McAuley Swim Team State Champions!

BRUNSWICK- With favored Falmouth in trouble, McAuley and Greely jumped into the battle for the state Class B girls´ swimming and diving championships Tuesday night at Bowdoin College´s Greason Pool. McAuley won, beating the Rangers by five points. The meet was not decided until the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Falmouth was leading before the race but could only watch because its relay team was disqualified with a false start in the preliminaries. McAuley trailed Greely by one point before easily winning the 400 relay to finish with 273 points. It was the first title for the Lions since consecutive championships in 2001 and ´02, and it also ended Falmouth´s four-year reign. Junior Kristen Desrosiers led McAuley, defending her individual titles in the 200 freestyle (1:59.02) and 500 freestyle (5:23.25). In the 500 freestyle consolation race, McAuley freshman Aoife Ryle shaved 18 seconds off her best time and won, taking ninth place overall. She entered with the 14th-best time, and the difference between ninth place and 14th is six points. “That really brought some points,” McAuley Coach John Smith said. “That was just a huge turnaround for the team. Everyone got real excited after that.” McAuley earlier showed depth in the 200 freestyle with a 1-2 finish by Desrosiers and senior Hannah Gajewski The lead bounced back and forth. The Lions — on Desrosiers´ win, Gajewski´s fourth and Ryle´s ninth in the 500 freestyle — closed within a point of Greely. The McAuley relay team of Desrosiers, Gajewski, Gaby Cloutier and Katelyn Desrosiers won in 3:50.18, four seconds ahead of Greely. In addition to winning the State Championship the Lions were given the Sportsmanship Award. Way to go Ladies! (Press Herald)