Boys Swimming and Diving: Finals Primer
March 8, 2012
Swim coaches, more than those for any sport, have an ability to predict how a meet will end long before their athletes take to the water.
If those coaches are right this season, Saline and Birmingham Seaholm will repeat as MHSAA Lower Peninsula Swimming and Diving champions this weekend in Divisions 1 and 2, respectively. And Grand Rapids Christian will win its first MHSAA championship, claiming Division 3.
Eastern Michigan University will host this season’s Division 1 Final, with Division 2 at the Holland Aquatics Center and Division 3 at Oakland University. Preliminaries are Friday and championships will be decided Saturday.
Tickets cost $8, and competition begins at noon both days. Saturday’s championship races will be streamed live at FoxSportsDetroit.com and MHSAA.tv. Click for a full schedule and lists of qualifiers, their seed times and diving orders.
Predictions obviously don’t always come true. But here are some the teams, relays and individuals who could make the biggest waves:
You’ll recognize these contenders
Division 1: Saline and Rockford have remained unchanged in the top two spots of the coaches poll all season long, with Ann Arbor Pioneer and Birmingham Brother Rice taking turns in the third spot. Saline has dominated the last two MHSAA Division 1 championships – with Pioneer as runner-up both times. Rockford is seeking its first title since 2001. The Rams finished third last season.
Division 2: The top four in every coaches poll this season has read 1. Birmingham Seaholm, 2. Dexter, 3. Birmingham Groves, 4. Holland. Seaholm beat Groves by eight and Dexter by 30 last season. Seaholm has 40 swimming cuts (not counting relays) this time; Dexter has 26.
Division 3: Reigning champions Hamilton and East Grand Rapids have alternated winning this division since the MHSAA went from two to three five seasons ago. But Grand Rapids Christian is attempting to break that hold after finishing third, fifth and sixth the last three seasons, respectively. St. Joseph has big points potential from a couple of standouts, but might not have enough throughout the line-up to push the big three.
Pass the baton
Keep an eye on these relays, which all could post significant finishes Saturday:
Saline’s 400-yard freestyle relay: Saline would need to cut 4.53 seconds from its seed time to equal last season’s all-Finals record of 3:04.83. But this season’s top time of 3:09.36 is nearly two seconds better than the field, and seniors James Fisher and juniors David Boland and Adam Whitener all were on that record-setting team in 2011.
Birmingham Groves’ 400 freestyle relay: Groves has swum 3:12.79, 7.16 seconds off its Division 2 record pace from last season. However, seniors Scott Crosthwaite, Noah Zamler and Steven Curry all were on that record setter and are back in the line-up.
Grand Rapids Christian’s 200 freestyle relay: The Eagles will try to win one of the best races of the day in any division. Grand Rapids Christian has posted a top time of 1:27.95. Hamilton set the Division 3 record last season with a 1:26.10 and has a top time this season of 1:28.60. But Hamilton also has three swimmers back from that record-setting relay – seniors Joey DeGood and Ryan Hagen and junior Zach Lepird.
Athletes to Watch
David Boland, Saline junior – He could add fifth and sixth individual MHSAA championships to his list this weekend after winning both the individual medley and butterfly as both a freshman and sophomore. He’s also the Division 1 Final record holder in both races and as part of the 400 relay. His 400 and 200 relays won championships as well last season.
Ben Carter, St. Joseph freshman – The first-year phenom is seeded first in two Division 3 races – the 50 (21.58) and 100 freestyles (47.79), with healthy edges in both. He also will swim on three relays expected to score, including two contenders.
Eric Chisholm, Rockford senior – He’s looking to finish his high school career as the elite sprinter in Division 1. He won the 50 freestyle last season and his top time this winter of 20.59 seconds is a second better than both his winning time last season and the best times from the rest of the field. Chisholm also has the second-fastest 100 freestyle time (46.84) and will swim on three relays expected to contend.
Daniel Gironza, South Lyon senior – Based on Regional score, he’s the heavy Division 1 favorite after finishing seventh at the 2011 Final. Gironza’s score Tuesday of 490.55 was 89 points better than that of any other Division 1 diver.
Jackson Goethe, Midland Dow junior – He’s got the top-seeded Division 2 time in the 50 (21.43) and 100 freestyles (46.82), the latter by more than a second. He’ll swim on all three Dow relays, including two that should be in the running for first.
Matt Hooper, East Grand Rapids junior – The reigning Division 3 breaststroke champion has the top seed time in that race (57.77), which would be good enough to set a Division 3 record. Hooper also is seeded third in the IM (1:58.40) and will swim on two relays – including the reigning champion in the 200 medley.
