ORONO

Brunswick High School won its second consecutive Class A state girls swimming and diving championship with 289 points Saturday at the University of Maine’s Wallace Pool.

Scarborough (256) finished second followed by Cheverus (251 points), Bangor (209) and Cony (181) in the 25-team field.

“We knew going into the meet if everyone swam beyond what we optimistically had hoped, we would be well positioned,” Brunswick coach David Bright said after the Maine Principals’ Association’s trophy presentation to the Dragons.

Scoring three swimmers in the 50-yard freestyle, led by Emma Blair’s 24.6-second place touch, the Dragons took their first lead in the meet, and in the remaining eight events distinguished themselves as Class A’s fastest. An eighth-place 26.3 from Lexi Stevenson and an 11th- place 26.6 from Emily Cowan added to the Dragons’ scoring in the 50.

“ We anticipated the middle events to be ones of strength for us,” Bright said of his team’s 50 free results.

Caitlin Tycz, Brunswick’s talented performer in multiple events and who was voted the Outstanding Performer of the Class A State Meet, collected the Dragons first gold medal with a 2: 06.2 win in the 200 individual medley, racing to a four-second lead at the 100 ( 57.5) and then outswam the field by three seconds over the final four lengths to win by seven seconds.

Tycz’s second gold and the meet’s first record-setting swim came in the 100 butterfly. The junior, displaying both powerful strokes and explosive turns, cruised a 53.3, nipping the previous state and meet record (54.4) set in 2014 by Emma Waddell of Bangor.

Following Tycz’s fly victory, Brunswick led the team scoring with 137 points. Cheverus trailed at 124 and Scarborough at 109. And, Bangor’s team had closed on the top three teams to pull within two points of Scarborough.

Bright’s squad used the 500 free to stretch its lead to 32 points over Scarborough with four events remaining. Scarborough moved into second place with three swimmers scoring in the 500.

Dragon senior Lynsie Russell, who finished second in the 200 free behind first-place finisher Elaine Dudley of Massabesic (1:56.3), won the event (5:17), and freshman Alex Morse finished fifth (5:36.1) to score 34 points for the Dragons.

In a display of freestyle versatility, the Dragons transitioned from their 500 free medals to a gold medal in the 200 free relay as Russell, Blair, Stevenson, and Tycz sped to a 1:40.7, a convincing win by four seconds.

Brunswick closed the meet with a gold-record performance in the 400-free relay racing to a state and meet-record finish of 3:39.1 highlighted by a 51-second split from Tycz.

“We were confident in our relay. I told them to be safe on their starts and takeoffs and they still set the record. We have a group of kids who swam well today,” Bright said.

While Brunswick was racing to the championship, coach Kevin Haley’s Cheverus team and Scarborough High continued to compete for the runner-up position. Entering the final event, Scarborough led the Stags by a point. Scarborough secured second place by collecting the silver medal in the 400-free relay (3:44.3).

Joining Tycz as a double gold medalist in individual events, Abby Longstaff, who swam the backstroke leg (27.1) on the Stags’ winning medley relay, won the 50 free, exploding off the start to race to a 24.4 touch. She then lowered her seed time from 59.3 to 57.8 for the 100- yard backstroke win.