Coe-Brown Northwood Academy only has four swimmers. That’s all it took for the Bears to claim the bronze at the NHIAA Division II swimming championship on Saturday. 

Senior Chris Raymond won both the 100-yard freestyle (50.57 seconds) and 200 freestyle (1:49.79) titles, while freshman Tucker Raymond won the 100 butterfly (54.76 seconds) and the 500 freestyle (4:57.54), giving Coe-Brown four victories in the 12 events contested at the University of New Hampshire’s Swasey Pool.

Chris and Tucker, who are brothers, also had help from sophomore brother Shea Raymond, who finished fourth in the 50 freestyle and seventh in the 100 freestyle races. The Raymond brothers and freshman Braydan Behr joined forces to claim second place in the 400 freestyle relay and fourth place in the 200 medley relay.

Windham (209 points) and Hanover (167) claimed the team championship and runner-up plaques, respectively. Coe-Brown scored 130 points in its third-place effort.

“Despite only having four swimmers on the team, we still placed third and it was really exciting to see all the hard work pay off,” said Karyn Raymond, the Bears’ coach and mother to Chris, Shea and Tucker. “I was really proud of each of the boys for all the effort they put into this season.”

With only four athletes on the roster, every contribution was significant.

“Braydan Behr’s outstanding contribution to our relay teams, including a significant improvement in his personal best time, played a crucial role in the 400 free relay,” Coach Raymond added.

Belmont finished ninth with 32 points behind a pair of state titles from junior Kyle Dumais in the 50 freestyle (22.91 seconds, the only swimmer to crack 23 seconds) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.21 seconds).

On the girls’ side, Hanover (236), Oyster River (148) and Hollis-Brookline (140) were the top three teams, with Bow (53.5) finishing 10th.

Junior Lena Thompson finished as the state runner-up in the 100 butterfly and tied for fifth in the 100 backstroke. She also swam on the seventh-place 400 freestyle relay (with Emily Hou, Olivia Shippos and Sabine Karanouh), eighth-place 200 freestyle relay (with Hou, Shippos and Karanouh) and 11th-place 200 medley relay (with Jess Birnbaum, Hou, Anna Fellers and Maya Owen).

Like all the other Capital Area swim programs, the Falcons have a thin bench, but were still able to field three scoring relays.

“We have worked hard to ensure every member understands that they are a vital piece to our success puzzle,” Bow coach Julie Guerrette said. “Today was an opportunity to put all the pieces together. We worked all season to have the ‘practice, perform and perfect’ mentality, and to peak at the right time. It worked just as we planned. It was exhilarating to hear the team scores being updated and to hear when Bow continuously moved up with each passing relay.”

Thompson anchored both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays in addition to her strong individual results.

“Lena is a seasoned competitor and is always excited to race,” Guerrette said. “She came in focused and determined to swim her own race.”

Hou finished 10th in the 100 breaststroke to provide additional points.

John Stark (11) finished 18th behind a strong day from freshman Hailey Leung, who was eighth in the 200 individual medley and 13th in the 100 breaststroke. She also swam on the 10th-place 200 medley relay with Lilly Jusczak, Ava Newell and Elsa Westfahl.

Senior Ella Wineriter (sixth 100 breaststroke) led Belmont (9) to 19th place and sophomore Kinsley Monnat (seventh 200 IM) led Kearsarge (7) to 21st.

Division I

Concord senior Lily Peterson was the only area competitor in the evening session, but she made the most of her races, taking silver in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.16 (just .43 seconds behind the winner, Pinkerton’s Hazel Jean Tracy) and finishing sixth in the 200 freestyle.

Bedford cruised to the team title on both sides, scoring 363 points to win the boys’ title and 291 to win the girls’ title. Dover finished as the runner-up in both standings, with the boys scoring 199 points and the girls scoring 173.