Bangor cruises to PVC crown> Rams win 11 events

BANGOR – It might have been held on a different date, and it might have taken place in an alternate location, but the result was just as expected – the Bangor boys swim team racked up 486 points to roll to their third straight Penobscot Valley Conference championship.

The Rams claimed wins in every event but one and several Bangor swimmers were multiple-event winners in Tuesday’s meet at the Husson College pool. The meet was supposed to take place Feb. 11 at the Mount Desert Island YMCA but that had to be postponed because of a storm. The same thing happened Monday.

Old Town took runner-up honors with 207 1/2 points. MDI scored 157 points for third place and Brewer was fourth with 144.

Monday was officially the final day to qualify for the state championship meets, but Bangor coach Phil Emery said the PVC had permission from the Maine Principals’ Association to allow swimmers to qualify because of the weather postponements.

“To us, we knew we were going to win,” said Bangor multiple-event winner Scott Loukes. “It wasn’t really in our mind as much as having more kids qualify for states.”

Loukes won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.47 seconds and the 100 butterfly with a personal-best 56.09. He also swam on the winning 200 medley relay along with twin brothers Dan and Jim Soucie and Tae Chung. Loukes finished by leading off the victorious 200 freestyle relay that also featured Eric Moore, Chung and Jim Soucie.

Loukes said the Rams aren’t worried that the delay between meets has hurt their training for the state Class A championship meet on Saturday at UMaine’s Wallace Pool in Orono.

“At first we thought it was a little bit sketchy,” Loukes said, “but it’s the same thing we’d be doing for practice anyway. Three days before the state meet we just get in and do fast stuff, and that’s pretty much what we did today.”

MDI’s Jeff Grey was the lone non-Bangor swimmer to win a race. He took the 100 free with a time of 53.13 and also finished in second place in the 50 free.

“It was pretty good, but it wasn’t exactly my best time,” Gray said of his 100 free time. “It’s probably because I haven’t swam in four days. I was recovering from bronchitis so it was actually a good thing, but I’m not quite recovered yet.”

The distance events might have been better races if John Bapst standout Andrew Magiera had been able to swim. The junior, who has the fastest Class B 200 free time in the state and is second in the 500 free, suffered a shoulder injury Sunday when he slipped on the ice and had to withdraw Tuesday.

With Magiera out, Dan Soucie cruised to easy victories in both events, taking the 200 with a 1:56.35 and the 500 in 5:21.21.

Other winners for Bangor were Justin Alley, who took the diving with 301.40 points and Eric Palmer, who finished the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 2:12.15. Jim Soucie won the 100 backstroke (58.63) and Chung took first in his premier event, the 100 breaststroke (1:04.12).

While the Rams were excited by their 19th conference title in the meet’s 21 year-history – all of which have come under Emery – part of the point of the meet for all of the teams was to squeak in some last-minute qualifiers for states.

To that end, Bangor freshman Adam Cohen sliced about 1 1/2 seconds off his best 200-free time to finish sixth overall and make the cut. Henry Evans dropped nearly eight seconds in the 100 backstroke to qualify.

And Old Town senior Damien Treadwell bettered his 100 breaststoke time by more than three seconds to qualify for Monday’s Class B state meet at UMaine.

“We had a lot of good swims,” Old Town coach Matt Byther said. “A lot of kids dropped five, six seconds in an event and that’s always good to see.”

MDI’s Brandon Gray was third in the 200 free, fourth in the 500 free and was on the second-place medley relay team and the third-place 200 free relay squad. Sam Almy of Foxcroft Academy also had a solid meet, with fourth-place finishes in the 100 fly and the 100 free and the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay. Swimming

High school AT HUSSON COLLEGE, Bangor PVC Championships

Bangor boys 486, Old Town 207.5, Mount Desert Island 157, Brewer 144, Orono 98.5, Foxcroft 79, Dexter 13, John Bapst 4, Ellsworth 1

