toole, John Stevens) 3:47.48, South Portland 3:48.07, Thornton Academy 3:53.42, Mount Ararat 3:54.83, Biddeford 3:57.83, Brunswick 4:07.70