BATH

Caitlin Tycz had just one more record to break — in black and orange, that is.

The Brunswick High School senior stole the show at Friday night’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference meet in Bath (won by Morse, 189-150) by setting a new school record in the 500-yard freestyle race. Her time of 5:02.05 was also a pool record at the Bath YMCA and just three seconds off the Maine state record.

Tycz, attending the University of Southern California in the fall, doesn’t even train for the event. She’s only raced in it a handful of times this season. It was just a spot on the record board she had to fill before she left.

“It’s been something that’s kind of been in my brain since freshman year,” Tycz said. “I think that may be the most challenging record to get on our board, so it’s been a bunch of meets in a row trying to get that. This was the perfect meet to do it, just because we were so excited to swim against Morse, who’s just a great team.”

“When she did it, she missed our school record by two tenths of a second,” Brunswick coach David Bright said of an earlier attempt this season. “I don’t think anyone else, other than the state record holder, has ever gone that fast. So, number two in Maine history of high school swimming is good. That’s an awfully fast time.”

Tycz also cruised to a first-place finish in the 200 IM and anchored the girls 400 freestyle relay team that closed out the night with a win (3:55.34). The 200 medley relay team of Tycz, Hannah Escoe, Anna Rider and Emily Cowan took second place.

Morse was the only other girls individual winner for the Dragons, taking first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:05.08. On the boys side, Nicco Bartone dominated the 100 backstroke (57.96), Brian Hess won the 100 breaststroke by almost five seconds and Matt Yost finished just behind Morse’s Ben Willertz in the 500 freestyle. Both set personal best times.

“It was a great meet,” Morse coach Todd Marco said. “The girls meet was really close and we had best times, so that was good. The guys had best times across the board, so that was good too.”

For Long Reach Swim Club swimmers like Tycz and others, it’s both the end of the high school season and the middle of the club season. After a brutal December of six meets, this month provided the Dragons with some much needed rest and preparation for upcoming KVACs and states.

“This is only our third meet in the month of January,” Bright said. “We had nothing last week, so it’s probably good to have a bunch of those meets and sort of backed off a little bit this month and got a lot of good training in. Hopefully that puts us in a good position. I think we’ll have some tight team meets at KVAC’s and states.”

“The club season is very long,” Tycz said. “It’s eight months long for the national kids. We’re at the end of our fifth month, which is hard. It’s very tough right now with practices and two meets a week, at least. We’re all a bit run down, but I think this is when we start to focus in on our best events for KVAC’s next weekend, states in a couple weeks after that. I think the next couple months is really bright for this area in swimming.”

Shipbuilders

Twelve seniors were honored for Morse on Friday, a number Marco called “a record.” As she often does, senior and LRSC standout Ann Tolan led the Shipbuilders with two first-place finishes in the 200 freestyle (2:01.19) and 100 breaststroke (1:11.63).

Tolan also anchored the 200 medley relay team (Brittany Kaler, Haily Harper, Olivia Harper) that kicked off the night with an almost five-second win. Kaler, Emily Martin, Ella Martin and Tolan placed second in the 400 freestyle relay.

Ella Martin (25.10) also took first in both the 50 freestyle (25.10) and 100 freestyle (56.97), while Harper won the 100 butterfly (104.76) by over seven seconds. On the boys side, senior Tucker Banger narrowly captured the 50 freestyle and dominated the 100 butterfly (59.18). Camden Fitzgerald (200 freestyle), Dominic Marco (200 IM) and Max Gurney (100 freestyle) also swam to first place.

The Shipbuilders are coming into form at just the right time.

“I’m lucky enough to swim with most of their team every day,” Tycz said of Morse. “So, we know every year kind of what each team’s going to look like. I think, in their case, the freshmen really stepped up this year, which is really exciting for them this year and the next couple of years.”

“This is a strong group,” Bright said of Morse. “They have a lot of seniors, a lot of people that have been around and at it for a while. They certainly have a strong front line. I think they’ll be pretty dominant at the KVAC meet and I’ll think they’ll be battling it out with Cape (Elizabeth) at the state meet. They may run into more depth that Cape has, but they’ll certainly be right up there.”

Able to avoid Class A powerhouses like Brunswick and Cony, Marco is expecting a comfortable defense of the Class B KVAC crown on Friday in Bath. As for states, the competition is clear. If Morse is going to compete for a title, this is the year.

“We’re looking good for KVAC’s,” Marco said. “The state meet will be much more competition. This was probably the biggest competition of the year for us so far. At the state meet, the girls will have Cape Elizabeth and the boys will have Old Town, Ellsworth and Cape, so it’ll be close.”

