Bangor’s blondes have more fun

BANGOR – The blonde bombshells that are the Bangor boys swimming team took another step toward reclaiming the state Class A swimming title that they lost last year as they ran away with the Penobscot Valley Championship at Husson College’s pool Friday night.

The Rams, most of whom have dyed their hair yellow according to Bangor end-of-season swimming tradition, scored 402 points on the evening to top a strong Old Town squad that earned 305 points. Brewer came in third with 149.

“I think this meet instilled tremendous confidence in us,” said Bangor senior co-captain Son Nguyen, who hasn’t dyed his black hair yet but still managed to finish second in the 100 breaststroke.

Mount Desert Island came in fourth with 141 points. John Bapst of Bangor was fifth with 128. The rest of the team scores were Orono with 55 points, Foxcroft Academy with 51, Hampden Academy with seven and Sumner of East Sullivan with three.

The most explosive of the bombshells came in the form of Jason Thomas, who set an individual PVC meet record in the 500-yard freestyle and anchored two meet record-setting relays squads.

Thomas’ time in the free was 4 minutes, 44.47 seconds, which breaks the previous record of 4:49.19. The freshman was about 1 1/2 seconds off of the state record he set last week. Thomas was also second in the 200 individual medley.

Old Town breaststroking phenom Zach Gasaway took the IM in a meet record of 1:59.97. The key to the record was a split time of 34.62 on the breast leg, the best in the field. The time also broke the school record of 2:00.49 he set last year.

Gasaway blew away the field in his specialty 100 breast with a time of 1:01.67. Old Town finished second to Bangor in all three relay events, and the Indians’ overall performances bodes well for next weekend’s Class B state meet.

“This puts us in a nice position,” Old Town coach Matt Byther said. “We had two more people qualify for states and a number of excellent swims.”

Seeded according to season-best times, almost every swimmer at the meet saw an improvement. Brewer’s Chris Meakin sliced more than 30 seconds off his previous best in the 500 free.

Mount Desert Island’s fourth-place finish was mostly due to the performance of Jamie Cunningham. The junior won two individual events, finishing the 200 free in 1:47.19 and claiming victory in the 100 free with a time of 48.44 – another meet record.

But Cunningham said his best times are yet to come.

“I didn’t mind my times [Friday], but I’m saving myself for states,” he said.

John Bapst’s Tim Thorpe led the divers with a total of 353.

The Rams won all three relays, setting two meet records and a pool record in the process.

The Thomas-powered 200 medley relay team that included Peter Currie, Dan Soucie and Adam Carney finished in a meet record of 1:45.36. Carney, Currie, Jim Soucie and senior stalwart Mike Reid took the 200 free relay in 1:33.54. With a meet record of 3:22.22 in the 400 free relay, Jim and Dan Soucie, Reid and Thomas shattered the previous record of 3:23.21, which was also the Husson pool record.

Other Bangor wins included Jim Soucie’s 23.33 in the 50 free, Carney’s victory in the 100 butterfly with a 56.60 finish and Currie’s 100 backstroke time of 57.39.

Based on Old Town’s performance, Bangor coach Phil Emery said he can’t imagine another Class B team that could beat the Indians.

“I would say they have to be the favorite,” Emery said. “If they win it it will be because they earned it, but they have a streak [of 13 Class B state wins] going for them and a streak is a hard thing to break.”

The Rams did get some bad news Friday, as freshman Tae Chung turned his ankle during a school gym class and was unable to swim. Emery said a doctor who looked at Chung’s ankle characterized the injury as a bad sprain and he may be questionable for states.

Chung has been an asset to Bangor this season as a freestyle, IM and relay swimmer.

“I hope he’s back because he’s trained really hard, but this is a good time to be hurt,” Emery said of the resting period before states. “Next week we won’t be doing enough to be called a swim Team.”