Central Awaits Fast Finishes, New Home
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
February 20, 2018
PORTAGE — Thursday night was an emotional one for the Portage Central boys swimming & diving team, and not only because it was Senior Night.
The Mustangs’ 114-69 win against St. Joseph was the last meet in the 44-year-old pool located at the middle school.
“They’re building a new pool at the high school,” Central coach Jim Schafer said. “It’s bittersweet after spending 33 years coaching in this pool; (there are) a lot of great memories.
“A lot of great student athletes have been part of the program. The old pools have served Portage very well, and I’m sure the new ones will serve just as well for the future of Portage Aquatics.”
The future is bright for the program – but so is the present.
The Mustangs are ranked No. 8 in the latest Lower Peninsula Division 2 state poll heading into the Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference meet Friday and Saturday at Battle Creek Lakeview.
The Mustangs have won 19 conference titles, including last year’s when they shared the crown with Kalamazoo Loy Norrix.
“There are a lot of good teams there,” Schafer said. “Mattawan gave us a really good meet last week. Norrix has a lot of good kids; so does St. Joe.
“Battle Creek Lakeview is always strong. It’s going to be a tight race between a lot of teams.”
The Mustangs, who take an 11-1 dual record into the meet, are no slouches in the pool.
After finishing eighth in LPD2 last year, they already have qualified four finalists from that team.
Oakland University will host this year’s championship meet March 9-10.
Star power
Owen Miller, the reigning LPD2 champ in the 200-yard freestyle, is just a junior and, while nostalgic for the pool where he set two varsity records, he is looking forward to the new one.
“I’m very excited for that,” he said. “We were shown the layout of the pool a while ago, but I forget what it looked like. I remember I liked it, but I’m not sure why.
“It’s going to be a much larger pool. More locker rooms.”
Miller also finished third in the 500 freestyle at the Finals last year and swam the first leg of the 400 freestyle relay with junior Sam Weber, senior Jacob Cole and Jack Rogers, who graduated last year. They placed eighth.
“Owen’s a quiet, hard-working guy,” said Schafer, who also teaches physical education, health and sports science at the high school. “As far as our team, he’s a great freestyler, but he can also swim other events as well.
“He’s one of our go-to guys that I can go to at any meet and say I need you to swim this. We’re fortunate enough that we have a handful of those kids. We have a pretty versatile lineup.”
Swimmers on the 10th-place 200 medley relay team were Rogers, who is now a freshman on the Wayne State University swim team, Weber, Cole and junior Jack Liu.
Cole also placed 11th in the 200 IM.
“Swimming is such a mental sport,” Cole said. “People don’t understand. Once you get up on the blocks, you don’t hear anything else. When he says ‘Take your mark,’ everyone has to be quiet in the building. There’s no noise.
“All that pressure that’s on you before you go in the race, it’s all gone for that moment before the buzzer’s released. It’s just like you and the water, and it feels like practice again.”
Cole’s brother Christopher also competed for the Mustangs.
“I’ve coached several brothers, which is kinda nice because you know the families,” Schafer said.
“Jacob brings good solid leadership. He works real hard and is a great all-around kid.”
With his brother holding team records in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, Jacob Cole has plenty of motivation.
“This year I’m trying to break his record in the 200 IM, so that’s my main goal,” he said. “I like to think I’m close. I’m at 1:58 and he’s at 1:55, so hopefully I can go 1:54 and beat it by a lot.
“I don’t really excel in any of the major strokes, but I’m generally pretty good at every stroke,” Cole added. “My favorite event is the 400 IM which isn’t offered in high school, so I go in the 200 IM.”
Miller holds the school record in the 500 free with a time of 4:33.22 and as part of the 400 free relay (1:26.44) with Cole, Weber and Rogers. Weber was ninth in the 500 free and 10th in the 100 backstroke at the MHSAA Finals last year.
Last year, Miller swam the first leg on the relay team, which was fine with him.
“I like it because I like to go out and try my best to get a lead, and then it takes some pressure off coming to the finish,” Miller said. “I like to cheer on my teammates as they come in.
“I enjoy them both (relays and individual competition). I think relays are more fun in that it’s the team and you’re working together, and it’s more of an accomplishment if you place high. Individuals, you have a little more self pride that you did this all yourself.”
Ready for Finals
Some teams do something special to bond during tournament time, but don’t count the Mustangs among them.
“We’re not shaving our head, that’s for sure,” Miller said, laughing. “We’re going to veto that one if the seniors bring it up.
