ORONO, Maine — Leila Johnston arrived at the Stanley Wallace Pool on Monday as the owner of two state freestyle records.
By the time the senior phenom departed the University of Maine campus, she had again re-written Maine’s swimming record books.
Johnston set meet and state records in the 200 freestyle and the 100 free and helped Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor win the 200 medley and 200 free relays on the way to her second straight Performer of the Meet honor at the Class B swimming and diving state championships at the University of Maine.
Johnston’s joy was tempered slightly by the outcome of the meet. Greely of Cumberland Center won the team title in dramatic fashion by finishing second behind the Trojans in the final event, the 400 free relay.
Greely scored 350.5 points to nip MDI by a half-point.
“I’m not upset, I’m just sad it’s over,” said Johnston, who will attend Florida State on a partial swimming scholarship. “I couldn’t be more proud of this team. Everyone swam so well.”
MDI had won the previous two Class B crowns.
“Half a point, I don’t think it gets any closer than that,” MDI coach Tony DeMuro said.
“Across the board, we swam great,” DeMuro said. “Once the psych sheet came out and we realized we had some points to make up, it was like now you just go and swim, you swim as fast as you can and you accept the results.”
In the last event, MDI needed to win and get some help from Morse of Bath, but the Shipbuilders’ third-seeded unit could not overtake Greely.
“It was crazy because we knew Morse was only seeded a second behind us,” Greely junior Hwanhee Park said of watching the tense relay.
“I’m so proud of all our girls, they really swam their hearts out. We’re such a cohesive team and I know that’s what really made us get first is that we love each other genuinely and are just amazing together,” she added.
Park was the runner-up in the 200 individual medley and the 200 butterfly, helping Greely post eight second-place finishes despite not winning a single event.
Cape Elizabeth finished third with 181 points, followed by Camden Hills (170), Morse of Bath (168.5), Foxcroft Academy (149) and John Bapst of Bangor (131).
Park was the top individual among 11 swimmers who scored for coach Rob Hale’s Greely squad. The Rangers also received productive meets from junior Cat Maker, who was second in the 50 free and 100 free, Katie Bacall (2nd 500 free, 4th 200 free) and Kate Dransfield (2nd 100 backstroke, 4th 50 free).
“It was gut-wrenching because we swam really well; so did [MDI]. That’s the closest meet I’ve been involved in,” said Hale, who explained that his team made huge strides in developing depth during the regular season.
Camilla Civiello, Madison Rawnsley, Meagan Currie, Lauren Williams Katie Bacall, Lily Black and Ciara Hayes also scored for Greely, which was the runner-up in the 200 medley relay.
“They want to be challenged physically and they want to race and that’s not normal for a group of girls,” Hale said of his team dynamic.
MDI’s Johnston smashed an 18-year-old Class B meet mark held by Orono’s Sarah Kovenock by winning the 200 free in 1:50.63 seconds. She led wire to wire, also breaking the state record owned by Taylor McFarlane of Cape Elizabeth since 2003.
“I wanted to go that time, if not a little bit faster,” Johnston said. “I was most nervous for that event and when I finished I was relieved and really happy.”
Johnston, who in 2014 logged state and Class B meet standards in the 50 free (23.56), later lowered her record in the 100 free by 0.65 seconds, touching the pad in 51.02.
“It’s been a real blessing to have her,” said DeMuro, who believes Johnston is unquestionably the best freestyler in Maine schoolgirl history.
MDI’s Lydia DaCorte also had a tremendous meet, claiming the 100-yard butterfly (58.69) and setting a Class B meet record in the 500 freestyle (5:08.45). The sophomore anchored the winning 200 free relay quartet and the Trojans’ first-place 400 free relay team (with Eliza Schleif, Maddie Woodworth and Sydney Wright) with a 3:46.26 effort, a meet record.
In the 100, DaCorte received a stiff challenge from Morse’s Ann Tolan but pulled away over the last 25 yards.
In the 200 medley relay, the Trojans were third going into the butterfly, but Johnson erased the deficit and took the lead. Freestyler Schleif made it stand up as MDI (with Woodworth and Avalon Kerley) clocked a 1:53.09.
DaCorte built a one-second lead after 50 yards in the 100 butterfly, then repelled a late charge to edge Greely’s Park by 0.24 seconds in 58.69.
Ana Neff-Jandrasko of Catherine McAuley High School in Portland was a two-event winner as she took the 200 individual medley in 2:12.60 and the 100 backstroke in 1:00.52.
Kassidy Harriman of Old Town was a convincing winner in the diving competition. The sophomore scored 311.65 points to beat Chelsea Schroeder of MDI (253.90) and Michaela Pinette of Cape Elizabeth (252.20).