Before his last high school practice as a junior, Shane Moore took a long, hard look at the Cheverus High record board. He picked out a few marks he thought might be within reach – no matter that one of them had stood for a quarter century and another was set by a future Olympic gold medalist.
Throughout his summer and fall training, “those records were always my goals,” Moore said.
And so, when his senior season finally began in early December, Moore wasted no time. On opening night, he took down three of those records.
He swam the 50-yard freestyle in 21.16 seconds. He won the 100 breast stroke in 58.15. On the opening leg of the 400 free relay, he turned in a time of 47.11.
The guys who held the previous marks: Trebor Lawton, Brian Agro and Ian Crocker.
Moore never let up. He led Cheverus to a fifth straight Class A state championship, was named performer of the meet, and set Southwesterns records in the 200 individual medley and 100 breast stroke. He ranked first in the state in four individual events and was among the top 10 in the other four.
He is our choice as Maine Sunday Telegram Boys’ Swimmer of the Year.
“As good as he is in the water,” Cheverus Coach Kevin Haley said, “he’s a better human being. He is that kid who is extremely humble and kind. With any kind of praise, he always deflects it onto his team, on his mom and dad, on the coaching staff. It was everybody else but him.”
In that Southwestern meet, Moore lowered the breast stroke record, set by Deering’s Eric Delmonte three years earlier, to 58.68 and the IM record, set by Scarborough’s Jerry Gravel in 2013, to 1:56.31. He also broke the IM school record of 1:56.47 set by Robert Ley in 1991.
“Bringing all those guys down in one year, that’s an amazing feat,” Haley said. “We’re not going to see a kid like this in a while.”
Moore, who lives in Biddeford, started out as a basketball player. At age 9, he gave swimming a try with the Manta Ray Swim Team at the Biddeford YMCA. He stayed with them through junior high and, after his freshman year in high school, joined the Portland Porpoises.
He also dabbled in lacrosse and soccer, “but not for very long,” he said. “That was all before I started to focus on swimming and started to practice twice a day,” as a high school sophomore.
Cheverus won the Class A title by a whisker his freshman year and rather handily when he was a sophomore and junior. This winter, Moore was the only Cheverus swimmer to place among the top four in an individual race, but the Stags came up with enough depth to hold off Bangor and Brunswick.
“I don’t want to say it was unexpected, but last year we were a little more confident we were going to come away with it. The freshmen really pulled through,” said Moore, whose time of 21.28 in the 50 free broke the meet record set by Brunswick’s Nate Samson, the 2015 and 2016 Swimmer of the Year.
Moore was accepted early decision to Bates College and plans to continue his swimming career in Lewiston. He lauds Haley and Porpoise Coach Matt Baxter for his progress.
“They’ve both been instrumental in my success as an athlete,” Moore said. “Without those two guys, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you.”
ALL-STATE TEAM
Tucker Banger, Morse senior: Banger won the Class B 50-yard freestyle in 21.84 seconds and placed fourth in the 100 free. He also anchored the 200 medley and 200 free relays to help the Shipbuilders place third overall.
Nick Gould, Old Town senior: Gould won the 100 backstroke (53.07) and 100 butterfly (52.85) to lead Old Town to the Class B state title. His winning times were the fastest in the state for each event, regardless of class.
Nathaniel Hayward, Wells senior: Hayward won the Class B diving title for the second year in a row, and his score of 355.50 was the highest of either state meet. He plans to continue his career at George Washington University.
Camden Holmes, Ellsworth sophomore: Named performer of the meet in Class B after winning state titles in the 100 free (48.27) and 200 free (1:49.76), Holmes also swam on two relays.
Shane Moore, Cheverus senior: Moore set a Class A meet record in the 50 free (21.28) and won his second straight 100 free title (46.64). He also swam on the winning 200 free relay as the Stags extended their championship streak to five years.
Connor Perron, Falmouth senior: Perron won the Class A 500 freestyle in 4:46.94 (the fastest time in the state by more than nine seconds) and the 200 free in 1:47.05. He plans to swim for Providence College.
Carson Prouty, Bangor freshman: The Class A champion in the 100 backstroke, his time of 53.11 was the second-fastest in the state this winter. He was also runner-up in the 200 free (1:47.70).
Colby Prouty, Bangor junior: Prouty defended his Class A titles in the 100 breast stroke (57.74) and 200 individual medley (1:58.42), and swam on the winning 200 medley relay and runner-up 400 free relay.
Eli Steward, Thornton Academy junior: Steward won the Class A 100 butterfly (53.65) with the state’s second-best time, and also placed second in the 500 free and anchored the runner-up 200 free relay and the winning 400 free relay.
Liam Sullivan, Mt. Desert Island sophomore: Sullivan broke a 26-year-old meet record in the Class B 100 breast stroke, with a time of 58.47, to win for the second year in a row. He also defended his 200 individual medley title (1:57.41) and led off the winning 400 free relay.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Dave Ploch, Old Town: The Coyotes ended a 14-year title drought by holding off defending champ Ellsworth and Morse to win the Class B state championship and cap an unbeaten season, the school’s first since 1997. Ploch, in his 24th season, attributed the title to “a lot of seniors and excellent, hard-working kids.” Old Town lost a senior swimmer, Aaron Ricker, to cancer in late January after a seven-year battle. In his honor, the Coyotes wore AR on the sleeves of their dark green T-shirts while poolside at the state meet.
Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or:
Twitter: GlennJordanPPH
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