Swimming and Diving wins second-straight Maine State Meet

WATERVILLE, Maine -- The Bates swimming and diving women's and men's teams combined for 1,722 points, good for first place out of eight schools Friday and Saturday at the eighth annual Maine State Meet. The victory marks the Bobcats' second-consecutive overall victory in the event.

The Bates men were responsible for 858.5 points over the course of two days, second only to Colby's 964.5. Meanwhile, the women tallied 863.5 points, second to UMaine-Orono's 928. Combined, the Bates women and men out-scored runner-up Colby by 95.5 points.

The Bobcats do not return to competition until Saturday, Jan. 6 when Bates visits Ivy League foe, Dartmouth, for a dual meet at 1:00 p.m.

Bates men's highlights

Mark Gregory placed first overall in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a finish of 16:16.57 and took second in the 500-yard free at 4:42.88.
Max Cory took first place in the 50-yard freestyle (20:54) while finishing second in the 50-yard butterfly (22:40) and the 200-yard free (1:44.81).
Marrich Somridhivej and Kailer Tom finished 2-3 in the 50-yard breaststroke with respective marks of 25.71 and 25.98.
Tim Johnson, Somridhivej, Cory, and Nate Pierce teamed to place second in the 200-yard medley relay (1:31.57).
Cory and John Weigel finished 1-2 in the 100-yard freestyle with respective times of 45.01 and 46.18. The duo also went 2-3 in the 100-yard butterfly with marks of 50.05 and 50.69.
Somridhivej took second overall in both the 200-yard breaststroke (2:10.54) and the 100-yard breaststroke (56.71).
Liam Friedlander recorded a third-place mark of 1:55.44 in the 200-yard butterfly.
The foursome of Weigel, Wil Dewey, Pierce, and Cory topped all-comers with a first-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:04.65).

Bates women's highlights

Grace Wenger, Margie McLeod, Lianna Rosman, and Stephanie Tropper took third overall 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:36.83.
Emily Kalvaitis finished second in the 50-yard butterfly with her time of 26.05 and recorded a third-place time of 58:49 in the 100-yard butterfly.
Sarah Palmer won the 50-yard breaststroke at 29:39 and the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:04.42.
Wenger and McLeod finished 2-3 in the 50-yard freestyle with respective times of 24:08 and 24:21.
McLeod, Palmer, Kalvaitis, and Wenger proved victorious in the 200-yard medley relay (1:45.40).
Julia Johnson and Tropper finished second and third place, respectively, in the 1,650 yard freestyle with times of 17:40.84 and 17:46.78.
Natalie Young won the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:07.38, while taking second overall in the 100-yard IM (59.81) and 400-yard IM (4:32.11), and placing third in the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.45) and 100-yard breaststroke (58.70).
Wenger earned victories in the 500-yard freestyle (5:04.35), 100-yard freestyle (52.03), and 200-yard freestyle (1:53.48).
Tropper went third overall in the 200 freestyle at 1:56.14.
Palmer and Lily Barisonek finished 1-2 in the 200-yard breaststroke with respective times of 2:20.99 and 2:24.41.
Barisonek also took third in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:08.20.
The quartet of Tropper, Rosman, Kalvaitis, and Wenger posted a third-place showing of 3:33.72 in the 400-yard freestyle relay.