While much of the high school sports world’s attention was focused on the basketball tournament last week (see story), indoor track, swimming and skiing were crowning state champions and local athletes earned their share of accolades.

If that’s not enough excitement, the boys’ hockey tournament is now underway, as we near the conclusion of the winter sports season.

Here’s a glimpse of what occurred last week and what’s on tap:

Swimming

Cheverus’ boys’ swim team stole the show last week by winning a Class A state championship for the fourth consecutive season.

The Stags posted 339.5 points to outdistance runner-up Brunswick (275). Portland (103) was ninth and Deering (6) finished 24th.

Cheverus got wins from Michael O’Donovan in the 200 freestyle (1 minute, 43.5 seconds) and 500 free (4:41.42), Shane Moore in the 100 free (47.19 seconds) and its 200 freestyle (Jacob Griffin, Kevin Kane, O’Donovan and Moore; a new meet record time of 1:28.21) and 400 freestyle (Griffin, Kane, Ben Tompkins and O’Donovan; 3:19.39) relay teams.

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The Stags 200 medley relay (Thomas Nappo, Gustav Anderson, Raymond Le and Moore) placed third (1:44.56).

Griffin was runner-up in the 100 butterfly (53.37) and came in fourth in the 50 free (22.24), Moore was third in the 50 free (22.12), Kane finished third in the 200 individual medley (2:00.97) and in the fly (53.44), Tompkins placed fourth in the 200 IM (2:11.37) and was fourth in the 500 free (5:16.84), Nappo finished fifth in the 100 backstroke (59.49)and Phineas Underwood came in eighth in the 200 free (2:00.69).

“I’m very proud and happy for Cheverus and our athletes,” said Stags coach Kevin Haley. “The kids have worked very hard and our four seniors wanted to win their fourth title. They were denied  an attempt for their fourth straight Southwesterns title, so this fueled them even more to bring home a state championship.

“We made a move early to put Shane into the medley relay to secure the top three spots. It was a tough decision because Michael O’Donovan, Jacob Griffin and Kevin Kane with Moore could have broken a 17-year old record held by Bangor in the 400 free relay, but it was an easy sell to the kids. Go for the secured win versus gambling the state title. We knew we were down in points on paper without diving, so the kids really stepped up and put Cheverus in position by scoring top 16 in every event. In nine events, we were top six and in five events, we were state champions.”

Portland’s top finishers were Will Couture, who placed fourth in the backstroke (57.82) and sixth in the fly (57.61), and Reed Foehl, who came in fifth in the 500 free (5:17.39) and seventh in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.30). The Bulldogs’ medley relay team (Couture, Foehl, Josh Ying and Oliver Brochu) placed fifth (1:47.90).

In the girls’ Class A meet, won by Brunswick with 289 points, Cheverus (251) was third, Deering (138) seventh and Portland (14) tied Mt. Ararat for 19th.

The Stags were led by Abby Longstaff, who won the 50 free (24.40) and the backstroke (57.88) and Caroline Arpin, who took the breaststroke (1:10.76). Cheverus was also first in the medley relay, as Longstaff, Arpin, Gabrielle Cholish and Sophia Kruse had a time of 1:53.32.

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Nina Greenwood was runner-up in diving (309,40 points), Arpin was third in the IM (2:15.41), Kruse came in sixth in the 50 free (25.94) and sixth in the 100 free (57.89) and Tholia Hallett placed seventh in the backstroke (1:06.83).

Cheverus’ 400 free relay (Arpin, Hallett, Kruse and Longstaff) placed fourth (3:49.52) and the 200 free relay (Teagan Guenther, Rosie Train, Lauren Girard and Cholish) came in seventh (1:50.78).

“The girls were amazing, getting third five points behind Scarborough,” Haley said. “They were a powerhouse at states, starting the day by winning the medley relay, beating heavily favored Cony.”

The Rams were led by Kate Pontius, third in the 50 free (25.34) and fourth in the fly (1:01.33) and Sofie deOliveira, third in the fly (1:01.12) and fourth in the breaststroke (1:13.93). Claire Christopher placed eighth in the 500 free (5:50.90).

Deering’s 200 free relay (deOliveira, Christopher, Nicole Whipkey and Pontius) came in third (1:47.41). The 400 free relay team (deOliveira, Christopher, Whipkey and Pontius) finished sixth (3:54.27).

In the Class B boys’ meet, Waynflete tallied 60 points and came in 12th (Ellsworth was first with 362). The Flyers were led by Caleb Levine, who was fourth in the fly (55.61). Waynflete’s medley relay team (PD Silk, Arnas Krutkis, Levine and Colin LeBihan) finished seventh in 1:51.67.

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At the girls’ Class B meet, McAuley tallied 51 points and came in 14th and Waynflete (49) was 15th. Greely won the title with 321 points.

The Lions featured Ana Neff-Jendrasko, who was runner-up in the IM (2:09.46) and third in the fly (59.78).

The Flyers were led by Kiera MacWhinnie (fourth in the 100 free, 56.58, and fifth in the 200 free, 2:04.61).

Indoor track

Deering’s boys placed fourth in the Class A indoor track and field state championship meet last week in Gorham. The Rams had 32 points (Scarborough won another crown with 74). Cheverus (23 points) placed 11th. Portland did not score.

The Rams were led by Paolo DeMarco, who won the 400 (50.62 seconds) and was runner-up in the 200 (23.21). Abdi Hassan finished fifth in the 800 (2 minutes, 3.06 seconds). Ezra Chapola placed fourth in the triple jump (41 feet, 2.5 inches). Deering’s 4×200 relay team (Joey Burke, Jack Lynch, Chapola and DePaolo) came in third (1:34.91) and the 4×800 relay (Hassan, Wilder Baldwin, Alec Troxell and Iessa Ramadan) placed seventh (8:47.43).