Area swimming

At Bath YMCA GIRLS — Morse 88, Brunswick 82 200-yard medley relay — 1. Morse A (Brittany Kaler, Haily Harper, Olivia Harper, Ann Tolan), 2. Brunswick A (Caitlin Tycz, Hannah Escoe, Anna Rider, Emily Cowan), 3. Brunswick B (Sophie Blair, Ella Tycz, Tessa Alexander Fiona O’Carroll), T — 1:54. 85. 200 freestyle — 1. Ann Tolan (Mo), 2. Alex Morse (B), 3. Mallory Palmer (B), 4. Emily Martin (Mo), 5. Elina Woolever (B), T — 2:01.19. 200 IM — 1. Caitlyn Tycz (B), 2. Haily Harper (Mo), 3. Brittany Kaler (Mo) 4. Laney Schultz (Mo), 5. Hannah Escoe (B), T — 2:17.40. 50 freestyle — 1. Ella Martin (Mo), 2. Emily Cowan (B), 3. Anna Rider (B), 4. Fiona O’Carroll (B), 5. Emilie Platterer (Mo), T — 25.10. 100 butterfly — 1. Olivia Harper (Mo), 2. Ella Tycz (B), 3. Anna Rider (B), 4. Jac Ribota (Mo), 5. Charity Schultz (Mo), T — 1:04. 76. 100 freestyle — 1. Ella Martin (Mo), 2. Mallory Palmer (B), 3. Emily Cowan (B), 4. Laney Schultz (Mo), 5. Delaney Young (Mo), T — 56.97. 500 freestyle — 1. Caitlyn Tycz (B), 2. Haily Harper (Mo) 3. Emily Martin (Mo), 4. Elina Woolever (B), 5. Leah Totman (Mo), T — 5:02.05. 200 freestyle relay — 1. Morse A (Laney Schultz, Haily Harper, Ella Martin, Olivia Harper), 2. Brunswick A (Anna Rider, Hannah Escoe, Ella Tycz, Mallory Palmer), 3. Morse B (Emilie Platterer, Emily Martin, Jac Ribota, Leah Totman), T — 1:45.84. 100 backstroke — 1. Alex Morse (B), 2. Brittany Kaler (Mo), 3. Sophie Blair (B), 4. Tessa Alexander (B), 5. Delaney Young (Mo), T — 1:05.08. 100 breaststroke — 1. Ann Tolan (Mo), 2. Olivia Harper (Mo), 3. Ella Tycz (B), 4. Hannah Escoe (B), 5. Leah Totman (Mo), T — 1:11.63. 400 freestyle relay — 1. Brunswick A (Malloy Palmer, Alex Morse, Emily Cowan, Caitlyn Tycz), 2. Morse A (Brittany Kaler, Emily Martin, Ella Martin, Ann Tolan), T — 3:55.34. BOYS — Morse 101, Brunswick 68 200-yard medley relay — 1. Brunswick A (Nicco Bartone, Brian Hess, Matt Yost, Henry Raker), 2. Morse A (Ben Willertz, Cameron Marco, Dominic Marco, Tucker Banger), T — 1:41.50. 200 freestyle — 1. Camden Fitzgerald (Mo), 2. Ben Willertz (Mo), 3. Eddie Capoldo (B), 4. Ethan Pascuzzo (Mo), 5. Chris Tucker (B), T — 1:56.91. 200 IM — 1. Dominic Marco (Mo), 2. Nicco Bartone (B), 3. Henry Raker (B), 4. Nick Hennin (Mo), 5. Alejandro Atkins (B), T — 2:09.77. 50 freestyle — 1. Tucker Banger (Mo), 2. Brian Hess (B), 3. Matt Yost (B), 4. Brandon Johnson (Mo), 5. Alex Gurney (Mo), T — 22.06. 100 butterfly — 1. Olivia Harper (Mo), 2. Ella Tycz (B), 3. Anna Rider (B), 4. Jac Ribota (Mo), 5. Charity Schultz (Mo), T — 1:04.76. 100 freestyle — 1. Max Gurney (Mo), 2. Cameron Marco (Mo), 3. Braden Olsen (Mo), 4. Cam Ashby (B), 5. Nolan Deck (B), T — 51.39. 500 freestyle — 1. Ben Willertz (Mo), 2. Matt Yost (B), 3. Camden Fitzgerald (Mo), 4. Jacob Brochu (Mo), T — 5:14.20. 200 freestyle relay — 1. Morse A (Dominic Marco, Cameron Marco, Brandon Johnson, Max Gurney), 2. Brunswick A (Henry Raker, Cam Ashby, Jeremy Vuong, Eddie Capoldo), 3. Morse B (Ethan Brown, Braden Olsen, Jordan Leuteman, Camden Fitzgerald), T — 1:35.36. 100 backstroke — 1. Nicco Bartone (B), 2. Max Gurney (Mo), 3. Sam Washington (B), 4. Nick Hennin (Mo), 5. Alexy Gurney (Mo), T — 57.96. 100 breaststroke — 1. Brian Hess (B), 2. Cameron Marco (Mo), 3. Dominic Marco (Mo), 4. Henry Raker (B), 5. Nolan Deck (B), T — 1:01.79. 400 freestyle relay — 1. Morse A (Max Gurney, Camden Fitzgerald, Ben Willertz, Tucker Banger), 2. Brunswick A (Matt Yost, Eddie Capoldo, Nicco Bartone, Brian Hess), 3. Morse B (Alex Gurney, Nick Hennin, Ethan Brown, Braden Olsen), T — 3:27.16. Up next for the Dragons — KVAC Championships Saturday at Bath YMCA, 9:30 a.m. Up next for the Shipbuilders — KVAC Championships Friday at Bath YMCA, 4 p.m.