The Scarborough boys and girls swim teams both finished third at the Southwestern North Division Championships held Friday and Saturday in Westbrook.
Cape Elizabeth finished fourth on the girls side and fifth on the boys. South Portland’s boys and girls scored 51 points apiece.
Greely captured both championships.
“We knew that Greely was going to be difficult because of their numbers,” said Scarborough coach Bill Stone. “I knew they would drop a lot of time because they do really well in the big meets.”
The Southwestern championship has always been about depth. With each swimmer only able to swim three events – typically two events and a relay – having multiple swimmers in an event final is crucial.
“Greely had at least two in each last heat,” Stone said. “They swam crazy. They had huge drops (in time). They had kids scoring from the first or second heat.”
Scarborough junior Nicole Harmon broke the state record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.78 seconds, shattering the previous record of 59.2 held by Taylor McFarlane of Cape Elizabeth.
Harmon also won the 100 butterfly, setting a new school record with a time of 59.71 and teamed with Brittanie Bradley, Christine Beecher and Allison Rogers to win the 200 medley relay.
“Nicole got a lot of pressure from the club side to not do high school swimming,” Stone said, “At the beginning of the year there was a lot of press for the kids that decided not to do it and here is Nicole who decided to do high school. It’s good not just for her, but it’s good for high school swimming in general. It proves to kids who sat out that you can do high school and swim best times.”
Cape Elizabeth’s Nora Daly finished first in the 50 and 500 freestyle events. Teammates Rosie Wennberg (200 IM) and Melanie Pinnette (1-meter dive) each recorded second-place finishes.
Cape’s 200 freestyle relay of Rosie Wennberg, Emily MacDuffie, Lilly Wennberg and Daly also finished second.
On the boys’ side, Scarborough sophomore Nick Twomey dominated the 100 backstroke, winning with a time of 59.45 seconds, three-plus seconds better than his nearest competitor.
Senior Jon Russell finished second in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley.
Russell and Twomey teamed with sophomores Peter Griffin and Ryan Whelan for a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Bryant Shannon, Adam Saltz, Adam Leatherbee and Thomas Spencer placed second in the 400 freestyle relay.
For Cape Elizabeth, Bogie Foden won the 1-meter diving event with 318.15 points. South Portland’s Joe McGreehan (298.95) and Scarborough’s Sam Ledue (254.90) finished second and third respectively.
Cape’s Nick Daly finished second in both the 200 and 500 freestyle. The team of Alex McFarlane, Sean Campbell, Foden and Daly finished second in the 200 freestyle relay.
Girls Team Scores
1 Greely High School 281
2 Falmouth High School 278
3 Scarborough Swim and Dive 212
4 Cape Elizabeth High School 195
5 McAuley 170
6 Deering High School 78
7 Cheverus High School 76
8 Westbrook High School 51
8 South Portland High School 51
Boys Team Scores
1 Greely High School 244
2 Westbrook High School 232
3 Scarborough Swim and Dive 229
4 Cheverus High School 164
5 Cape Elizabeth High School 160
6 Deering High School 158
7 Falmouth High School 122
8 South Portland High School 51
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