Capers, Blazes, Storm mix it up in the pool

Jordan Petersen and Griffin Thoreck led the Gentlemen Capers ahead of all comers Thursday night. Cape Elizabeth tallied 133 points to Scarborough’s 122 and the Westbrook’s 64. Meanwhile, Aleeza Barkas and Hallie O’Donnell helped catapult the Lady Red Stormers past Westbrook 109-58, though their Caper counterparts did not compete.

Scarborough hosted the three-way splashdown at Richards Community Pool in Cape.

“It’s going great,” Scarborough head coach Eric French said, mid-meet. “The kids are amped up.”

French described his squad as scrappers. “You’re not going to expect Scarborough, and then all of a sudden we’re going to be there in the end, to kind of go after it.”

Westbrook’s Molly Sweet and relay-mates Molly Douglass, Kari Brown and Megan Zabenko leapt to a promising first-place finish in event No. 1, the 200-yard Medley (taking it in a time of 2:11.20), but 11 further events remained. During the course of those, Barkas, O’Donnell and Co. earned nearly double the points of the Blazes.

“The meet went well,” Westbrook head coach Dana Barrows said, after the last event concluded. “It’s nice to be in an atmosphere with both teams; both teams swam well. It’s good to see some kids from Scarborough qualify today. They always provide a good atmosphere.”

Barkas won the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle races (in 1:00.40 and 2:11.90, respectively), and combined with O’Donnell on the first-place 200-yard and 400-yard Free Relay squads; Julie Walker and Rebecca Beatty swam the other legs. O’Donnell took first in the girls’ 50-yard Free (27.70) and second in the 100-yard Free (1:02.30).

And though they fell behind, the Scarborough boys put up an ongoing fight as well. Kyle Ankermann and Nate Howard – both members of the second-place (1:55.10) 200-yard Medley Relay team as well as the first-place 400-yard Free Relay team – went one-two in the 50-yard Free (in 23.90 and 25.40 seconds), for instance. Relay-mate David Grover took second in the 100-yard Free (57.30), and fellow Stormer Tristan DeYoung placed second in the 500-yard Free (5:50.60).

“We’ve got a lot of guys in the backstroke, a lot of guys in the freestyle events,” French said of the Red Storm’s late-season prospects.

Petersen and Thoreck worked alongside Kyle Long and Resse McFarlance to take the 200-yard Medley Relay (1:51.00) and the 200-yard Free Relay (1:40.50). Petersen also placed first in the 500-yard Free (5:28.20) and the 100-yard Fly (58 seconds flat), while Thoreck snatched No. 1 in the 100-Yard Free (56.50). McFarlane took first in the 100-yard Breaststroke (1:10.20).

The Blazes may have hashed the fewest points, but they nevertheless posted some strong times – those of the always-impressive Sweet and Greg Violette among them.

Sweet finished first in the 100-yard Fly (1:09.70) and the 100-yard Back (1:10.10), and Violette topped the podium in the 200-yard IM (2:07.30) and the 100-yard Back (57.20). He also swam on the second place 200-yard and 400-yard Free teams (alongside Brandon Labbe, Jordan Gattine and Sidney Bartlett; 1:45.50 and 4:00.70).

“Our seniors are swimming amazing,” French said. “We got a state-qualifying time out of Julia Walker, first time ever. Her senior year, captain.”

Mid-season, most teams expect only incremental additions to their States contingents, as their core groups of swimmers tend to qualify early. Nevertheless, new faces can join the ranks of the postseason-bound at any time, and for someone like Walker, or Noah Paradis – another Red Stormer to qualify for States for the first time (in the 100-yard Breaststroke) – that time was Thursday.

French is proud of the progress his squad has made this season. “Last week, versus Cape Elizabeth, we had 57 personal best times.”

“We have Southwesterns coming up,” Barrows said, also eyeing the end of the year. “That’s kind of what we’re aiming for. We’re in the thick of the season, and a lot of the best times are yet to come.”

Scarborough’s Brooke Hallett cuts through the pool in the 200-yard IM. Hallett took first in the event, in a time of 2:45.60.Ethan DuPerre of Cape Elizabeth swims the 200-yard IM. DuPerre finished third in the event, in 2:30.50.Cape’s Tom Bordeaux swims in the 50-yard Free.Westbrook’s Sasha Simatovic swims the 100-yard Butterfly.Westbrook’s Brianna Wright plunges through the 100-yard Free.Griffin Thoreck swims a winning 56.50 time for Cape in the 100-yard Free.Owen Thoreck swims the 100-yard Free for Cape Elizabeth.The Blue Blazes’ Megan Zabenko took first in the 500-yard Freestyle, in 6:23.80.Tristan DeYoung of Scarborough shakes hands with the swimmer one lane over after taking second in the 500-yard Freestyle in a time of 5:50.60.Swimmers, including Cape’s Owen Thoreck (foreground), take their marks before the start of the 200-yard Free Relay.Red Stormer Noah Paradis after his first-ever States-qualifying time (1:17.40) in the 100-yard Breaststroke.Scarborough’s David Grover splashes through his leg of the 400-yard Freestyle Relay.