Swimmers from Maine won 15 events and set six regional records at the New England Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships on Saturday at the University of New Hampshire.

Sanford senior Jenni Roberts and Morse senior James Wells each lowered two individual marks by considerable amounts, and Hyde School senior Won Ho Chang lopped more than a 1.5 seconds from a butterfly record that had stood since 1976.

Competing against swimmers from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont, teams from Maine captured five of the six relay races, with the Greely girls setting a New England record in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Freshman Sarah Easterling, sophomore Sara Schad, junior Megan Stroud and senior Taylor Roach led Greely to victory in 1 minute, 44.35 seconds, slightly slower than their performance at the Class B state meet, but fast enough to beat the New England mark.

Roberts, who already held the New England record in the 100 backstroke, added her name to the books for the 200 individual medley (2:09.42) and the 100 butterfly (57.40). Mainers swept the top four spots in the IM, with Noble senior Kaitlyn McKenna, Greely’s Easterling and Messalonskee sophomore Lindsey Prelgovisk following Roberts.

In the butterfly, Camden Hills senior Lianne McCluskey placed second, trailing Roberts by more than three seconds.

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Wells lowered the New England mark in the 200 IM by more than half a second to 1:57.35 — two seconds off his time at the Class A state meet — and sliced a remarkable three seconds off the 100 backstroke record, to 50.09.

Chang, who plans to continue swimming at Bates College, won the butterfly in 49.92. The old record of 51.62 had stood for 24 years.

Chang also anchored Hyde’s victorious 200 freestyle relay team, following juniors James Frazier, Erik Peterson and Kevin Ou.

Other individual New England champions from Maine included Falmouth sophomore Nicola Mancini in diving (353.70 points, the only girl to surpass 300 points), Bangor senior Tim Smith in diving (356.70), and Mt. Desert Island senior Ian Carbone in the 100 breast stroke (1:00.84).

Maine swimmers claimed the top three slots in the boys’ 500 freestyle — Westbrook senior Derek Hawkes in 5:02.61, followed by Belfast junior Will Hurley and Brewer senior Brent Williams — and in the girls’ 100 breast stroke — Deering freshman Genevieve Worthely placing first in 1:06.69, followed by Deering senior Kristen Grandonico and MDI junior Ryann Rourk.

Chelsey Curran, a junior at MDI, and Easterling went 1-2 in the girls’ 100 backstroke, reversing their order of finish from the Class B state meet.

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The same four girls who set the 200 free relay record for Greely also won the 400 free relay, in 3:47.14.

In the boys’ 400 free relay, the Windham High quartet of freshman Nick Sundquist, senior Jake Shoberg, junior Nathan Paluso and junior Lance Webster held off Greely to win by five hundredths of a second, in 3:23.54.

Greely’s boys opened the meet with a 200 medley relay victory in 1:44.63, with seniors John Madeira and Patrick Bowden, sophomore Dan Spencer and junior Ian Mecray.

Four swimmers from Thornton Academy — Emily Puleio, Audrey Puleio, Katy Wolfe and Samantha Naylon — set four individual and two relay school records at the meet, placing as high as fifth in New England.

 


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