Brennan LaBar, St. Johns junior – He won the Division 2 diving championship last season and won his Regional on Tuesday with a score of 451.50. But he’ll have to hold off Highland-Milford’s Scott Jessup, also a Regional champion with a score of 461.85.
Ben Martin, Midland Dow junior – His 200 individual medley seed time (1:54.77) is 2.2 seconds better than the rest of the Division 2 field, and his 100 butterfly time of 52.69 is a half-second better than the rest. Like teammate Goethe, he’ll also swim on all three relays.
Christian Mellos, Grosse Pointe North senior – After finishing seventh in the individual medley and fifth in the breaststroke last season, Mellos brings in the top Division 2 seed time in the latter (58.46) and the third-best (1:57.44) in the IM. He’ll also swim on two relays – one expected to contend and the other expected to push for a spot in the top heat.
Aaron Moyer, St. Joseph senior – He’s favored heavily to win his third-straight Division 3 championship in the individual medley and has the top seed time (1:56.54) by nearly two seconds. He’s also the top seed in the butterfly (51.99) and, like teammate Carter, will swim on all three relays.
Seiji Osawa, Ann Arbor Pioneer senior – Looking to go out strong after winning the 500 freestyle as a sophomore, Osawa has Division 1’s top seed time in that race (4:41.14) and the second-fastest in the 200 freestyle (1:42.76). He’ll also swim on two relays expected to contend for a spot in the championship heat.
Henk Plaggemars, Haslett senior – He’s taken over for graduated teammate Chris McLauchlan, who finished Division 3 runner-up last season. Plaggemars won his Regional with a score of 417.90, 16 points better than anyone else in his division. He finished sixth at last season’s Final.
Adam Whitener, Saline junior – He won both the 100 and 200 freestyles at last season’s Division 1 meet. And not surprisingly, he’s posted the lowest seed times in both of those races this winter. Whitener also could finish as part of two winning relays for the second straight season.
Victor Zhang, Canton senior – The reigning champion in the 100 backstroke has Division 1’s fastest seed time in both that race (52.04) and the 200 individual medley (1:51.65). In the latter, he’ll likely compete with reigning champion Boland of Saline. Zhang also will swim on two relays.
Seaholm Dominates in Regaining D2 Title
March 8, 2014
By Chip Mundy
Special to Second Half
YPSILANTI – One by one, members of the Birmingham Seaholm boys swimming and diving team approached coach Tom Wyllie – who was completely soaked after a post-meet dip in the pool – and greeted him with a big hug.
When one swimmer offered a handshake, Wyllie insisted on a hug.
“It’s hugs; we’re all family,” Wyllie told the swimmer. “Soak it in.”
They were soaking in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 champions after a dominating performance Saturday at Michael H. Jones Natatorium on the campus of Eastern Michigan University.
Seaholm started the meet with an emphatic statement – an LP Division 2 Finals record performance in winning the 200 medley relay – and ended with a huge exclamation mark – another LP Division 2-record performance in winning the 400 freestyle relay. In between, Seaholm won the 200 freestyle relay, and junior Jack Russell captured the 200 IM for the Maples’ only individual championship of the meet.
The Maples finished with 357.5 points in a complete domination of the meet as Dexter was second with 203. They also won the MHSAA championship in 2011 and were second in 2012 and third in 2013.
Seaholm had 10 swimmers qualify for at least one individual event, and nine swimmers qualified in two. That all happened in an outstanding effort during preliminaries Friday.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my 16 years of coaching,” Wyllie said of Friday’s performance. “We were very deep across the board; we had swimmers qualify in every event, and we qualified four 100 freestylers in the top eight – and only had one individual state champion.
“That goes to that team concept – it takes a team to win.”
The 200 medley relay opened in impressive fashion as Evan Burke, Russell, Cliff Ross and Matt Perham won in 1 minute, 33.41 seconds, narrowly edging Grosse Pointe South’s effort of 1:34.23. The previous LP Division 2 Finals record was 1:34.81 set by Holland in 2013.
“That relay probably would not have been that fast if it had not been for Grosse Pointe South,” Wyllie said. “They were right there with us neck and neck and pushing us really hard. We walked away with the win and a record on top of that. It just set the tone for the rest of the day.”
The individual highlight of the day for Seaholm came in the third race – the 200 IM – when Russell won in 1:52.10 – more than a second better than his time in the preliminaries. Robbie Zofchak of Dexter was a close second in 1:52.28.
