Falmouth, Scarborough roll to state championships Bangor second, Brewer seventh

BRUNSWICK – A disqualification in the morning heats of Monday’s Class A girls state swimming and diving championship dashed Bangor’s hopes for a title, but the Rams will take what they earned – a runner-up crown, at least two swimmers scoring in every event but one, and a number of excellent performances that bode well for the future.

Scarborough racked up 248 points to claim its first state title for the Red Storm since 2003, when they won the Class B crown before moving up to Class A the following season. The Rams scored 201 points to place second, holding off Cheverus of Portland (169) and traditional power Cape Elizabeth (142) in the meet at Bowdoin College’s Greason Pool.

Brewer finished seventh with 54 points, and earned an exciting third place in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Things were moving along well for the Rams Monday morning – they placed at least one swimmer in both finals of all eight individual swimming events – something no other team did in the meet. And with four divers entered in the meet to none for Scarborough, Bangor knew it had a chance to win.

But when a swimmer entered the water too soon during the final event of the morning, the 400 free relay, Bangor was disqualified. The Rams, who posted the second-fastest relay time of the morning, therefore could not enter a relay into the championship heat and lost out on what could have been another 26 points for a likely second-place finish.

It was the second year in a row Bangor had a DQ in that relay. It happens sometimes, Bangor coach Cindy Howard said.

“I said, ‘Get it out your minds. Things like that happen,'” she said. “It’s hard, but it’s like anything.”

Scarborough, Cheverus, and Bangor quickly distanced themselves from the pack, and the Rams moved into second place after two top-12 diving finishes by Emma Chaiken (seventh) and Robin Treadwell (eighth).

The Rams were strong all meet. Minutes after Bangor’s fifth-seeded 200 medley relay team opened the competition by taking fourth, senior Cammi Howard held off Cheverus freshman Nicole Glab by just six-hundredths of a second to win the 200 freestyle.

“I knew how she swims and I knew if I stayed with her, I would have her,” said Howard, who is Cindy Howard’s daughter. “… We did really good. I was really happy.”

Erica Simpson followed with a sixth-place finish in the 200 individual medley, and then Gabby Babin took fifth in the 50 free. Treadwell and Chaiken gave Bangor a five-point lead on Cheverus. The Rams gained even more ground after the 100 butterfly as Howard grabbed second, while Mara Shapero and Michelle Gist went 9-12.

Babin picked up her second championship finish with a fourth in the 100 free (Amanda Gist was first in the consolation final) followed by Shapero’s third in the 500 free.

The Rams’ freshmen also had excellent swims. Sorrell Cardello set a school record with her 1:12.01 in a preliminary heat of the breaststroke – she went on to finish fifth overall – and also came in ninth in the IM, one place behind teammate Lily Herbold, who was fourth in the breaststroke. Alicia Laflamme was 12th in the backstroke and took eighth in the 500 free thanks to a 10-second time drop from her previous season-best.

Palmer was 11th in the 200 free and 10th in the 500 free. Amanda Gist finished ninth in the 50 free.

Bangor junior Katie Bears had an impressive time drop in the breaststroke. Ranked 14th going into the meet, she sliced 2.35 seconds off her seed time to gain the top spot in the consolation final and went on to finish eighth overall.

The Red Storm also relied on their depth as Cheverus swimmers cleaned up in many of the races. Scarborough’s top finishers included a win in the medley relay, Jen Flaherty’s first in the 500 free and third in the 200 IM, consolation final wins for Danielle Gravel in the IM and fly.

“We had a lot of girls, about 20, qualify for states,” Scarborough coach Tim Kipp said. “Even though they didn’t swim up to their seeds, they still came back and swam well at night and scored us some points in the consols.”

Cheverus standouts Jill Horan (IM, breaststroke) and Emilie Youmans (50, 100 free) powered the Stags with a combined four wins. Youmans was the Swimmer of the Meet.

Kallie Pottle paced Brewer with a fourth-place finish in the 100 fly and second in the backstroke. But the Witches’ finest hour came in the last event, where Kate Hanlon’s third leg and Pottle’s anchor sealed the 400 free relay win.

“We went in sixth and I never thought we would get third,” Pottle said. “It’s awesome. It’s our senior year and we had three seniors on that relay. I loved it.”

The Witches also received top diving finishes from Devan Doucette (10th) and Ashley Austin (12th).

Hampden’s Erin Doucette won the consolation final of the 200 free and was eighth in the fly.

The meet was dedicated to Larry LaBrie, an assistant executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association. Lewiston was the sportsmanship winner.