BRUNSWICK — Once again, area high schools look to have strong boys and girls swim teams competing this winter.
Morse returns several talented swimmers that helped to capture the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B titles last season, followed by strong showings at the State Class B Championships.
Both Brunswick and Mt. Ararat will look to compete at both the conference and state meets this year after successful seasons a year ago.
Both KVAC and State Class A Championships will be held locally this year. The Class A and B KVAC’s will be held on Feb. 8-9 at the Bath Area Family YMCA, while the boys and girls State Class A championships will be held at Bowdoin College (Feb. 18-19).
Here’s a look at the area teams.
Morse
For the Shipbuilder boys and girls swim teams, nothing but championships and “fast times” are what they have their sights set on.
Along with the KVAC championship, the girls team swam to a fourth-place finish in the State Class B meet a couple of weeks later. The boys, who also won the KVAC title and placed fourth at the state meet.
Returning state qualifiers for the girls are Annastasia Alaboudi (sophomore), junior sisters Olivia and Haily Harper, Ella Martin (senior), Emma Warner (Sr.) and Delaney Young (Sr.).
Olivia Harper will look to defend her 100-yard butterfly and backstroke state titles, swimming a state record 56.25-seconds in the backstroke last February. Haily Harper returns as Class B’s top swimmer in the 100-breaststroke and along with her sister, Martin and a fourth swimmer (Leah Totman graduated), will defend the 200-medley relay title.
Other returning swimmers are Sarah Berkowitz (Sr.), Samantha Myers (Sr.), Molly Cashman (Jr.) and Abby Marston (Jr.).
A large group of incoming freshmen for longtime coach Todd Marco include — Fionna Cashman, Olivia Cunningham, Kaleigh Gingrow, Gracie Hawkes, Iris Hennin, Addie Jung, Liv McDonough, Delaney Pascuzzo and Caroline Skroski. Each add depth for the Shipbuilders.
“Along with some team and state records, the girls are shooting for another KVAC championship and looking at a top three at states,” Marco said.
The boys team lost 500-freestyle champ Ben Willertz and a handful of seniors, but return a solid core of athletes. State qualifiers Alex Gurney, Brandon Johnson, Dominic Marco and Evan Willertz return for the Shipbuilders. Also returning are seniors Owen Barter, Angus Brown, Jacob Brochu, Ethan Pascuzzo, and sophomore Oscar Hennin.
New swimmers are Daniel Whitman, Kia Simmons and Ciaron Wright.
“The boys are also shooting for another KVAC Championship,” Coach Marco said. “They are looking at being in the top four in the states along with some new team records.”
Morse will hold its first meet on Tuesday when it hosts Brunswick at the Bath YMCA at 7 p.m. Meets against Messalonskee at the Alfond Youth Center in Waterville and versus Mt. Ararat at Bowdoin College round out the schedule before the winter break.
The Morse Invitational will be held on Dec. 28 and the Shipbuilders will also host Lewiston (Jan. 11), visit Camden Hills (Jan. 15), entertain Cony (Jan. 22) and be home to Belfast (Feb. 1).
Morse will swim for conference repeat titles on Feb. 8, with the State B Championship for the boys (Feb. 16) and the girls (Feb. 18) held at the University of Maine in Orono.
Brunswick
Once again, the Dragons look to be competitive in both the KVAC and State meets. A third-place finish in the State Class A Championships for the boys, while the girls placed 10th last February, has given the program the confidence to compete, as well as an increase of interest.
“After only a few practices, it looks like a good group,” coach Dave Bright said. “There is a combination of swimmers with high school and Long Reach (Swim Club) experience, as well as some who are new to swimming, but anxious to learn. With 54 swimmers and divers in the water, there is plenty of talent and energy.”
The boys graduated Brian Hess, state champion in the 50-freestyle and runner-up in the breaststroke, as well as several others who provided depth, filling out relays. Returning is senior Matt Yost, winner of the 100-freestyle in Class A who also won the 200-freestyle and 100-fly at the KVAC’s. Also returning is junior Nicco Bartone, who has been near the top of state rankings in several events. Chris Tucker and Josh Pratt are back and look to improve, while newcomers Nathan Levy and Brad Vuong bring some Long Reach Swim Club experience to the team.
On the girls side, state meet finalist Alex Morse (Sr.) returns as well as Mallory Palmer, Ella Tycz and Laura Chavoustie. Bright figures they will each add valuable points as the team’s leading scorers. Long Reach veterans Julia Barron and Kate Shaughnessy will join state qualifier Katherine Hartnett to help build a strong meet lineup.
Following their meet against Morse in Bath on Tuesday, the Dragons host meets at Bowdoin College versus Edward Little (Dec. 14) and Lincoln Academy, Boothbay, Wiscasset (Dec. 18). After competing at the Morse Invitational (Dec. 28), the team travels to Messalonskee (Jan. 11) before home meets against Lewiston (Jan. 15) and Mt. Ararat (Jan. 18). Meets against Hyde at the Wiscasset YMCA (Jan. 29) and at Cony (Feb. 1) round out the slate.
Following the KVAC’s on Feb. 9, the State Championships will be held at Bowdoin College, boys on Feb. 18, with the girls swimming the following day.
Mt. Ararat
Both coaches Steve Butts and Tracy Boucher are pleased with how the boys and girls teams have responded thus far in the first couple of weeks in practices.
“Both the girls and boys teams are highly motivated groups that have brought great energy and effort right away to practice,” Butts said. “Tracy and I both feel that the team on the whole has been very attentive and have taken to coaching well.”
The program’s numbers are slightly up from last season that include the addition of a pair of divers on the boys team and a large group of freshmen girls swimmers. Combine that with the return of “a lot of strong” swimmers, the Eagles will once again compete in the competitive KVAC.
“We have a lot of strong swimmers returning from last year’s team and we look forward to watching them all achieve their goals this season,” Butts said. “Our goals each season are for every swimmer to improve their strokes and times throughout the season, from season to season.”
How will they go about it?
“Ideally each swimmer will ‘get out of their comfort zone’ and try new events or challenge themselves in ways they haven’t in the past. If we are able to help our athletes do that, we will have a successful season,” added Butts.
The Eagles will compete in their first meet of the season on Friday when they swim against Edward Little at the Lewiston YWCA. They will make trips to Messalonskee (Dec. 11) and Gardiner (Dec. 18) before hosting Morse (Dec. 21) in their first home meet at Bowdoin College.
Home meets against Lewiston (Jan. 8) and Hyde (Jan. 11), followed by a “road” meet against Brunswick (Jan. 18) and an away meet in Belfast (Jan. 25) close out the regular season.
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