3 min read

ORONO

Leila Johnston arrived at the Stanley Wallace Pool on Monday as the owner of two state freestyle records. By the time the senior phenom departed the University of Maine campus, she had again re-written Maine’s swimming record books.

Johnston set meet and state records in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100 free and helped Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor win the 200 medley and 200 free relays on the way to her second straight Performer of the Meet honor at the Class B swimming and diving state championships at the University of Maine.

Johnston’s joy was tempered slightly by the outcome of the meet. Greely won the team title in dramatic fashion by finishing second behind the Trojans in the final event, the 400 free relay.

Greely scored 350.5 points to nip MDI by a half-point. MDI had won the previous two Class B crowns. Cape Elizabeth was third with 181 points, Camden Hills fourth (170) and Morse fifth (169).

Advertisement

In the last event, the 4 x 400 freestyle relay, MDI needed to win and get some help from Morse, but the Shipbuilders’ third-seeded unit could not overtake Greely and finished third at 3:56.12.

“It was crazy because we knew Morse was only seeded a second behind us,” Greely junior Hwanhee Park said of watching the tense relay. “I’m so proud of all our girls, they really swam their hearts out. We’re such a cohesive team and I know that’s what really made us get first is that we love each other genuinely and are just amazing together,” she added.

Park was the runner-up in the 200 individual medley and the 200 butterfly, helping Greely post eight secondplace finishes despite not winning a single event.

Cape Elizabeth finished third with 181 points, followed by Camden Hills (170), Morse (168.5), Foxcroft Academy (149) and John Bapst of Bangor (131).

Park was the top individual among 11 swimmers who scored for coach Rob Hale’s Greely squad. The Rangers also received productive meets from junior Cat Maker, who was second in the 50 free and 100 free, Katie Bacall (2nd 500 free, 4th 200 free) and Kate Dransfield (2nd 100 backstroke, 4th 50 free).

Camilla Civiello, Madison Rawnsley, Meagan Currie, Lauren Williams Katie Bacall, Lily Black and Ciara Hayes also scored for Greely, which was the runner-up in the 200 medley relay.

Advertisement

MDI’s Johnston smashed an 18-year-old Class B meet mark held by Orono’s Sarah Kovenock by winning the 200 free in 1:50.63 seconds. She led wire to wire, also breaking the state record owned by Taylor McFarlane of Cape Elizabeth since 2003.

Johnston, who in 2014 logged state and Class B meet standards in the 50 free (23.56), later lowered her record in the 100 free by 0.65 seconds, touching the pad in 51.02.

MDI’s Lydia DaCorte also had a tremendous meet, claiming the 100-yard butterfly (58.69) and setting a Class B meet record in the 500 freestyle (5:08.45). The sophomore anchored the winning 200 free relay quartet and the Trojans’ firstplace 400 free relay team (with Eliza Schleif, Maddie Woodworth and Sydney Wright) with a 3:46.26 effort, a meet record.

In the 100, DaCorte received a stiff challenge from Morse’s Ann Tolan but pulled away over the last 25 yards. Tolan swam the event in 53.11, and won the 50 free in 24.35.

The Shipbuilders placed three scorers in the 50 free, with Lexi Stevenson finishing 12th in 27.62 and Madison Burch in 16th in 28.16.

In the 200 medley relay, the Trojans were third going into the butterfly, but Johnson erased the deficit and took the lead. Freestyler Schleif made it stand up as MDI (with Woodworth and Avalon Kerley) clocked a 1:53.09.

Advertisement

DaCorte built a one-second lead after 50 yards in the 100 butterfly, then repelled a late charge to edge Greely’s Park by 0.24 seconds in 58.69.

Ana Neff-Jandrasko of Catherine McAuley High School in Portland was a two-event winner as she took the 200 individual medley in 2:12.60 and the 100 backstroke in 1:00.52.

Kassidy Harriman of Old Town was a convincing winner in the diving competition. The sophomore scored 311.65 points to beat Chelsea Schroeder of MDI (253.90) and Michaela Pinette of Cape Elizabeth (252.20).

Other scorers for Morse on the day were Bronwyn Morissette (16th, 200 free, 2:16.95; 13th, 500 free, 6:05.86), Allison Plummer (15th, 200 IM, 2:30.90; 14th, 100 breaststroke, 1:18.56), Burch (16th, 100 free, 1:02.97) and Brittany Kaler (fifth, 100 free, 58.16; fourth, 100 backstroke, 1:03.93). Also, the Shipbuilders were third in the 4 x 200 medley relay (1:58.67) andseventhinthe4x200 free relay (1:52.53).



Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.