WESTBROOK – Greely, the two-time defending meet champion, was creeping ever closer to her team, but that meant little to Cape Elizabeth junior Charlotte Sawyer.

Sawyer’s sole focus was the 100-yard breast stroke, the penultimate event of the Southwesterns Swimming and Diving Championships for North Division teams Saturday at Davan Pool in Westbrook.

For weeks, Sawyer had been stuck just over the state meet qualifying time of 1 minute, 24.00 seconds. She wasn’t entered in any relays or any other individual events Saturday, and wasn’t among the top 12 seeds.

“I was super nervous,” Sawyer said. “All I wanted was to qualify.”

Sawyer did more than that. Shaving more than a second off her previous best, she won her heat in 1:22.91 — a time that lifted her to eighth place overall and scored five points for her team.

Cape Elizabeth beat Greely by seven points, 341-334, after winning the ‘B’ relay in the 400 freestyle and finishing second to the Rangers in the ‘A’ relay.

“Everybody had to contribute,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Ben Raymond. “We told the girls it’s not necessarily going to come down to our top four swimmers, but our middle 12 swimmers are going to make the difference in the meet.”

Freshman Taylor Herrera moved up from eighth seed to sixth place in the 100 backstroke, causing a swing of four points that, coupled with Sawyer’s surprise, offset the disqualification of a teammate called for leaning on the starting blocks.

Falmouth was third with 171 points, followed by Deering (133), McAuley (123), Cheverus (121), Scarborough (80), South Portland (46), Westbrook (23) and Poland (13).

Greely junior Sarah Easterling was named performer of the meet after setting school records in the 200 individual medley (2:08.45) and 100 free (53.59) and anchoring the winning 400 free relay.

Sara Schad also set two school records, winning the 50 free in 24.64 and placing second to Cape Elizabeth sophomore Sydney Wight in an enthralling 100 butterfly, won by Wight in 58.60.

Wight also won the 200 free (2:01.49) and swam on a 200 medley relay that fell half a second shy of the meet record.

Cape Elizabeth sophomore Hannah Homans (backstroke), Deering junior Genevieve Worthley (breast) and Greely junior Emily Domingo (500 free) also won individual events.

“That was the best performance of my girls’ team in my 20 years of coaching,” said Greely Coach Rob Hale, whose team pulled into a tie after winning the 200 free relay. “Everyone moved up.”

Falmouth senior diver Nicola Mancini, who won an invitational with 414 points earlier this season, had her sights set on the 11-year-old North Southwesterns record of 402.50 set by Greely’s Brianna Hoffner, at least until her eighth and final dive of Thursday’s preliminary round — a forward one and a half somersault with a full twist. She calls it her best dive and normally scores in the mid-40s, but this time she missed it, failing to complete the twist, and received no points.

Mancini performed her final three dives Saturday and won by more than 100 points with a 371.30 total.

“It stinks that it was a big meet,” she said. “I was wicked upset (Thursday) night and it was pretty brutal, but it happens to everybody. You can’t just go through high school without having any challenges.” 

NOTES: Two meet records fell Friday night in the boys’ meet, not one as was reported in Saturday’s Press Herald.

Cape Elizabeth senior Marcus Cloutier won the 100 backstroke in a time of 53.85 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 53.96 set by Geoff Hadam, also of Cape Elizabeth, in 1999.

Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:

gjordan@pressherald.com

Twitter: GlennJordanPPH

 

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