While much attention has been focused on the high school basketball tournament in recent days (see story), local athletes have done their share of stealing headlines in the other winter sports.

Here’s a recap of the best of championship week:

Swimming

The Portland and Deering swim programs combined coming out of the pandemic and now known as the “RamDogs” soared to the Class A state title last Monday, scoring 222 points, six better than runner-up Falmouth.

Deering won the Class A title in 1986, while Portland had never won a state title as a stand-alone program.

The RamDogs practiced at Reiche School twice a week and shared the Portland YMCA pool with Cheverus on two other days. Neither pool has starting blocks, but the squad was able to persevere and thrive despite the obstacles.

The RamDogs (who also feature swimmers from Casco Bay and Baxter Academy) were led by standout Maria Delmonte, who won the 100 backstroke in 57.94 seconds and the 200 individual medley in 2 minutes, 8.38 seconds and also anchored the sixth-place 400 freestyle relay team, which produced just enough points to clinch the title.

Kaia West placed fourth in the 500 free (5:48.82) and was sixth in the 200 free (2:11.29).

“We worked so hard in the pool, without a pool even,” West said. “I know this can be turned into a story about underdogs, but we’re not underdogs anymore. It’s so amazing.”

Sophia Harrod-Kim finished fifth in the 100 butterfly (1:04.38). Anya Heiden came in seventh in the 200 free (2:11.71) and eighth in the 100 free (1:00.05). Anica Spencer was eighth in the 100 breaststroke (1:15.63).

The 200 medley relay team (Delmonte, Spencer, Harrod-Kim and West) placed third with a time of 1:57.77. The 400 free relay squad (Heiden, West, Spencer and Delmonte) was sixth in a time of 3:58.0. The 200 free relay team (Axel Townsend, Olivia Chong, Harrod-Kim and Heiden) was also sixth (1:55.73).

“We scored out the meet in advance and we saw that first through fifth was a total toss-up,” said Sarah Rasmussen, Deering/Portland’s coach. “These kids came into today revved up and ready to go. It was amazing to watch. It was 100 percent a team effort. These kids came into the year with no expectations of what they could do. For them to race at this level is just remarkable.”

Cheverus (67 points) placed 11th. Reese Belanger placed seventh in the 100 free (59.98). The Stags’ 200 free relay team (Belanger, Anica Hickey, Hannah Derrig and Kimmy Stoddard) came in seventh (1:57.13).

In the Class A boys’ meet, won again by Scarborough with 275 points, Deering/Portland (111) was eighth. Andy Marvin was runner-up in the 100 free (48.68) and came in fourth in the 50 free (22.56). Caden Hemond placed seventh in the 100 backstroke (1:06.13). The RamDogs 400 free relay squad (Noah Rasheed, Otis McCanna, Hemond and Marvin)  finished fourth (3:48.07), while the 200 free relay team (Rasheed, McCanna, Hemond and Marvin) was sixth (1:43.13).

Cheverus (44) came in 14th. Peter Jones placed eighth in the 100 fly (1:01.05).

In Class B, the Waynflete girls tallied 39 points to tie Wiscasset-Boothbay for 13th place (Cape Elizabeth repeated as champion with 372). The Flyers’ 400 free relay team (Fiona Dolan, Ayanthi Reese, Anna Marston and Olivia Therrien) placed seventh in 4:15.22.

Waynflete’s boys (6 points) came in 15th. Cape Elizabeth won another title with 436 points.

Indoor track

The Class A girls’ indoor track and field state meet was held last Monday in Gorham, where Portland (49.5 points) came in third (Scarborough placed first with 63.5 points and Bangor was runner-up with 57). The Bulldogs were led, as always, by junior distance standout Samantha Moore, who won the 800 in 2 minutes, 23.69 seconds and the mile in 5:05.45 and also came in fourth in the two-mile (11:45.88). Anneliese Collin was second in the 400 (1:02.58), tied for second in the high jump (5 feet) and tied for fifth in the pole vault (8-6). Kate Morrison finished seventh in the mile (5:47.19). Alice Anderson came in eighth in the 800 (2:31.5). Portland’s 4×800 relay team (Morrison, Ella Vinkemulder, Ava Chadborune and Maia Endicott) was fifth (10:19.13).

Cheverus (46) was fourth. The Stags’ top finisher was freshman Macey Weisberg, who came in second in the 200 (26.45) and was third in the 55 (7.47). Paige Alexander finished third in the mile (5:19.04) and was eighth in the two-mile (12:03.2). Grace Alexander was fifth in the two-mile (11:52.5). Annie Vigue placed sixth in the 800 (2:29.61). Stella Hang was seventh in the long jump (15-7.75). Cheverus’ 4×200 relay team (Finley Brown, Alaina Holmes, Vigue and Weisberg) was runner-up to Bangor (1:50.37). The 4×800 relay squad (Paige Alexander, Grace Alexander, Allie Schmitt and Vigue) was second to Falmouth in 10:12.29.

