Cape Elizabeth wins title; Rams 2nd

ORONO – With about 14 hours to kill before they were to compete in the Tuesday’s Class A girls state swimming championship meet, some members of the Cape Elizabeth girls team were at Wallace Pool on the UMaine campus here to cheer on the Cape boys, competing in their own meet Monday night.

Cape coach Kerry Kertes let his girls stay for a while, but at 7:30 p.m. he climbed the stairs to the spectators’ stands and informed the girls they were heading back to their hotel to get out of the hot, stuffy pool.

It’s not that Kertes wanted to coddle his team. Rather, he wanted them to focus on Tuesday. The Capers have been waiting all season for their coronation as the top Class A girls squad in the state, but despite all of the top seeds Cape had, the team still had a job to do, Kertes said.

The Capers wrapped up their hard work in the morning prelims. They had so many swimmers in the evening finals, including top seeds in all three relays, that victory in the evening finals was virtually guaranteed. The morning went so well that Cape Elizabeth set a state record and a Cape swimmer even won a swimoff for the final spot in the backstroke championship final.

Kertes’ team racked up 274 points for the 2002 Class A title, Cape’s first since 1998. The Capers added three more state records along the way.

As sure as first place was, second, third, fourth and fifth were a jumble going into the finals. And in the end, Bangor emerged as the runner-up – a bit of a pleasant surprise for the Rams considering that Westbrook and Portland teams Deering and Cheverus seemed so strong all season.

“We knew it was going to be close going in,” said senior Erin Woolley, one of several Bangor swimmers to outswim their pre-meet seeds and chop major time off their bests. “We were just trying to focus on swimming our best, getting best times. … But it is nice to go out like this.”

Bangor scored 188 points, a nice cushion from third-place Deering, which had 144 points. Cheverus ended up fourth with 127 and Westbrook was fifth (101).

The second place was Bangor’s best finish in a state meet since the Rams won the state title in 1997. They were third last year.

“When we first got here we talked about doing this, getting back to this point,” said Bangor coach Ginny MacMillan, who swam on state-championship teams for the Rams in the late 1980s and took over the coaching position in 1999.

But there was no denying Cape Elizabeth. The Capers have been smashing state records all season, but they may have been facing a little pressure coming in.

“Anytime you have a team with front-line swimmers like we have, there are going to be high expectations,” said Kertes, who is in his ninth season. “… On our team the girls and the boys, varsity and JV, swim together, and [the girls] wanted to be here to cheer on the boys. I had them go back to the hotel because [it was hot], but also because I didn’t want them to forget they had one last job to do.”

Senior Whitney Rockwell picked up Swimmer of the Meet honors for the second year in a row. She set state records in the 100 breaststroke and the 100 butterfly. Sophomore Taylor McFarlane set a state mark in the 100 back and also won the 200 free with a meet record. The Capers broke the 400 free relay state and meet records in their preliminary swim.

Bangor started off its meet with a stellar finish in the 200 medley relay, overcoming a fifth-place seed to finish second overall thanks to a team of Sarah Gordon, Candida Carvajal, Woolley and Lucy Gross.

After Isobel Herbold finished eighth in the 200 free, Gordon took fourth place in the 200 IM and Carvajal was fourth in the 50 free. The Rams were in fourth place at that point, but four divers went 2, 5, 9, 11 (Sammy Hartery led the way with the second-place finish) and Bangor was in second behind Cape from there.

The good swims kept coming for the Rams. Woolley, seeded sixth in the 100 fly, finished second and dropped nearly two seconds from her best time. Carvajal, the No. 8 seed going into the meet, wasn’t even supposed to finish in the top six but made it into the championship final and claimed third place with a 11/2-second time drop. Gross was seeded 12th in the free but wound up 10th.

Bangor placed two swimmers, Herbold and Woolley, in the top six for the 500 free. Gordon picked up another fourth place in the 100 back and the Rams were third in the 400-free relay and fourth in the 200 -ree relay.

Sarah Guppy and Kate Hanlon were the top swimmers for Brewer, which was 15th overall in the team standings. Guppy placed eighth in the 500 free and 11th. Hanlon was 12th in the 100 breaststroke.

Witches coach Kathy Cahill was pleased to get a team into the 400 free relay. Candice Wilcox, Meredith McEwen, Hanlon and Guppy were 12th overall.

“That was a surprise,” Cahill said. “They did a great job.”

Hampden’s Sarah Stevens, who trains with Cahill’s Brewer squad, was ninth in the IM and 11th in the 100 back.