CAPE ELIZABETH – The national anthem before a sporting event can be mundane, or it can be more.

When you’re a high school senior singing a capella with three teammates in the midst of a crowded natatorium on the cusp of your final South Southwesterns Swimming and Diving Championships, well, it can get the adrenaline flowing.

How else to explain a time drop of eight seconds for Windham High senior Stephen Hoeprich? Not seeded among the top 12 swimmers, he rose to ninth in the meet’s first individual event, the 200-yard freestyle Friday night at Donald Richards Pool.

And what about classmate Daniel Sepulveda? He was part of Windham’s musical quartet who then anchored a 200-yard medley relay with three underclassmen to a surprising second-place finish.

“That set a tone at the beginning of the meet,” Windham Coach Peter Small said. “Right from the get-go, our medley relay truly swam out of their minds. And then (Hoeprich) moves from not scoring to ninth place. I think it set a tone and off we went.”

Indeed, the Windham boys defended their title, pulling ahead of Thornton Academy in the meet’s penultimate event — the 100 breast stroke won in come-from-behind fashion by freshman Joseph Paluso — and clinching the crown with a victory in the 400 free relay, with Paluso, Nick Sundquist and the other two anthem singers — senior Alexander Gilvey and junior Joe Mycock.

Windham finished with 239 points to 218½ for Thornton. Massabesic was third at 195, followed by Kennebunk (174), Portland (105½), Gorham (105), Bonny Eagle (88), Yarmouth (83), Waynflete (59), Biddeford (36), Marshwood (13), Hyde (10) and North Yarmouth Academy (5).

Sundquist won the 100 and 200 free, the latter in a time of 48.42 seconds to break the meet’s oldest swimming record — 49.06 set by Thornton’s Todd Poirier in 1997.

“This is my third shot at it, and I wanted it,” said Sundquist, named performer of the meet. “I didn’t feel like I was going fast enough, so I just gritted my teeth and dug in and swam as hard as I could.”

Massabesic senior Tyler Wright was the only other double winner, with victories in the 100 butterfly (54.60) and 100 backstroke (56.03) that were .04 and .57 shy of meet records.

Gilvey won the 200 individual medley and finished second in the backstroke. Juniors Cole Moran (third in breast) and Mycock (fourth in backstroke) and the freshman Paluso (second in 500 free) all contributed top-five finishes for the Eagles.

Gorham sophomore Tim Smith won the 50 free in 23.63, Waynflete junior Luke Jeton won the 500 free in 4:59.60, and Thornton senior Tyler Goulden defended his diving title with 357.00 points. Massabesic won the medley relay and Gorham took the 200 free relay.

NOTES: Portland native Ian Crocker will appear at the girls’ South Southwesterns from 2:30 to 3:30 today with his Olympic medals to promote the Swim for Heart fundraiser on Valentine’s Day, along with Westbrook distance swimmer Pat Gallant-Charette, the oldest American woman to swim the English Channel.

Crocker will also visit Riverton Pool (7-8 a.m.), the Portland YMCA (8:30-10), Greely High (10:30-11:30), and Davan Pool in Westbrook (12:30 to 1:30 p.m.).

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

gjordan@pressherald.com

Twitter: GlennJordanPPH

 

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