The Cape Elizabeth girls and boys swim teams surged to early leads over their South Portland counterparts on big wins in the opening events Friday afternoon, Jan. 10.

The Capers dominated the 200-yard medley relays to open the home-pool meet, taking first, second and third in the girls’ race and first and second in the boys’, then continued to ride a wave of wins to a 144-37 girls victory and a 107-62 boys victory.

“We have a pretty big team this year; we have a lot of kids swimming,” Cape head coach Ben Raymond said. “Some pretty good depth.”

Raymond noted that Cape has been running numerous exhibition races, in which swimmers from one school only take part, not competing with one another so much as with themselves – to qualify for States, swimmers need to beat a set time in each event.

Taylor Herrera, Rose Baillie, Sarah Loring and Katie Connolly took first in the girls 200-yard medley relay in a time of 2:07.01, while Alex Mukai, Reese McFarlane, Jordan Petersen and Kyle Long placed first in the boys’ run, needing just 1:51.74 to do so.

Baillie and Loring posted numerous other excellent performances as well; Baillie took third in the 200-yard freestyle and second in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Loring finished second in the 500-yard freestyle and contributed to strong 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relay teams.

Likewise, Sydney Wight and Caroline Herriman logged superb times as well. Wight took first in the 50-yard free and the 500-yard free, and anchored Cape’s first-place 200-yard and 400-yard free relay teams. Herriman took first in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke, and swam with Wight on those No. 1 200-yard and 400-yard free relay teams.

“We have some really good swimmers at the top, who swim year-round,” Raymond said. “We have a great club program in town, Coast Maine Aquatics; a lot of kids swim with that growing up and then continue in high school.

“And we have a group of athletes, kids that like to compete in three sports, just seasonal swimmers who end up doing a nice job.”

“There are kids that are just here for all different reasons. That’s the nice part. We can accommodate so many different kids and their needs…We have some who just want to do something to socialize, be part of the school community.”

The Cape boys proved equally impressive. Mukai also took first in the 200-yard IM and second in the 100-yard butterfly, and swam on the winning 200-yard freestyle squad. McFarlane took second in the 50-yard free and first in the 100-yard breaststroke, Petersen first in the 200-yard free and 100-yard back, and Long first in the 100-yard fly.

For their part, South Portland recorded a number of solid times also. Sarah Micucci, for instance, took third in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle races, and Nick Alvarez placed second in the 200-yard free, and swam one leg of the second-place 200-yard free squad and one of the first-place 400-yard free squad.

In the end, however, the Capers overwhelmed the Red Riots and emerged from the pool victorious.

“We’re making some pretty good progress,” Raymond said. “Our times continue to drop; we’re pretty focused on the end of the year. Some kids are pretty slow right now, but they’re training hard. It’s hard coming off vacation.”

Many Cape swimmers have already come in under those required times and qualified to advance to States. “We probably have around…40 girls and boys – more girls than boys,” he said.

Cape Elizabeth next battles Scarborough; that meet, also at home, is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17 – precisely when the South Portland will be lining up to host Westbrook.

Red Riot Nick Alvarez gulps air midway through the Boys 200-yard Freestyle. Alvarez took second in the event, in a time of 2:01.24.South Portland’s JT Fix swims the breaststroke portion of the Boys 200-yard IM.Cape Elizabeth’s Rose Baillie cuts through the water in the Girls 200-yard Freestyle.Caper Katie Schonewolf swims the backstroke leg of the Girls 200-yard Individual Medley; Schonewolf took third in the event, in 2:48.71.Cape’s Connor Thoreck slices through the pool during the Boys 100-yard Freestyle.