There weren’t many places louder than Westbrook’s Davan Pool over the weekend, as athletes and their fans packed the facility for the Southwestern swimming and diving north division championships.
Scarborough faced some tough competition, but topped the field at the boys meet Friday and again at the girls meet Saturday.
“The seniors really got everyone to pull together,” said Red Storm coach Bill Stone. “The freshmen stepped up. The divers came up with some big points for us. It was a whole team effort.”
Scarborough’s boys amassed 257.5 points to edge Deering (232) and Cape Elizabeth (229.5). The Red Storm girls collected 285, just ahead of the Capers (273) and Falmouth (256).
Doug Endrizzi was a big part of Scarborough’s success, winning a pair of individual events – the 50 and 100 freestyle races – and swimming a leg on the victorious 200 medley relay.
His hair, like that of many of his teammates, was dyed a bright reddish-orange, and he took every moment that he was not in the pool to cheer on his fellow swimmers.
“When I was a freshman I saw the seniors and they always had this team spirit,” Endrizzi said. “I never really understood that, but now I’m a senior and I’ve watched all my teammates growing up. I encourage them and it’s so great.”
Nicole Glab (500 freestyle) and Nicole Harmon (100 backstroke) won events for the Red Storm girls, and they were each part of the winning 200 medley relay quartet as well. Glab also took second in the 100 breaststroke and Harmon was runner-up in the 200 individual medley.
Other top Scarborough individual performers were Andrew Leavitt (2nd, 500 freestyle), Casey Brucken (3rd, 100 backstroke), Jonathan Russell (3rd, 100 breaststroke), Carrie Chykaliuk (3rd, 100 freestyle), Danielle Gravel (3rd, 100 butterfly) and Sarah Reynolds (3rd, 100 backstroke).
“The guys won last night and we’re coming off that adrenaline,” Chykaliuk said halfway through Saturday’s competition. “We’re pumped for this meet.”
Cape Elizabeth’s girls team was led by Kinsey Tarbell, who won both the 50 and 100 freestyle races.
Teammate Laura Williamson took first in the diving competition, while Nick Daly bested the field in the 100 butterfly for Cape’s boys squad and was runner-up in the 100 backstroke.
Other top Cape finishers included Reilly Taylor (2nd, 100 breaststroke and 3rd, 50 freestyle), Nora Daly (3rd, 200 freestyle and 3rd, 500 freestyle) and Joe Goodglass (3rd, 500 freestyle).
Kyle Crozier had South Portland’s best finish when he won the 100 breaststroke. The Riots Becky Braley finished third in girls diving.
Before each meet, scholarships of $500 were presented to 10 seniors who were chosen based on criteria that included citizenship, academics and swimming accomplishments. Those selected included Taylor and Jessica Danielson from Cape and Chykaliuk, Laura Wood and Chris Buttarazzi from Scarborough. In addition, Endrizzi was presented with the Randy Comeau Award.
Danielson, who has been swimming competitively since she was 8, said that she enjoys that an individual endeavor like swimming can be such a team sport.
“I’m the captain of the team,” she said, “and I work really hard to I try to get the rest of the team involved and excited.”
Endrizzi reflected on the role he’s filled on the team in his senior year. His decision to dye his hair spurred teammates to do the same, a sign of the influence he can have on others.
“I didn’t understand team leadership when I was younger,” he said, “but (dying our hair) really did bring us together.”
The state swim meets are scheduled for Feb. 20 and 21 at the University of Maine in Orono.
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