BANGOR – The Bangor boys swimming team won three individual events, two relays and got plenty of scoring from its deep roster to earn the Penobscot Valley Conference swimming and diving championship Friday evening at Aloupis Pool.

It was the Rams’ 22nd PVC crown – out of 24 years of the conference meet has been held – who scored 324 points.

Bangor senior star Eric Palmer won two events and swam on the two winning relay teams to lead the five-time defending Class A state champions.

MDI earned the runner-up title for the second straight year. The Trojans racked up 271 points. Old Town finished third with 192, John Bapst of Bangor was fourth at 140 and Ellsworth was fifth with 108 points.

Palmer rolled to an easy win in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2 minutes, 4.36 seconds. He had to fight off top-seeded Nick Perkins of Old Town in the 100 freestyle, but Palmer bested his entry time of 52.11 with a big drop to 49.85.

“I’m very, very happy with that,” Palmer said with a wide grin. “… Nick and I have a real friendly rivalry so it was fun to race him.”

It was Palmer’s personal best from what is known as a flat start. Palmer usually swims a 100 as the anchor leg of the 400 free relay but a relay start provides a swimmer with an advantage because forward movement of the body begins prior to the finish of the incoming swimmer.

So his time Friday was a better indication of what he can do in that event. Bangor coach Phil Emery could tell Palmer wanted the win.

“You could see it from when he got up on the blocks,” Emery said. “He wasn’t going to lose that race.”

Mike Rubin of Bangor won the 500 free with a time of 5:28.76 and took second in the 200. Bangor’s 200 medley relay and 400 free relays won.

The Rams have increasingly relied on swimmers who provide points in the middle spots, and that was true Friday.

Emery was pleased with Shane White, who dropped 31/2 seconds from his 100 breaststroke, in which he was fifth, despite having taken up the event recently. Erik Lenz was fourth in the 200 IM with a drop of about three seconds. He sliced around 21/2 seconds from his fly time and went from the ninth seed to a fifth-place finish.

Perkins led the Indians with his second place in the 50 free and a second in the 100 free. He also anchored the second-place 200 and free relays. Jacob Shanley was second in the breaststroke.

Brewer got fine finishes from Mike Sighinolfi and Jason Littlefield. Sighinolfi won the 200 free, slicing almost two seconds off his seed time, and was second in the 100 butterfly, while diver Littlefield bested his own school record with a stellar 396.45 points.

MDI coach Tony DeMuro was excited with his team’s performance as several swimmers saw huge time drops with the Class B state championships a little more than a week away.

“We knew we weren’t going to beat Bangor but we wanted that second place because it means you get some hardware,” DeMuro said.

MDI’s Frosty Pepper picked up wins in a close 50 free, where he out-touched Perkins by just .09 of a second. Justin Garver was second in the 200 IM and took nearly three seconds off his seed time.

The Trojans also won the 200 free relay against loaded squads from Ellsworth and Old Town. Pepper anchored the relay and Justin Garver, Sargeant Pepper and Henry Warden rounded out MDI’s group.

“That was sweet,” Frosty Pepper said. “I think everyone on that relay swam a best time or they were close.”

The Trojans saw some big time drops in the 500 free, where they took third and fourth. Ben Muir lopped off around 15 seconds to finish in third place and Randy Walls dropped nearly 10 to go with his fourth-place finish.

Ellsworth’s Matthew Jordan dropped more than a second in the 100 fly for the win in that event and broke his own pool record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.21.