“I had no clue if I won,” Russell said. “When I touched, I just looked at the board and saw first. I thought he caught me on the end.
“My coach told me that I would have him on the breaststroke, but he’ll be gunning for me on the freestyle. When I looked over in the last 25, I saw he was catching me off the turn. I just put my head down, didn’t breathe and touched the wall and hoped for the best.”
Russell also was third in the 100 breaststroke and swam the second leg on the winning 200 medley relay team.
While Seaholm had only one individual champion, it had several standouts.
- Senior Nathan Anderson was on both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays that won, and he also tied for second in the 100 freestyle and was third in the 50 freestyle. “The most important part of that day was getting first with my relays,” Anderson said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that without them. Because of them, I got what I wanted – I got my first place.”
- Junior Enrique Hernandez was on the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays in addition to taking fourth in the 100 freestyle and sixth in the 200 freestyle.
- Senior Mike Shaben also swam on the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays, and was fifth in the 50 freestyle and sixth in the 100 freestyle.
- Perham, a senior, was on the winning 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay, and added a sixth-place finish in the 50 freestyle and an eighth-place finish in the 100 backstroke.
- Burke, Cliff Ross and Nick Ross each were on one winning relay team. Burke added a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM and was seventh in the 100 breaststroke. Nick Ross was seventh in the 200 freestyle and eighth in the 100 freestyle, while Cliff Ross was seventh in the 100 butterfly.
- Sophomore Sebastian Fay was runner-up in diving after placing 24th a year ago.
With the team championship secure, Seaholm went into the final event – the 400 freestyle relay – on a mission. Crosstown rival Birmingham Groves set the meet record of 3:05.63 in 2011, and in the preliminaries Friday, Seaholm was in the neighborhood with a 3:06.99.
They weren’t to be denied in the final, with Anderson, Shaben, Nick Ross and Hernandez teaming up to win in 3:05.13, shaving a half-second off the LP Division 2 record.
“The state record has always been one of our goals,” Shaben said. “The entire season we’ve been eying it. Two seniors, Nathan Anderson and me, we’ve really wanted to end our season with that record.”
While Seaholm dominated, there were other standouts as well led by Holland senior Thomas Rathbun. He successfully defended his championships in both the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle. His winning time of 4:28.75 in the latter was nearly 10 seconds ahead of the runner-up, and he won the 200 in 1:38.74.
Both times were better than his winning performances from 2013.
“I feel like that was the most important part,” Rathbun said of his times. “The placing doesn’t mean that much to me – it’s great to be first – but to me it’s more about the times and if I improve on myself.”
Rathbun also was rebounding from a difficult situation last summer.
“Coming into the season, I wasn’t sure how it was going to go,” he said. “I had an off-summer dealing with some mono and bronchitis, so it was a slow start.
“I worked through some stuff, and now it feels pretty good.”
The other successful defending champion was junior John Vann of Battle Creek Lakeview, who repeated in the 100 butterfly. His winning time of 49.23 was better than his 50.83 in 2013.
“It feels really good,” said Vann, who also was second in the 200 freestyle. “I was definitely more confident this year just knowing I had a state championship under my belt, and it just felt really good that I could compete with everybody and just get out there and race them.
“I took it out a lot faster than Friday, and it hurt a lot more in the end, but it was definitely worth it.”
White Lake Lakeland senior Will Walker, who finished second to Vann in the 100 butterfly, won the 50 freestyle in 20.83 seconds, while Nick Leshok of North Farmington won the 100 freestyle in 46.03 seconds.
The 100 backstroke went to Jason Wesseling of Jenison in 50.05 (just off the meet record of 50.04), and Xinghao Wang of Grand Ledge took the 100 breaststroke in 55.77 seconds.
The diving portion of the meet went to Swartz Creek senior Jason Maxwell, who outdistanced the field with 437.50 points as runner-up Fay of Seaholm had 375.20. Maxwell had a healthy lead for his final dive – a reverse double somersault in the tuck position.
However, the day and the meet belonged to Seaholm.
“Everybody played their part – the hugs – we’re one giant family,” Wyllie said. “When family cares about each other, you don’t want to let each other down. Everybody does their part.
“My son was on the last state championship with me. He was a senior and a captain, so that was a different feeling. I was wondering how this one would feel, and it feels like I have 45 sons; it’s just incredible. Both state titles are unique in their own way.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Swimmers launch for a leg of a relay Saturday at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final. (Middle) A swimmer surges ahead during his race at Eastern Michigan University. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)