BRUNSWICK

The Maine high school State Swimming Championships begin this weekend, with Brunswick and Mt. Ararat in Class A and Morse in Class B.

First will be the Class A girls, who will compete at the University of Maine in Orono on Saturday. The Class A boys will be in Orono on Monday, with diving slated for a 10:30 a.m. start and the swimming beginning at 12:30 p.m.

Both Brunswick teams won the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A Championship last weekend at the Bath Area Family YMCA.

The Morse boys took first place in the Class B KVAC meet, with the girls finishing second, and will be in action at Bowdoin College, the Shipbuilder girls on Monday and the boys on Tuesday. Swimming begins at 11 a.m., with diving at 8:30 a.m.

Girls

David Bright’s Brunswick girls will be looking to repeat as state Class A champions. Caitlin Tycz, who won the 200-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke events at the KVAC meet, will headline the Dragons after qualifying first in 7-of-8 events. However, Tycz is only eligible to swim in two individual events and two relays, so Bright will have some decisions to make.

“It’s hard,” Bright said. “We try to take our best and spread them around different events. So there’s a little bit of a preference and you see if you can maybe knock down a top swimmer from the other team to keep them from getting a first. But you only get two events, so you look at relays and try and avoid back-to-back events where you wouldn’t get enough rest in between.”

Tycz also captured first at the KVAC’s in the 200 freestyle relay with teammates

Emma Blair, Alex Morse and Lexi Stevenson. The foursome is seeded first in the event.

Tycz, Blair, Morse and Lynsie Russell took first at the KVAC’s in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:39.91 (state record), and are seeded first as a group on Saturday. The foursome is also seeded second in the 200 medley relay, behind Cony’s top team.

Blair is seeded second, right behind Tycz at 24.53, with a time of 24.98 in the 50 freestyle event, as well as fifth in the 100 freestyle (55.36). Russell is seeded 14th and 12th respectively. In the 100 breaststroke event, Blair is seeded sixth (1.13.57) and Tycz ninth (1.15.54). Russell is also the top seed in the 500 free.

Bright has yet to disclose all of his plans for placement, but he did say that Blair and Russell will be seeded first in their respective events for Brunswick.

“We anticipate that they’ll be our other big scorers,” he said.

The Mt. Ararat relay team of Abigal Anderson, Molly Huey, Laura Secone and Keri Lachapelle is seeded 18th in the 200 freestyle relay and 20th in the 400 relay.

The Morse girls, who will compete at Bowdoin College on Tuesday at 11 a.m. for the Class B State Championship, are led by junior Ann Tolan, who took first place in the 200 IM event (2:13.01) and 500 freestyle event (5:12.55) at the KVAC Class B meet on Tuesday at the Bath YMCA.

“Ann Tolan could win just about any two events that I choose to put her in, but she will swim the 50 free and 100 free, events she is heavily favored in, along with Ella Martin. Brittany Kaler is seeded second in the 100 backstroke,” Morse coach Todd Marco said.

Kaler placed second in the 200 freestyle at the KVAC’s with a time of 2:08.01, just behind Belfast’s Kaylen Ottman (2:05.81). Martin won both the 50 freestyle (25.78) and 100 freestyle (57.36) events.

Tolan, Kaler, Martin and Emma Warner are seeded third in the 200 freestyle relay and second in the 400 freestyle relay.

“I would hope we could finish in the top five, but we only have six girls competing in the meet. We will swim all three relays, and expect to do well in two of them.”

Like Bright, Marco must pick and choose what swimmers on his team will swim what events.

“I always question myself on what events I should ultimately put my swimmers in, but I try to put them into events they want to swim in and have chances at setting a state mark in.”

Marco expects Cape Elizabeth, Greely and Class B newcomer Kennebunk to battle it out for the state title.

Hyde’s highest seeding at Bowdoin will come from the relay team of Merrill Truluck, Jennifer Borjes, Olivia Spiega and Melanie Higgins, who sit 20th in the 400 freestyle event.

Boys

The Brunswick boys will have its eyes on Cheverus, which has won the state title three years in a row. Bright said the Stags were “way ahead of everyone last year,” but thinks his side has improved.

“I think it’s a strong group,” Bright said of his Dragon boys. “I think we can close the gap a little bit. They’re still going to be very strong, but I think we can pull away from some of the other teams that were close to us and start closing in on Cheverus.

Nate Samson, who broke a state record in the 200 IM at KVAC, will be pacing the Dragons, who hope to use the momentum from their fourth KVAC title in a row come Monday in Orono.

Samson placed first in his two solo events at the KVAC — 200 IM (1:52.03) and 100 backstroke (49.41) — and is seeded first in five different events for the Class A State meet. But like Tycz on the girls side, he can only swim in two of those, or other solo events, leaving Bright with decisions to make.

“We’re trying to cover events with our team and have some balance in the lineup,” Bright said. “Little bit of personal preference, you know, if there’s a record or something that we might be close to.”

Other key swimmers from the Brunswick boys will be Brian Hess (seeded fifth in the 50 freestyle), Henry Raker (seeded 15th in both the 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke), and Matt Yost (seeded 13th in the 50 free).

Hess “looks to be near the top in the breaststroke,” according to Bright, who said Hess will also be competing in relay events.

Samson, Hess, Ben Farrell and Raker make up a relay team seeded first in the 200 medley, and Samson, Hess, Farrell and Yost are seeded first in the 400 freestyle relay.

For both the girls and boys meets in Orono, Bright has his eye on three other teams that he thinks will compete for the title.

“The scoring is going to be kind of clustered with us, Cony, Cheverus and Scarborough,” Bright said. “Those four will kind of be at the top.”

Bright also noted that Chris Roderick will be competing for a top three slot in the boys diving event and can provide the Dragons with valuable points.

The Mt. Ararat team of Max Bickford, Devin Hoskins, Jacob Burnette and William Furgeson is seeded 19th in the 200 medley relay.

In Class B, the Morse boys will be looking to build off of a highly successful KVAC meet.

Key swimmers for the Shipbuilders include Tucker Banger, Camden Fitzgerald and Ben Willertz. Banger took first in the 50 freestyle at the KVAC’s and is seeded second in the event for the state championship. Banger, Max Gurney and Fitzgerald are all seeded in the 100 freestyle event, coming in at fifth, 13th and 14th, respectively.

Marco already has a set game plan for his boys side.

“Tucker Banger will swim the 50- and 100-frees, and Camden Fitzgerald is in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles. Cameron Marco is seeded fifth in the 100 breaststroke, while Ben Willertz is seeded fourth in the 500 free.”

In the 200 freestyle relay, Banger, Gurney, Fitzgerald and Dominic Marco teamed up for a fifth seed, while Gurney, Cameron Marco, Patrick McKenna and Banger are seeded third in the 200 medley relay.

“I think the boys can be in the top four if things go right. We have two solid relay teams that should do well, and a few individual swimmers that are seeded high,” said Todd Marco.

Wiscasset, Freeport, and Hyde will also compete at the Class B State meet.

Wolverines’ swimmer Colin Viele is seeded 17th in the 100 freestyle, and the relay team of Sam Storer, Aidan Carlson, Brandon Goud and Viele is slotted at 13th in the 200 freestyle relay.

Freeport’s Drew Michaud is seeded 13th in the 100 backstroke event.

For Hyde, two relay teams are seeded 19th in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle events — Sam Hunt, Caleb Lowrie, Brenden Lutes and Flynn Grover-Watson in the former, and Grover-Watson, Huy Pham, Lutes and Lowrie in the latter.