Early in the Class C boys’ state championship match, Waynflete senior Charlie DiNapoli looked across the tennis courts at flip-card scores of his teammates’ matches.
Both scores read the same as DiNapoli’s No. 2 doubles match. Waynflete trailed Orono 2-1.
Could the streak of consecutive state titles end at 14, leaving the Flyers tied with Old Town boys’ swimming as the longest dynasty in Maine high school team sports history?
“It was pretty rough,” DiNapoli said. “To look over and see those scorecards was a little scary, but then something snapped, and we couldn’t lose after that.”
Indeed, Waynflete won five straight games in all three of those sets and claimed an unprecedented 15th straight state championship with a 5-0 victory Wednesday morning inside Apex Racket & Fitness in Portland.
In the Class C girls’ final, Maranacook earned its first title with a 4-1 victory over Washington Academy to cap a season that introduced five newcomers to the varsity lineup.
“We were really sure this was going to be a rebuilding year,” said junior Cassidy McCormack, whose roller-coaster 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory at No. 3 singles clinched the title, “so we’re just so surprised and excited by it.”
Senior Mary Hatt at No. 2 and sophomore Claire Dwyer at No. 1 also won in singles, Hatt in dominant fashion (6-0, 6-1) and Dwyer by 7-6 (6), 6-1 over Washington Academy senior Sarah Moulton. Sophomore Ava Candage and freshman Grace Tweedie delivered Maranacook’s other victory, 6-3, 6-3 at first doubles.
“It’s kind of a dream team for me,” said Maranacook Coach Lou Gingras. “After losing that many (girls) last year, I wouldn’t have expected it. But they’ve all contributed at different times of the year and they jelled together and really played as a team.”
Maranacook, whose only other finals appearance resulted in a 2018 loss to Mattanawcook Academy, finishes 14-2, splitting with Waterville and losing to Lincoln Academy. Both of those teams reached regional finals in Class B.
The Waynflete boys finished 13-2, losing twice to three-time defending Class B champion Yarmouth by scores of 4-1 and 3-2. Orono finished 15-1.
The Flyers got doubles victories from DiNapoli and sophomore Jeff Adey at No. 2 (6-2, 6-0) and juniors Max Shurman and Basil DiBenedetto at No. 1 (6-2, 6-2). In singles, senior Henry Kerr won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1, sophomore Theo Demetrious won 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (5) at No. 2, and senior Matt Adey won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3.
The older Adey went on court first with the doubles teams, and also took note of Waynflete’s early deficits.
“I was definitely scared,” he said. “I was trying not to think about letting down the history, but it’s hard not to think about it.”
Both senior captains pointed to Coach Jeff Madore as the one constant throughout Waynflete’s lengthy reign. They said he makes practices fun while also maintaining a competitive atmosphere.
“There’s a lot of schools that get a lot of talent that don’t win 14-15 championships,” Adey said. “We have been fortunate with getting skilled tennis players, but Jeff has really done a good job of putting us in good positions, keeping us competitive in practice and making us work for our spots.”
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