Making up a meet that was canceled in December, both the boys and girls from Morse came out on top, defeating the Dragons in a pair of close matches.
The girls won 90-80, while the boys outscored the Dragons, 92-77 in the 22-event meet.
“Morse is a good program, and for our kids to come out and compete with them like that tonight, I couldn’t be more pleased,” said Brunswick coach Dave Bright.
The Morse 200-yard medley relay team got things going for the Shipbuilders right out of the gate. Ella Martin, Leah Totman, Olivia Harper and Emma Warner raced to a time of 1:58.77, beating the Brunswick team of Sophie Blair, Ella Tycz, Anna Rider and Elina Woolever.
Haily Harper also placed first in a pair of events. She won both the 100 freestyle (57.92) and breaststroke (1:11.60) races while also swimming on both the 200 and 400 freestyle first place relay teams.
Despite the time off during the holiday break, Blair was ready to race.
“We had a little time off this past weekend, but like any other race, the key for me is to warm up and get mentally prepared to race,” said Blair. “ It always helps to get me ready when I can cheer on my teammates in their races.”
The final girls relay of the evening, the 400 freestyle, was close until the end. Swimming the third leg of the relay, Blair edged Emma Warner, giving the Dragons a slight edge heading into the final leg. But, Olivia Harper made a comeback, passing Alex Morse, swimming away to victory.
“It felt really good to swim with them tonight,” said Blair. “I kept telling everybody we were really really close, so it’s a good feeling to know we were right there.”
“It was another good meet for our girls as they work to improve,” said Morse coach Todd Marco.
Boys
Brunswick kept things close early. In the boys 200 medley relay, Dragons Nicco Bartone, Brian Hess, Matt Yost and Cam Ashby evened the score after the Morse girls opened with a win, taking down the Morse team by three seconds.
“We all try to enjoy swimming and do the best we can,” said Yost of his relay teammates. “We try to go out and have fun while we compete. Morse is a good team so it’s all you can do.”
Yost and Hess each garnered a pair of individual victories as well. Hess was tops in the 50 freestyle (22.15) and 100 breaststroke (1:00.09), while Yost won the 200 freestyle (1:56.60) and 100 butterfly (54.64) events.
“I just come from the relays so I was a little tired,” said Yost. “But that didn’t matter. Like I usually do, I just figured I’d go for it anyway.”
Sophomore Nicco Bartone also placed first in both the 100 freestyle (51.33) and 100 backstroke (57.22) for the Dragons.
The rest was all Morse. Led by Dom Marco, Evan and Ben Willertz, and both the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams, the Shipbuilders gained valuable points to earn the win.
Marco won the 200 IM (2:11.19) and finished second to Hess in the 100 breaststroke. The junior was also the first leg of the 200 freestyle relay team that placed first.
Ben Willertz won the 500 freestyle (5:18.19) and placed second in the 200 freestyle. He also swam the opening leg of the 400 freestyle relay race and anchored the 200 freestyle relay, which both finished first.
Evan Willertz picked up key second-place scores in both the 100 butterfly and backstroke races. He also was the opening swimmer on the second place 200 medley relay team and swam the final 100 of the 400 freestyle relay race that placed first (3:34.40).
“Alex really picked it up for us (the third leg),” said Evan Willertz.
Of his performance after a short holiday break, Evan Willertz felt there was room for improvement.
“My fly was a little bit slower than usual, I think I can improve on my time a little bit.”
Morse next swims Jan. 9 when it hosts Lincoln Academy at the Bath YMCA at 7 p.m.
Brunswick will host Belfast this Friday at Bowdoin College at 5:30 p.m.
Area swimming
Tuesday at Bath YMCA
GIRLS — Morse 90, Brunswick 80.
200-yard medley relay — 1. Morse “A” (Ella
Martin, Leah Totman, Olivia Harper, Emma
Warner), 2. Brunswick “A” (Sophie Blair, Ella
Tycz, Anna Rider, Elina Woolever), 3. Morse
“B” (Jac Ribota, Anastasia Alaboudi, Zenaide
McCarthy, Aubrey Martin). T — 1:58.77.
200 freestyle — 1. Olivia Harper (Mo), 2.
Laura Chavoustie (B), 3. Ella Tycz (B), 4. Leah
Totman (Mo), 5. Emma McCrea (B). T —
2:04.15.
200 IM — 1. Alex Morse (B), 2. Ella Martin
(Mo), 3. Delaney Young (Mo), 4. Tessa
Alexander (B), 5. Zenaide McCarthy (Mo). T
— 2:21.61.
50 freestyle — 1. Mallory Palmer (B), 2.
Emma Warner (Mo), 3. Anna Rider (B), 4.
Fiona O’Carroll (B), 5. Jac Ribota (Mo). T —
27.95.
100 butterfly — 1. Sophie Blair (B), 2. Anna
Rider (B), 3. Emma Warner (Mo), 4. Zenaide
McCarthy (Mo), 5. Anastasia Alaboudi (Mo).