The Stags’ top finisher was Tre Fletcher, who was runner-up in the high jump (6-0) second in the long jump (20-8.5) and fourth in the 55 (6.79). Mike O’Brien was sixth in the triple jump (40-6.25). Taylor Grassi placed seventh in the high jump (5-10).

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On the girls’ side in Class A, Cheverus came in fifth with 35 points, Deering (3) came in 24th and Portland (2) tied Messalonskee for 25th place.

The Stags got a win from Emily Turner in the 400 (58.47). Turner was also second in the 200 (26.64) and seventh in the long jump (15-11.25). Sarah Mount was third in the 400 (1:01.32). Hannah Abbott placed fourth in the shot put (34-2). Julia Pomerleau came in fifth in the high jump (5-0). Emma White was sixth in the high jump (5-0). Ashley Turner finished seventh in the mile (5:45.95).

The Rams’ points came from Neilab Habibzai (sixth in the shot put, 33-00.75) and Anna Rossvall (seventh in the 400, 1:03.02)

Maggie Hosmer was sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:27.61 for the Bulldogs’ points.

McAuley competed at the Class B meet in Lewiston, but did not score.

The New England indoor track and field championships are Sunday in Boston.

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Skiing

Waynflete has joined Falmouth to create an Alpine skiing powerhouse this winter and the co-op squad won the Class A girls’ state crown last week. Kelly Frumer came in 13th in the slalom with a two-run combined time of 1 minutes, 28.45 seconds and 21st in the giant slalom (1:57.01).

Waynflete’s Nordic team took part at the Class C meet, where the girls were seventh and the boys ninth.

Gail Johnson led the girls with a 14th-place finish in the freestyle (21 minutes, 21.6 seconds) and an 18th-place showing in the classic (24:22.3). Claire Dubois came in 21st in the freestyle (22:33.0) and 36th in the classic (27:25.9). Marijke Rowse placed 24th in the freestyle (22:48.1) and 42nd in the classic (27:57.6). Abby Pipkin was 33rd in the freestyle (24:25.5) and 37th in the classic (27:27.6).

The Flyers top male skier was Willson Moore, who was runner-up in the freestyle (16:24.5) and second in the classic (17:07.6). Liam Feeney was 37th in the freestyle (21:09.5) and 41st in the classic (23:42.6). Julian Abbott placed 40th in the freestyle (21:59.1) and 50th in the classic (26:01.2). Peter Michalakes placed 47th in the freestyle (23:42.8). Miles Anderson came in 52nd in the classic (26:33.9).

In Class A, Portland’s boys’ Nordic team was sixth, as Brad Ravenelle won the freestyle (12:05) and was second in the classical (13:51). Ben Kelly finished 26th in the classical (16:51.7) and 35th in the freestyle (15:03). Richard Farnsworth was 31st in the classical (17:02.9) and 36th in the freestyle (15:17). Thomas Sheils was 34th in the freestyle (15:02) and 38th in the classical (18:07.7).

Deering’s boys didn’t score, but Caleb Niles was fifth individually in the freestyle (12:45) and fifth in the classical (14:41.3) and Peter Jordan came in 13th in the freestyle (13:28) and 14th in the classical (15:28).

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Cheverus didn’t score as a team either, but Michael Manetti placed 36th individually in the classical (17:35.4) and 40th in the freestyle (15:33).

No local school scored as a team at the Alpine state meet, but Cheverus’ Schuyler Black was fourth in the Class A boys’ giant slalom (1:42.58) and seventh in the slalom (1:14.09).

Black also qualified for the Maine State Alpine team, which will compete next month against other teams from New England.

Boys’ hockey

Cheverus qualified for the boys’ hockey tournament, while Portland/Deering did not.

The Stags finished 8-9-1, closing with a 3-1 loss at Thornton Academy and a 7-4 home victory over Noble/Wells. Chris Vallee had two goals in the win. Cheverus earned the No. 4 seed in Class A South and drew daunting fifth-seed Biddeford (8-10) in the quarterfinals Monday afternoon (see theforecaster.net for game story). The Stags lost at Biddeford, 5-3, two days before Christmas and beat the visiting Tigers, 3-2, Jan. 30. The teams have met twice previously in the playoffs, but it’s been awhile. Cheverus took the 2001 quarterfinals, 10-1, and won again in the 2002 semifinals, 3-2.

If the Stags advanced to Saturday’s semifinal round in Lewiston, they will likely face top-ranked, defending Class A champion Scarborough (13-2-3). Cheverus lost, 5-0, Dec. 8 in Scarborough and played the visiting Red Storm to a 2-2 tie Jan. 23. The Red Storm won four of the previous five playoff encounters, with a 5-2 victory in last year’s regional final the most recent.

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The South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport co-op team finished 5-11-2 and seventh in the Class A South and went to powerhouse No. 2 Falmouth (14-4) for the quarterfinals. The teams did not play this season.

The Class A South Final is Tuesday of next week, in Lewiston. The state final is also in Lewiston, Saturday, March 5.

Portland/Deering was in the playoff hunt until its final game, but a 4-3 home loss to Thornton Academy left it 5-13 and ninth in Class A South, where only eight teams qualified.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

Sidebar Elements


The Falmouth/Waynflete girls’ Alpine ski took home the Class A state title last week.

McAuley’s Sophia Krieckhaus throws the shot put at the Class B state indoor track and field meet. Krieckhaus was ninth in that event.


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