Jon Millett was mentally and physically exhausted.
The Cony swim coach was 24 hours removed from his girls team winning its second consecutive Class A state championship, and wrapping his head around the fact that he has to immediately jump into the next sport — as the head coach of the Cony outdoor track teams — which will soon be under way.
But that exhaustion didn’t take away from Millet’s pure joy of the Rams’ hard-fought victory — by a score of 280-259 — over second-place Scarborough on Monday in Orono.
“This one was a lot more challenging to achieve, for sure,” Millett said. “It was much closer than last year. Really, the girls performed better than I could of hoped for at the meet as a whole, I’m really proud of them. This was a more gratifying state championship than the first one.”
Indeed, Monday’s meet was far tighter than the 311-246 victory over rival Brunswick last year, and included several lead changes early on. But Millett’s message to the team remained the same.
“The message was consistent from the moment that we got there,” Millett said. “That (message) was ‘Every swim counts.’ No matter where you’re seeded, everybody needs to be at their best. That stayed true the whole way. The girls were focused. Nobody was drifting off, everybody knew their job, and that was giving everything they had in their individual events and the team relays.”
The results showed in the pool. The Rams won seven events, needing every single one of those wins to hold off the Red Storm.
“We couldn’t afford to take a single event off,” Millett said. “Scarborough and the other teams were too good.”
Cony took two relay titles. They placed first in the 200-yard medley relay (with the team of Gabby Low, Tessa Jorgensen, Tara Jorgensen and Cecilia Guadalupi) and the 200 free relay (with sisters Talia Jorgensen and Amanda Jorgensen switching out with Tessa and Tara).
Low — a junior — led the Rams in the individual events, winning the 100 butterfly (by a five second margin) and the 100 backstroke (by nearly six seconds). Low was the meet’s Most Oustanding Performer.
“Gabby Low really put in a lot of work in the offseason,” Millett said. “She started a lifting program. She put a lot of mileage in on her own time. She’s earned what she’s accomplished, and she’s had an amazing season. She will continue to drop time in the future, she’s only a junior. The best is yet to come for her.”
Guadalupi — a sophomore — also had an excellent meet, winning the 50 free and 500 free (by a 10 second margin). Rounding out the group was junior Talia Jorgensen, who won the 100 free.
And the run is far from over. The Rams will graduate seven seniors from the team — including major contributors Haley Gagne and Tara Jorgensen. But Low will return for her senior season, as well as Guadalupi and the three remaining Jorgensen sisters (Amanda, Talia and Tessa), who have become the glue that helps keep the team together.
“Gabby has kind of overshadowed everybody this year, but without the Jorgensen girls, we don’t have that state championship,” Millett said. “Talia won one event, got third in another and rounded out two relays and she was swimming sick as a dog. She’s kind of an unsung hero at that meet. I can’t say enough good things about her.”
While he didn’t want to look too far ahead (“I like to live in the present,” Millett said while laughing), he did acknowledge that the dynamics of the team won’t change much entering next year.
“The three remaining Jorgensens are going to cover all three strokes,” Millett said. “They give us a top line. The twins (Amanda and Tessa), they’re only going to get better next year, and I expect the same out of Talia, who’s going to be a senior along with Gabby. Our look doesn’t really change for the future, that’s for sure.”
The future for Cony is bright, but for now, it’s all about savoring the sweetness of another title.
Dave Dyer — 621-5640
ddyer@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @Dave_Dyer
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