ORONO – With a strong push in the second half of the meet, the Bangor High boys swim team grabbed back the title it lost last year in Saturday’s season-opening Penobscot Valley Conference Relay Carnival.

Mount Desert Island, the winner of last year’s carnival, made a strong run at defending its 2003 crown with wins in five of the seven events in which the Trojans had competitors entered. But the Rams maintained the pace with several seconds and thirds, plus a win in the 250-yard freestyle shuttle relay and the only male divers in the meet, to take the meet by only two points.

Bangor scored 180 points while MDI had 178, followed by Old Town with 118.

The Bangor girls held off MDI in a repeat of last year’s finish. Things were a bit closer this time around, however, as the Trojans shaved the Rams’ lead from 66 points last year to 22 this year.

Bangor scored 198 points, followed by MDI with 176 and John Bapst of Bangor with 134.

The boys scores were actually closer than initially thought because of some scoring errors discovered after the meet. But the final points don’t really matter much, anyway. The PVC relay carnival is more of a warm-up for the dual-meet season, which starts next week, and a good chance for teams to see where they stand early. Most of the events, such as the 400 individual medley relay in which four swimmers each swim a 100 IM, aren’t even included in competition for the rest of the year.

“Basically it’s a good chance for team unity, get the spirit pumping, get everyone excited and see what they can do and what they can improve upon as the season progresses,” said Bangor senior Casey Dunn, who helps captain the Ram girls team.

Last year the MDI boys kicked off an historic season for the program with a win in the relay carnival, the first time a team other than Bangor or Old Town had won the meet since its inception. The Indians won it in 1996, and the Rams won six in a row until last year.

The defending Class B state champion Trojans had a 12-point lead Saturday after the first four events thanks to wins in the 200 medley relay and 200 butterfly relay. The Rams were third in both events, with Old Town taking second in the medley relay and Ellsworth second in the fly relay.

The Rams won their only swimming event of the meet – Josh Buck and Brian Wardwell of Bangor were the lone male divers entered – in the 250 freestyle relay. The Trojans were second.

After the diving, MDI won three of the last four relays, including the 400 individual medley relay and then the 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke relays.

MDI got fine swims from Frank Carbone, who anchored the fly and back relays and swam on the 400 medley relay. Kevin Staples anchored the Trojans in the breaststroke and medley relays.

“We swam well and I’m happy with how it went,” MDI coach Tony DeMuro said. “We’re going to be good. Everyone’s there. For a team that lost 12 [swimmers who scored at states last year] we looked pretty good.”

The Rams had second-place finishes in the 400 medley relay and back and a third in the breaststroke. Old Town was second to MDI in that relay.

The Rams were excited – and pleasantly surprised – to have reclaimed the relay carnival title.

“That was really kind of unexpected,” said Bangor senior David Kleinschmidt, who competed on the winning 250 free relay. “It’s a great way to start out our season and see where we are. … This is an incredibly talented group of young swimmers. We’re really excited to see where the season’s going.”

Ellsworth held off MDI by about a second to win the 400 free relay with Bangor third. The Eagles also won the 200 free relay earlier in the meet.

The MDI girls opened with a win in the 200 medley relay but the Rams won five of seven relays during the rest of the meet. Old Town took the 200 free relay and the Trojans won the 200 breaststroke.

“The girls were awesome,” said DeMuro, who coaches both MDI teams. “We’re right where we want to be.”

Bangor got encouraging swims from its younger members, including freshman Michelle Gist, who anchored wins in the 250 free relay and 200 back. She had a rocky entry in the backstroke but held off a charging Iris Meehan, the MDI standout who swam on the winning 200 medley and breaststroke relays.

Ram senior Cammi Howard anchored the winning 200 fly and 400 medley relays.

“Every event it seemed like everyone showed up and swam well,” said Dunn, who led off Bangor’s second-place 200 free relay.

Brewer’s Devan Doucette and Katie Yerxa combined to win the diving.