John Bapst swimmers sweep Riots Key subplots make dual meet intriguing

BANGOR – Mo Nazmy knew just what to expect from the guy swimming in the lane next to him. James Peckenham was a little surprised by what he got from his opponent one lane over. And a crew of John Bapst girls used a little intersquad rivalry to push each other.

Although the final scores won’t reflect it, there were plenty of subplots as the Orono and John Bapst swim teams competed in a dual meet Friday night.

The Crusaders swept both meets, with the girls beating the Red Riots 135-48 and the boys earning a 97-76 win at the Bangor-Brewer YWCA’s Aloupis Pool.

In the boys meet, Orono standout Nazmy, who swims on a club team with Joel Alex of John Bapst, battled with him in three events. The two swam against each other in the breaststroke leg of the 200 medley relay, and then in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.

Nazmy earned wins in the two individual events, but Alex’s Crusaders won the relay – and the meet, as Alex reminded Nazmy after the final event.

“We’ve known each other since we were like 8,” Nazmy said. “I’ve always known him and he’s a big rival. It’s always a good race.”

Peckenham is Bapst’s top sprinter, and he was the anchor in the medley relay and the 200 free relay. He also entered the 50 and 100 free events.

But he didn’t know Matt Whorton would be as fast as he was. Whorton anchored the same relays for Orono, and showed up in the same two events as Peckenham.

Whorton nipped Peckenham in the 50 free by less than one-tenth of a second, but Peckenham held off Whorton in the 100.

“They really surprised me,” Peckenham said. “They have some good swimmers but I didn’t know Matt Whorton was as close to me as he was. I kind of had to step it up in the relays. He’s dropped a lot of time since last year. … I knew he was getting ahead of me towards the end [of the 100] so I had to give it my all and reach for the end. That really helped me, stretching it out.”

John Bapst’s Kevin Trainor won the 200 and 500 free events. Teammate Isaac Forbes scored a 182.65 to win the diving.

William Brunton and Tyler Isherwood, who were key relay swimmers for the Crusaders, took the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, respectively.

In the girls meet, Bapst was aiming to get three swimmers qualified for states in the 100 breaststroke. Renee Rioux and Julia Sleeper had already made the time cut, so the Crusaders were just waiting for Libby Tyler to come around.

She did so, finishing third (Rioux was first and Sleeper was second). Rioux said the three breaststrokers have a little rivalry among them.

“We’re all really close,” said Rioux, who also won the fly. “We push each other a lot in practice. It’s like, I don’t want her to beat me. It really pushes us.”

Bapst took all three relays. Jen Day won the 200 free. Nicole Leblanc and Courtney Chase each picked up two wins, with Chase taking the 200 IM and the 500 free and Leblanc prevailing in the 50 and 100 free. Bapst’s Jaimie Dunton won the diving.

Heather Jones was the lone event winner for Orono. She took the backstroke.

The Red Riots have seen big gains so far this season, and that was reflected Friday. Coach Gary Theriault was encouraged by Baylee Cherkis’ swim in the breaststroke as she knocked off a whopping five seconds from her previous best.

“There were some really good time drops,” Theriault said. “[Cherkis] is a brand-new swimmer this year. She’s not quite at the level where she’s going to win races, but next year she will be.”