200 medley relay: Bangor (Dan Soucie, Tae Chung, Scott Loukes, Jim Soucie) 1:41.61, Mount Desert Island 1:56.77, Old Town 1:59.77, Foxcroft 2:02.27, Orono 2:10.87, Brewer 2:13.83; 200 free: Dan Soucie (Ban) 1:56.35, C. Sighinolfi (Brew) 1:59.34, Br. Gray (MDI) 1:59.64, Barry (Ban) 2:01.63, Fitch (Ban) 2:05.65, Cohen (Ban) 2:08.17, Greenman (OT) 2:08.50, McLaughlin (OT) 2:14.19, Kirby (Or) 2:16.97, Millard (Or) 2:19.99, Clement (Or) 2:21.67, Walker (FA) 2:32.43; 200 IM: Eric Palmer (Ban) 2:12.15, Perkins (OT) 2:21.64, Thayer (Ban) 2:29.51, Wallace (OT) 2:29.655, Dunbar (Ban) 2:38.60, Shapero (Ban) 2:41.71, Treadwell (OT) 2:43.65, Diaz (MDI) 2:43.78, Kinch (OT) 3:11.08; 50 free: Scott Loukes (Ban) 22.47, Grey (MDI) 23.92, Moore (Ban) 24.20, Poirier (Ban) 24.64, S. Falls (OT) 25.05, Knaide (Ban) 25.35, Goslin (OT) 25.47, M. Sighinolfi (Brew) 25.58, Jackins (FA) 25.94, Palmer (Dex) 26.76, Bucklin (MDI) 26.84, West (Or) 27.10; Diving: Justin Alley (Ban) 301.40, Fogg (Ban) 264.85, Gomm (OT) 252.75, Rodway (Brew) 252.70, Be. Gray (MDI) 132.05; 100 fly: Scott Loukes (Ban) 56.09, J. Soucie (Ban) 57.50, Chung (Ban) 59.45, Almy (FA) 1:01.10, M. Sighinolfi (Brew) 1:03.46, Goslin (OT) 1:06.19, McDougall (Ban) 1:06.88, Gordon (Or) 1:13.32, Vollick (JB) 1:14.09, West (Or) 1:15.43, Tillotson (OT) 1:16.20, Gallant (OT) 1:20.71; 100 free: Jeff Grey (MDI) 53.13, Barry (Ban) 53.97, Poirier (Ban) 55.58, Almy (FA) 56.91, Greenman (OT) 57.15, Knaide (Ban) 57.39, Hanlon (Brew) 57.41, Lagrange (Ban) 58.71, Lam (Brew) 1:00.11, Hartley (Brew) 1:02.16, Millard (Or) 1:02.30, Diaz (MDI) 1:02.65; 500 free: Dan Soucie (Ban) 5:21.21, Fitch (Ban) 5:29.54, C. Sighinolfi (Brew) 5:37.90, Br. Gray (MDI) 5:43.11, Noonan (OT) 5:53.84, Cohen (Ban) 5:55.72, Wallace (OT) 6:00.26, Thayer (Ban) 6:07.75, Maller (MDI) 6:11.26, (tie) Clement (Or) and McLaughlin (OT) 6:29.00, Perkins (Ells) 6:50.46; 200 free relay: Bangor (Scott Loukes, Eric Moore, Tae Chung, Jim Soucie ) 1:31.34, Brewer 1:42.83, Mount Desert Island 1:43.21, Foxcroft 1:49.35, Orono 1:51.46; 100 back: Jim Soucie (Ban) 58.63, Moore (Ban) 1:00.84, Perkins (OT) 1:05.10, Fessenden (Ban) 1:06.31, Palmer (Dex) 1:08.04, Tillotson (OT) 1:08.67, Falls (OT) 1:09.39, Hartley (Brew) 1:10.04, Evans (Ban) 1:11.74, Kirby (Or) 1:13.00, Rodway (Brew) 1:13.23, Walker (FA) 1:14.12; 100 breaststroke: Tae Chung (Ban) 1:04.12, Palmer (Ban) 1:06.16, McDougall (Ban) 1:08.60, Maller (MDI) 1:15.31, Gordon (Or) 1:15.88, Noonan (OT) 1:16.03, Jackins (FA) 1:16.41, Dunbar (Ban) 1:16.45, Treadwell (OT) 1:17.63, Marks (Or) 1:18.10, Hanlon (Brew) 1:18.29, Gallant (OT) 1:21.29; 400 free relay: Bangor (Dan Soucie, Eric Moore, Tom Poirier, Kevin Barry) 3:34.04, Brewer 3:50.69, Old Town 3:52.05, Mount Desert Island 4:07.70, Orono 4:14.98