Both Salem High School swim teams earned top-10 finishes during the Division I state championship meet, and 11 individual swimmers earned spots in the Meet of Champions in the school’s last year featuring Windham competitors.

The boys finished in sixth place with 90 points, and the girls came in eighth with a score of 81 points during the competition at the University of New Hampshire on Saturday, Feb. 14.

Sophomore Caitlyn Shea and senior Mark Bacigalupo posted impressive weekends, earning two top-five finishes each during Saturday’s team event and matching those performances the following day at the Meet of Champions (MOC).

During the team competition, which the Bishop Guertin boys and Dover girls won, Shea placed second in the 200-yard freestyle and fourth in the 200- yard individual medley (IM).

At the Meet of Champions on Sunday, Feb. 15, the sophomore came in third in the freestyle and fifth in the IM.

Bacigalupo was second in the 100-yard backstroke and third in the 100-yard butterfly on Saturday, then came home fourth in the backstroke and second in the fly at the MOC.

Shea finished ahead of teammate Jackie Mayo at the Meet of Champions; Mayo came in seventh during the Sunday race.

Also on Sunday, Mayo and Shea teamed up with Zoe Nikitas and Danielle Dickie in the 400-yard freestyle relay event, with the group finishing ninth and setting a new school record with a time of 3 minutes, 57.95 seconds.

Others competing at the MOC were Angela Bleeker, Chris Foote, Matthew Gaudet, Dylan Endyke, Sean O’Brien and Sean Merkle.

Though Mayo and Shea remain Blue Devils for two more years, the foundation of the boys team is not as certain. Head coach Missy Rowell said just two swimmers return to the boys squad next year.

“Somehow we’ve got to recruit. That’s how I got this group of boys,” said Rowell. “Mark (Bacigalupo) was there, and he just recruited all of his friends to come out. We kind of had to teach them how to swim.”

With Windham opening a new high school next year, Rowell faces an additional challenge.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. With Windham (students) leaving, the dynamics of the team change,” said Rowell. “I think it impacts it quite a bit – the medley relay, for example; all four boys were from Windham.”

The 200-yard medley relay team that Rowell mentioned included Bacigalupo, Foote, Gaudet and Endyke, a group that earned a sixth-place finish during the Meet of Champions.

For complete results, visit www.directathletics.com.