Babin, Howard spark Bangor

BANGOR – At this point in the season, getting swimmers and divers qualified for the upcoming state championships is of primary importance. But for the Mount Desert Island and Bangor swim teams, there’s also the matter of winning a meet that has turned into a friendly rivalry in the past few years.

The Bangor boys pushed MDI, but the Trojans emerged with a win Friday night at the Husson College pool, while the Bangor girls cruised against a smaller MDI team.

The MDI boys scored 101 points to hold off Bangor’s 84. The Ram girls racked up 129 while the Trojans posted 55.

In preparation for next month’s Class A state meet, Bangor girls coach Cindy Howard had several swimmers enter events with little down time in between. That meant swimmers like Gabby Babin and Cammi Howard were swimming some events back-to-back.

The Rams responded well. Babin anchored Bangor to a win in the meet-opening 200-yard medley relay, and then with just the boys’ relay in between, she won the 200 freestyle. Sorrell Cardello, who also swam on the relay, had a little more time to rest before winning the 200 individual medley, but Babin got right back in the pool after Cardello’s victory and took the 50 free.

Later in the meet, Howard, who is Cindy Howard’s daughter, won the 100 butterfly and about five minutes later cruised in the 100 free. She had a cushion of time – the boys and girls swam their 500 free races – before anchoring the winning 200 free relay along with Babin, Mara Shapero and Cardello.

“[Cindy Howard] was trying to see if we could handle it because at states we might have to do back-to-back events,” said Cammi Howard. “I didn’t even realize it. I was talking and then I was like, ‘Wait, I’m up again.'”

The Rams won all three relays and also got wins from Emma Chaiken (diving), Shapero (500 free) and Lily Herbold (breaststroke) and Erica Simpson (backstroke).

Julia Macauley and Iris Meehan helped pace MDI. Macauley was second in the 500 free and the 200 free, while Meehan took third in the IM and second in the back.

“We had some great swims, but Bangor’s loaded,” said Tony DeMuro, who coaches both Trojan teams.

MDI also placed three divers in the top six.

For the Trojan boys, it was the second straight dual-meet win over the Rams after 31 years of never having beaten Bangor.

The boys meet kicked off with an exciting medley relay in which Ram freshman Tyler Brookings nearly caught Trojan junior Sam Burne in the freestyle leg, but Burne held on for a win by just six-tenths of a second. MDI’s Kevin Staples went on to earn a win in the 200 free, followed by Frank Carbone’s victory in the 200 individual medley.

Bangor’s John Quinn edged MDI’s Josh Radford in the 50 free, but later in the meet Staples and Quinn faced off in a thrilling 100 free race.

Quinn was up by one-one hundredth of a second at the 50-yard mark, but Staples edged him at the end, winning the race in 51.42 to Quinn’s 51.49.

“I knew it was going to be a touch finish and he just out-touched me,” said Quinn, who was among the Bangor seniors honored Friday, which was the boys’ last home meet. “It was close the whole way. But it was a good time, a best time for me.”

Before that race MDI had a 47-46 edge on Bangor, but the Trojans solidified the lead thanks to Carbone’s win in the 500 free, Eric Eaton’s win in the 100 breaststroke, and two relay wins.

Staples also anchored the winning 200 free relay.

“They all swam really well. I tried to do some stuff with some of the guys where they were coming out of relays,” said DeMuro, citing a similar approach to Cindy Howard’s. “It’s not what they’re used to. They’re used to plenty of rest.”

Bangor’s Josh Buck handily won the diving competition. Mike Rubin won the 100 fly and took second in the IM, while Brandon Frenette earned a win for the Rams in the breaststroke.

“We all swam very well,” Quinn said. “It was a really fast meet and good competition.”

“We all swam very well. It was a really fast meet and good competition.”

Bangor’s John Quinn