BATH — Victoria Weber was undeniably nervous. And that, the Cony High School junior said, was a good thing.
“I think being nervous is good,” she said. “It drives you. It gets the adrenaline going. I think you swim better.”
She certainly did Saturday morning at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A swimming championship. Weber won two events — the 200-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly — and was named the meet’s top girls performer.
Messalonskee sophomore Arthur Conover won the 200 and 500 freestyle races to share the top boys performer award with Jake Olsen, of Morse, who won the 100 butterfly and 50 free.
Morse won both team titles. The boys finished with 250.5 points to beat out Brunswick (235.50), Messalonskee (171) and Lewiston (164). The Morse girls finished with 275 points, followed by Messalonskee (227), Cony (164) and Mt. Ararat (157).
The Shipbuilders had just one individual winner — Guerin Morissette in the 200 individual medley — but secured victory with the strength of their depth and two victorious relay teams.
“It was a great day,” Messalonskee coach Tom Sheridan said. “The teams really stepped up. We had some great performances.”
The Messalonskee tandem of Conover and Matt Twist joined Weber as two-event winners Saturday. Twist won the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.
“Two wins, I’ll take it,” Twist said. “I broke both my times, which was the important thing.”
Twist won the 200 IM in 2 minutes, 10.45 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 1:00.13. Twist edged Albin Werwaiss of Morse in a close backstroke race.
“I just kept thinking, ‘I can’t lose,’ so I just kept pushing,” Twist said. “I just kept pushing as hard as I could.”
And in the 200 IM?
“I was confident,” Twist said. “I knew (Morse’s Ryan Banger) would catch me in the breaststroke but that once we got to the freestyle I would get it.”
Conover enjoyed two relatively comfortable victories. He swam the 500 in 4:56.31 and the 200 in 1:53.17.
“I beat my own expectations in the 500,” said Conover, a sophomore. “I just swam really well. I didn’t get the best time in the 200, but I swam well. I didn’t expect to beat my overall time in the 500, so that was fun.”
Conover added that he tired a bit in the 500, but pushed through to shave about a second off his previous best time.
“In the fifth 50 my shoulders were getting cold, which meant I was swimming fast but that I couldn’t keep the pace,” he said. “So I just tried to breathe more.”
Messalonskee’s Lindsey Prelgovisk (100 backstroke) and Amanda Joy (500 free) were also victorious Saturday. Prelgovisk won the backstroke in 1:02.38 while Joy swam the 500 in 5:38.50.
“I was happy with my times,” Prelgovisk said.
Added Joy: “I was hoping to come out strong so that was good. I was surprised by my time. It was a good race.”
Weber came in seeded third in the 200 free, but parlayed a strong push in the final 25 yards into victory. She finished in 2:02.27, shaving a whopping five seconds off her seed time.
“I didn’t even want to breathe,” Weber said of the final 25 yards. “I just kept kicking and kicking. It was really good. It was fun.”
She followed that performance by winning the 100 butterfly in a tight race with Prelgovisk.
Weber finished in 1:02.17 while Prelgovisk checked in at 1:03.74.
“It was very nerve-racking,” Weber said. “She’s a good swimmer and it’s fun to swim against her. I just tried to stay strong on the kickouts and then tried to hold the lead. I saw I pulled ahead and was happy I could hold the lead.”
Added Prelgovisk: “We knew it was going to be close. She deserved it.”
Also Saturday, Mitch Cooper, of Lawrence, finished third in both the 50 free and 100 free. Erzsie Nagy, also of Lawrence, finished third in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly.
Bill Stewart — 623-3811, ext. 515
bstewart@centralmaine.com
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