ORONO — In its bid to end a five-year stranglehold on the Class A swimming and diving championship by Cheverus, the boys of Bangor High came out flying Saturday afternoon at the University of Maine’s Wallace Pool.

Their opening salvo was a state record in the 200-yard medley relay. In the second event, their talented sophomore, Carson Prouty, surged ahead of the Stags’ top swimmer, freshman Brim Peabody, in the 200 freestyle.

Brian Hess of Brunswick is congratulated after winning the 50-yard freestyle during the boys Class A swimming and diving championships Saturday in Orono. Kevin Bennett photo

Prouty led at every turn and by a body length at the halfway mark, but Peabody closed hard in the final length. At the wall, nearly every official and back-up timer pegged Prouty as the winner, but the timing pad disagreed, clocking Peabody in 1 minute, 43.78 seconds and Prouty .03 slower.

“It was a huge bump in the team spirit,” said Cheverus senior Ben Adams. “We were already really excited but we went from down here” — he held a hand near his waist — “to way up here” — he raised the hand to eye level. “It was crazy.”

That Peabody’s teammates Phineas Underwood, Chase Cameron and Jeremy Baker finished third, fifth and ninth added to the surge, and the Stags maintained their lead for the rest of the meet.

Cheverus finished with 328 points to 250 for runner-up Bangor. Brunswick was third at 174 followed by Waterville-Winslow (152), Portland (145), Messalonskee (125), Thornton Academy (120), South Portland (112) and 13 other schools.

“They have huge depth,” said Bangor coach Dave Barnett, whose team won two of three relays and three of nine individual events, more than any other team. “They’re loaded from top to bottom, swimmers in every race, so they’re able to just steamroll.”

Indeed, Cheverus pulled away in the freestyle sprints, outscoring Bangor in the 50 and 100 free by a combined 60-0. The Stags had seven swimmers (Adams, Peabody, Underwood, Baker, Cameron, Quintin Hastings and John Hight) place among the top six in at least one individual race and two more (Jack Martin, Clayton Hatch) place among the top 12.

“Bangor’s tough,” Cheverus coach Kevin Haley said. “What really helped us was our depth, and us covering the freestyle events for sure.”

The Stags clinched the meet before the concluding 400 free relay, but won that anyway when Adams, in the anchor leg, held off Brunswick’s Brian Hess by a mere .18 seconds to win in 3:25.17.

“He came right back up on me in that last leg,” said Adams, who had placed third in the 200 individual medley and 10th in the 100 butterfly. “I just threw everything I had into it. It was wild.”

Colby Prouty, a Bangor senior, was named Performer of the Meet after going 4-for-4 with one meet and two state records. Prouty won the 200 IM by more than 12 seconds in a meet-record time of 1:52.75. He also lowered his own state mark in the 100 breast, to 56.99, and swam on two winning relays.

Prouty swam breast stroke on the 200 medley relay that broke Bangor’s 2017 state record, finishing in 1:37.33. He also swam on the victorious 200 free relay.

“It actually was very emotional going up to the podium,” following his final race, the 100 breast, he said. ” I think I broke down with my coach. It was a good moment.”

Peabody added the 500 free in 4:47.41 and was the only swimmer to break five minutes. Peabody also swam on Cheverus’s runner-up 200 free and winning 400 free relays.

Carson Prouty came back to win the 100 backstroke by more than two seconds in 51.81.

Brunswick had two individual winners, Matt Yost in the 100 free (49.13) and Hess in the 50 free (21.87). Bucksport senior Anthony Wardwell won diving with 396.00. Hampden Academy junior Cameron LaBree won the 100 butterfly in 53.22.

Eight of the nine scoring Cheverus swimmers are underclassmen. The purple reign seems destined to continue.

Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or

Gjordan@pressherald.com

Twitter: GlennJordanPPH

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