Deering (19) came in 13th. Lara Gin won the 400 in 1:00.11 and was fourth in the 200 (27.01). Saya Breiting-Brown had the seventh-best time in the 55 hurdles (9.28). The Rams’ 4×200 relay team (Breiting-Brown, Gin, Elsa Freeman and Lara Gin) placed seventh (1:54.83).

In the boys’ meet, won by South Portland with 53 points, Portland (45) finished third (Mt. Ararat was runner-up with 48.5). Nathan Blades was runner-up in the 800 (1:59.45), second in the mile (4:19.58) and seventh in the two-mile (10:12.9). Benjamin Prestes came in third in the 800 (1:59.74) and third in the mile (4:30.31). Elias Coleman finished fifth in the 800 (2:02.87). Junior Antonio was seventh in the long jump (20-3). Owen Blades came in eighth in the mile (4:50.52). The Bulldogs’ 4×800 relay team (Charlie Jacques, Liam Alexander, Aran Johnson and Coleman) was second to Bonny Eagle in 8:23.20.

Cheverus (21) tied Bangor for 12th. Brendan Rogers was third in the 400 (52.21). Ambrose McCullough placed fourth in the two-mile (9:55.71). Dominic Cortez finished fifth in the pole vault (12-0). The Stags’ 4×800 relay team (Cash Kellen, McCullough, Omari Brent and Danny McCartney) was third (8:29.09).

Deering did not score.

Skiing

While this wasn’t the winter that snow aficionados were hoping for, there were still plenty of local skiers who excelled at the state meet.

Waynflete’s girls were runners-up to Fort Kent at the Class C Nordic meet. Leah Kramer led the way with a fifth-place showing in the classic (20 minutes, 33.2 seconds) and a fifth-place finish in the freestyle (16:57.5).

Waynflete boys’ were third in Class C, behind Fort Kent and Orono. The Flyers’ top finisher was Will Barmby (10th in the classic, 18:07.9, and 12th in the freestyle, 15:53.2).

In the Class A boys’ Nordic meet, Portland came in second to Mt. Blue. Henry Morrison was runner-up in the classic (15:05.6) and fourth in the freestyle (13:14.1). George Ayer placed second in the freestyle (12:45.3) and came in fourth in the classic (15:38.1).

Deering finished fourth and was paced by Zeke Zelonish (fifth in the classic, 15:49.2) and Jack Borland (sixth in the freestyle, 13:39.6).

Cheverus was ninth. Logan Whitmarsh came in 17th in the freestyle (14:37.5) and was 33rd in the classic (19:55.9).

On the girls’ side, Cheverus was third behind Mt. Blue and Falmouth. Delaney Whitmarsh was eighth in the classic (21:06.0) and ninth in the freestyle (17:01.8).

Portland came in eighth. Emma Price finished 14th in the freestyle (17:49.6) and placed 16th in the classic (22:46.9)

Deering placed ninth. Charlotte Pelletier was 20th in the freestyle (19:34.8) and came in 23rd in the classic (24:50.1).

In Alpine action, Cheverus’ boys came in 13th in Class A (Falmouth placed first). The Stags were paced by Reis Stamaris, who came in 19th in the slalom with a two-run combined time of 1:48.6, and Andrew Pollini, who was 48th in the giant slalom (1:43.26).

Wrestling

Deering’s wrestling team tallied 22 points and tied Scarborough for 17th place at the Class A state meet. Pedro Lombi stole the show by capturing the 215-pound title. Lombi then went on to become the first Deering wrestler to win the All-State tournament, last Friday in Belfast. Lombi will next take place in the New England championships.

Cheverus (42 points) came in ninth. Evan Metevier was runner-up to Lombi at 215-pounds. Aidan Clapper was third at 165-pounds. Liam Backman was fourth at 175-pounds.

Portland (18 points) was 20th. Hussein Ali was runner-up in the 165-pound weight class.

Boys’ hockey

The boys’ hockey regular season has come to a close and the playoffs begin this week.

In Class B South, the Cheverus/Yarmouth co-op team put the finishing touches on a 14-2-2 campaign by beating host Brunswick (10-1) and Greely (5-2) last week. Hakon Yeo had a hat trick versus the Dragons. Quinn McCoy scored twice in the win over the Rangers.

Cheverus/Yarmouth is the top seed for the regional tournament and hosts No. 8 Mt. Ararat (1-16-1) in the quarterfinals Wednesday. Cheverus/Yarmouth won both regular season meetings, 7-2 at home and 6-3 on the road.

The semifinals are Saturday at Troubh Ice Arena in Portland. The Class B South Final is Tuesday of next week at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

In Class A, the Portland/South Portland/Deering Beacons co-op team ended up 9-8-1 and seventh following losses at Marshwood (4-2) and at home to Marshwood (4-3, in overtime).

The Beacons go to No. 2 St. Dom’s (13-3-2) Friday for the state quarterfinals. The Saints won the lone regular season meeting, 4-2, Dec. 7 in Portland.

The state semifinals are Tuesday of next week at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

Press Herald staff writer Glenn Jordan contributed to this story.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. For game updates and links to game stories, follow him on Threads: @foresports2023

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