ORONO – Monday’s Class A swimming and diving championship was a bit of an extraneous reward for the Lewiston High School boys, but it shouldn’t be classified as gravy or dessert.

The Blue Devils’ spotless regular season and first-ever Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship were a sumptuous, five-course meal with all the fixings.

Finishing 14th out of the 22 schools splashing around Stanley M. Wallace Pool on the University of Maine campus was an after-dinner mint.

“There are four conferences represented here, instead of just one,” explained Lewiston senior Patrick Roy. “To do well here is always a bonus.”

In part because it qualified an individual swimmer for the consolation finals in four different events, Lewiston improved five spots from its 2007 finish.

Roy scored points for the Blue Devils in four different events.

He finished 13th in the 500-yard freestyle and 15th in the 200 freestyle. The tri-captain anchored a 200 freestyle relay team that placed 11th and missed out on a school record by a fraction of a second. Roy later wrapped up his 10-hour, eight-race day by collaborating with David Tirabassi, Kurtis Stocker and Derek Morris to win the consolation final in the 400 freestyle relay, good for ninth place overall in the event.

“That relay was the perfect way to finish,” said Morris, a junior.

Bangor’s victory in the championship final of the 400 free relay allowed the Rams (244 points) to successfully defend their state title by five points over co-runners-up Cape Elizabeth and Cheverus (239 each). Cape led Bangor by seven points entering the last event.

Scarborough and Deering completed the top five.

KVAC rivals Morse, Cony and Brunswick all finished ahead of Lewiston. On the surface, that’s a stunning reversal from Lewiston’s conference championship win Feb. 9 in Bath.

The Blue Devils’ overall depth was a cog in that victory. With three times the schools represented, state success is much more contingent upon having the horses to win individual events.

“Last week was our hurrah,” said Lewiston coach Becky Angelides.

Morris supplemented his success in the freestyle relays by placing 12th in the 100 backstroke.

Kurtis Stocker also was 14th in the 200 individual medley.

“We had quite a few individuals, so it was a lot more fun to watch this year instead of just the relays,” Roy said.

Sophomore Tim Brodsky of Edward Little was the lone local swimmer to qualify for the championship finals, earning a berth in both the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle.

Brodsky finished fourth in each of the morning qualifying heats. He was able to match that achievement in the evening with a time of 1:57.22 in the 200, trailing only Matt Libby of Cheverus (named outstanding swimmer of the meet), Joey Quinn of Bangor and Steven Fritzsche of Kennebunk.

With four more events and a lengthy diving competition providing his second long break of the day, Brodsky finally ran out of gas in the 100. He finished eighth.

“I did all right. It was a long day, and I think I got a little tired,” said Brodsky, who joined the EL varsity for the first time after competing solely with the Twin Cities Swim Team last winter.

Twenty-six points from Brodsky were enough to help EL defeat five other teams.

The state championship was Bangor’s 19th overall, a state record and more than the 17 combined crowns for the next two schools on the list, Portland and Cape Elizabeth.