Brewer High junior Andrew Bowden has, as Brewer High swimming coach Kathy Cahill puts it, a stroke style of which most swimmers are envious.

“He has a stroke like a college swimmer,” Cahill said after Friday’s meet against Old Town. “It’s a stroke we’ve worked on since he was a freshman and this is something that has really developed in the last three years.”

A lot of swimmers would likely be envious of Meehan’s times, too. A freestyle specialist who is still rehabilitating a muscle injury in his back that happened last fall, Meehan posted a career-best time of 5 minutes, 17.15 seconds in the 500 free, which puts him among the top three Class A swimmers in that event in the state.

The 6-foot-5 Meehan has developed a loping style in the water that looks as if he’s not working hard. It’s a style he’s worked on in his relatively short 21/2-year career.

“His stroke doesn’t change,” Cahill said. “He looks like he’s almost not even trying but he is quite fast.”

Meehan’s other freestyle times are impressive, too.

His season-best in the 200 free, a 1:55.74, puts him eighth in the state and his top 100 free time of 51.63, which he timed in a meet against rival Bangor, is ninth in Maine.

At the Class A state championships last year Meehan was sixth in the 100 free and eighth in the 500 free.

“He’s a phenomenal workhorse and really starting to come into his own, which is nice to see,” Cahill said. “… I tell all the coaches, he’s one of those raw athletes who will peak years from now. This is nothing.”

Bangor girls games postponed

The Bangor High girls basketball team has postponed games Saturday and Tuesday because of the death of the parent of a varsity girls basketball player.

The Rams were to host Mt. Blue of Farmington Saturday and travel to Erskine of South China today.

The Mt. Blue game will be made up Feb. 1 at 7 p.m., while the Erskine game will be played Wednesday at 4 p.m.

‘Wright’ stuff for Witches

There’s no team sport quite like cheerleading, which relies on every single person on the floor, where it’s hard to hide imperfections. It’s tough to single out one cheerleader on a team.

But for the Brewer High cheerleaders, the addition of former Ellsworth student and cheerleader Courtney Wright has made a difference to a Witches team that didn’t lose any seniors last year.

Wright, who was an honor roll student at Ellsworth, was made a captain this season along with longtime Brewer cheerleaders Kristin Wood and Ali Caron.

“It’s great to be here with my friends and to cheer with them,” Wright said. “I’ve known some of them forever.”

A former New England age group gymnastics champion, Wright wrapped up her gymnastics career at Level 8, which is the equivalent of about two levels below the elite gymnasts.

She transferred to Brewer for her senior year in order to take advanced placement classes not offered at Ellsworth.

Wright is a base for the Witches and does a lot of tumbling, which isn’t surprising considering her gymnastics background.

“She’s been unbelievable. She walked into summer camp and after the first day I knew she would be great,” Witches coach Kristie Reed said. “She’s fit right in. With her skills, any coach would have been glad to take her. But she’s such a great kid, she works hard and you wouldn’t guess this was her first year with a new team.”

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.