BATH

The Morse High School boys and girls swim teams entered Friday’s 40th annual Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Championships at the Bath Area Family YMCA as the favorites.

Pressure? Yes! But, the Shipbuilders did what was expected, and then some, rolling to a pair of convincing victories.

The Morse girls racked up an impressive 347 points to easily out-distance runnerup Camden Hills (264), followed by Belfast (246). For the Shipbuilder senior girls, this is the first KVAC title in their four years, having finished second three consecutive times.

“This is feeling like no other,” said Ann Tolan, who won four events on the day. “Every year we took second, and this year Coach (Todd) Marco has really been motivating. We worked our butts off every day. It showed tonight.”

“They have been close the last three years, and this year, we set some records and it was the year for girls,” added Marco.

Not to be outdone, the Morse boys put up 359 points, rolling past second-place Belfast (265) and third-place Camden (220). This was the fourth consecutive KVAC title for the Shipbuilders.

“We did really well, with a lot of best times,” said senior Tucker Banger, who won all four of his events. “It felt really good and is the first time that I have won all of my events at KVAC.”

Good start

Things started positively for Morse, with both squads winning the 200-yard medley relay, the girls (Olivia Harper, Haily Harper, Ann Tolan, Ella Martin) in 1:51.56, and the boys (Ben Willertz, Cameron Marco, Dominic Marco, Tucker Banger) in 1:42.63.

Martin didn’t have a long time to rest up from the relay, stepping to the board for the girls 200 freestyle. Seeded second, she sprinted out ahead of top-seeded Kaylen Ottman of Belfast and maintained the lead, finishing in 2:02.94, nearly nine seconds faster than her seed time.

“That was the best time for Ella by far, and you always go for those first wins. It starts steamrolling after that,” said Marco.

“It was amazing, and I didn’t expect that time at all,” said Martin. “It really lifted the team up. It was a great race, and I think it started the excitement for us today. We have been undefeated all year, and I am so proud. To finally get that KVAC win, especially in Ann’s senior year, is so special.

The girls kept winning, with Tolan rolling to victories in the 50 and 100 free. Olivia Harper took the top spot in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, and the 4 x 400 freestyle squad (Tolan, Olivia Harper, Martin, Haily Harper) ended things in style, setting a KVAC, pool and state record in a time of 3:38.15.

“Today I swam my two favorite events and tried to break some KVAC records, and we broke a state record, which is amazing. It gave us a huge push,” said Tolan.

Haily Harper took second behind Belfast’s Morgan Fernald in the 200 individual medley, and finished second to Ottman in the 500 free. Emily Martin and Leah Totman went 2-3 to Eve Gutheinz of Camden Hills in the 100 breaststroke. Ella Martin also picked up a runner up finish to Tolan in the 50 free.

Other top finishes for Morse included Leah Totman (fourth, 200 IM), Emma Warner (fifth, 50 free; fifth, 100 free), Laney Schultz (sixth, 200 IM), Emily Martin (fourth, 100 free) and Brittany Kaler (third, 100 back). Also, the 4 x 200 freestyle relay squad (Emily Martin, Warner, Schultz, Kaler) finished second to Belfast.

Boys

After dominating the 200 medley relay, Banger earned his team’s first individual win in the 50 free in 22.03. Banger returned for the 100 free, leading his Shipbuilders to a 1-2-3 finish in 49.75. Max Gurney was second, followed by Brandon Johnson.

Shipbuilder teammates Ben Willertz and Camden Fitzgerald went stroke for stroke for 12 lengths in the 500 free before Willertz’s consistent stroke won out. Willertz won in 5:12.95, with Fitzgerald in second.

“It helps to pace off Camden, because he is more of sprinter than me, so at the beginning I try and pace off of him,” said Willertz. “Eventually, my endurance wins out. I try to hold around the same pace time, and generally toward the end you want to chip off a half a second or second. This is really satisfying, to see what this team can do when everyone comes together.”

After the 200 free team of Gurney, Cameron Marco, Dominic Marco and Banger blew past the field in 1:31.67, Cameron Marco won the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.37.

“They missed a team record by two-tenths in two events,” said Coach Marco of his team’s first two relays.

The Shipbuilders closed the meet with the exciting 400 free relay, with the foursome of Fitzgerald, Willertz, Johnson and Gurney taking the top spot in 3:30.58.

Adrian Santofimia and Rudi Schnetzer of Belfast each won two events, with Santofimia taking the 200 free and 100 butterfly and Schnetzer the 200 IM and 100 backstroke.

For Morse, Fitzgerald (second, 200 free), Willertz (third, 200 free), Cameron Marco (fifth, 200 free), Dominic Marco (second, 200 IM; second, 100 butterfly), Johnson (fifth, 50 free), Braden Olsen (sixth, 50 free; sixth, 100 free), Nick Hennin (fifth, 100 backstroke) and Alex Gurney (sixth, 100 backstroke) had solid finishes.

Tolan and Banger were named the Swimmers of the Meet, while Todd Marco was named the KVAC Coach of the Year for the girls.

Now, Morse prepares for the State Class B Championships, which will be held at the University of Maine. The boys swim on Feb. 18, while the girls hit the pool at Feb. 20.