T — 1:10.61.
100 freestyle — 1. Haily Harper (Mo), 2.
Mallory Palmer (B), 3. Laura Chavoustie (B),
4. Emma McCrea (B), 5. Halley Gellatly (Mo).
T — 57.92.
500 freestyle — 1. Olivia Harper (Mo), 2.
Alex Morse (B), 3. Elina Woolever (B), 4. Jac
Ribota (Mo), 5. Molly Cashman (Mo). T —
5:29.02.
200 freestyle relay — 1. Morse “A” (Delaney
Young, Ella Martin, Leah Totman, Haily Harper), 2. Brunswick “A” (Ella Tycz, Mallory
Palmer, Anna Rider, Alex Morse), 3. Morse
“B” (Halley Gellatly, Aubrey Martin, Anastasia
Alaboudi, Madeline Skroski). T — 1:50.14.
100 backstroke — 1. Ella Martin (Mo), 2.
Sophie Blair (B), 3. Delaney Young (Mo), 4.
Tessa Alexander (B), 5. Katherine Hartnett
(B). T — 1:05.21.
100 breaststroke — 1. Haily Harper (Mo), 2.
Leah Totman (Mo), 3. Ella Tycz (B), 4. Anastasia Alaboudi (Mo), 5. Elina Woolever (B). T
— 1:11.60.
400 freestyle relay — 1. Morse “A” (Haily
Harper, Delaney Young, Emma Warner, Olivia
Harper), 2. Brunswick “A” (Laura Chavoustie,
Mallory Palmer, Sophie Blair, Alex Morse), 3.
Brunswick “B” (Tessa Alexander, Emma
McCrea, Fiona O’Carroll, Elina Woolever). T
— 4:06.30.
BOYS — Morse 92, Brunswick 77
200-yard medley relay — 1. Brunswick “A”
(Nicco Bartone, Brian Hess, Matt Yost, Cam
Ashby), 2. Morse “A” (Evan Willertz, Dom
Marco, Brandon Johnson, Braden Olsen), 3.
Brunswick “B” (Nolan Deck, Adam Thacker,
Jeremy Vuong, Chris Tucker). T — 1:44.12.
200 freestyle — 1. Matt Yost (B), 2. Ben
Willertz (Mo), 3. Ethan Pascuzzo (Mo), 4.
Jeremy Vuong (B), 5. Ethan Gagnon (Mo). T
— 1:56.60
200 IM — 1. Dom Marco (Mo), 2. Alex Gurney (Mo), 3. Joshua Pratt (B), 4. Oscar Hennin (Mo). T — 2:11.19.
50 freestyle — 1. Brian Hess (B), 2. Brandon
Johnson (Mo), 3. Braden Olsen (Mo), 4.
Nolan Deck (B), 5. Adam Thacker (B). T —
22.15.
100 butterfly — 1. Matt Yost (B), 2. Evan
Willertz (Mo), 3. Nicholas Hennin (Mo), 4.
Angus Brown (Mo), 5. Joshua Pratt (B). T —
54.64.
100 freestyle — 1. Nicco Bartone (B), 2.
Brandon Johnson (Mo), 3. Alex Gurney
(Mo), 4. Braden Olsen (Mo), 5. Chris Tucker
(B). T — 51.33.
500 freestyle — 1. Ben Willertz (Mo), 2. Cam
Ashby (B), 3. Alex Martin (Mo), 4. Jeremy
Vuong (B), 5. Owen Barter (Mo). T —
5:18.19.
200 freestyle relay — 1. Morse “A” (Dom
Marco, Braden Olsen, Alex Gurney, Ben
Willertz), 2. Brunswick “A” (Nolan Deck,
Adam Thacker, Chris Tucker, Jeremy Vuong),
3. Morse “B” (Ethan Pascuzzo, Sebastion
Halekrull, Owen Barter, Ethan Gagnon). T —
1:37.52.
100 backstroke — 1. Nicco Bartone (B), 2.
Evan Willertz (Mo), 3. Nicholas Hennin (Mo),
4. Cam Ashby (B), 5. Nolan Deck (B). T —
57.22.
100 breaststroke — 1. Brian Hess (B), 2.
Dom Marco (Mo), 3. Adam Thacker (B), 4.
Ethan Pascuzzo (Mo), 5. Chris Tucker (B). T
— 1:00.90.
400 freestyle relay — 1. Morse “A” (Ben
Willertz, Brandon Johnson, Alex Gurney,
Evan Willertz), 2. Brunswick “A” (Brian Hess,
Matt Yost, Cam Ashby, Nicco Bartone), 3.
Morse “B” (Nicholas Hennin, Sabastion
Halekrull, Owen Barter, Alex Martin). T —
3:34.40.
Up next for the Dragons — Friday Jan. 5
against Belfast at Bowdoin College at 5:30
p.m.
Up next for the Shipbuilders — Tuesday
Jan. 9 against Lincoln Academy at the Bath
YMCA at 7 p.m.
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