“They talked about bleaching our hair, but we kinda talked them down to frosted tips style, but we’ll see if we actually go through with it.”
Schafer said there is a reason for Portage Central’s success.
“We’ve got some pretty hard-working kids and there are two good age-group programs in the area, which help feed into our program,” he said.
“We’re fortunate enough to work with kids who already have a good swimming background when they come in.”
Cole gives credit to his coach.
“Schaf’s the best,” he said. “He’s an amazing coach. Whenever I come to the high school season, I’m always excited because the team camaraderie is really great. It’s just a fun time, and I think Schaf brings that out in everybody. One of the three goals is building relationships, and that’s one thing we say.
“It’s great if you’re winning, but at the end of the day were you a good sport while you were doing it? Did you make friends during the season? Was it fun? What’s the point of a sport if you’re not having fun while you’re doing it?”
Schafer has just three other seniors on the team: Caleb Calnin, Ferris Ghazal and Ethan Kloosterman.
Juniors are Harrison Fitts, Alex Galer, Christian Huitema, Josh Parsons, Veeresh Rajendran, Jace Rozankovich, Sheldon Shen and Nikhil Velagalety.
Sophomores are Jacob Crump, Connor Meyer, Logan Misejka, Saad Qureshi and Matt Walsh, and freshmen are Juan Barrera, Andrew Burhans, Ethan Earle-Glinsky, Isaac Hogue, Thenuka Jayatilaka, David Jin, Lucas Miller, Ben Miller, Emery Rahrig, Liam Roehr, Max Schramm, Frans Tanade and Jim Zesiger.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Portage Central’s Owen Miller is a reigning MHSAA Finals champion. (Middle) From top: Central coach Jim Schafer, Miller and Jacob Cole. (Below) Cole and Miller enjoy a lighter moment during a break. (Top photo by Mike Peterson, head shots by Pam Shebest and below photo by Colleen Ruggerio.)
Preview: Winning Streaks Challenged
March 8, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A handful or reigning champions have dominated Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving these last few seasons – but that could end this weekend.
A year ago, Birmingham Brother Rice in Division 1 and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in Division 3 became two of three teams over the last 20 years to win four straight MHSAA LP boys swimming & diving titles. Dexter, in Division 2, also repeated as a team champion.
But two of those are not considered the favorites entering this weekend’s Finals, and it’s not hard to see a path for three new champions. Read on for a look at how the races stack up in all three divisions, plus some of the individuals who are expected to shine brightest.
Preliminaries are Friday and Finals are Saturday, with action beginning at noon for both. All three Finals also will be streamed live and can be watched with subscription on MHSAA.TV. Click for lineups and seed times for all three meets.
LP Division 1 at Eastern Michigan University
Reigning champion: Birmingham Brother Rice
2017 runner-up: Ann Arbor Skyline
2018 top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Skyline, 2. Holland West Ottawa, 3. Birmingham Brother Rice.
For the first time in a long time, there’s a feeling Brother Rice’s reign might end. The Warriors have won four straight LPD1 team titles and have some stars in the pool this weekend – but only five individual entries joining three relays seeded among the top 16. Skyline finished second last season by 26 points and is seeking its first championship with 12 individual entries and all three relays seeded to score, plus two divers including the reigning champ. West Ottawa was the runner-up in 2015 and is seeking its first team title since 1971. The Panthers have 11 entries and all three relays seeded to score after coming in fifth – but just 48 points back – last season. Saline, ranked No. 4 this week, came in third last year 36 points back and could be in the mix as well.
Matt Lau, Saline senior – After finishing first in the breaststroke and 10th in the 50 last season, enters seeded ninth in the breaststroke (58.27) and also will swim the 50 again.
Derek Maas, Holland West Ottawa senior – Missed what would’ve been his first Finals title by finishing second in the backstroke last season, along with seventh in the individual medley, but enters this weekend seeded first in backstroke (50.94), fourth in IM (1:53.23) and as an option for all three relays but a likely leader of the top-seeded 200 medley (1:33.77).
Michael MacGillivray, Ann Arbor Skyline senior – Placed fourth in both the IM and breaststroke last season, but is seeded first in both the IM (1:49.97) and breaststroke (55.23) this time with a spot on the top-seeded 400 freestyle relay (3:09.67) as well.
Alex Margherio, Birmingham Brother Rice senior – Added a backstroke and relay title last season to another relay win in 2016, and this time is seeded second in the butterfly (50.47) and fourth in the 50 (21.22).
Jacob Newberger, Rockford senior – Won the consolation heats of both the IM and butterfly last season to finish ninth in both, but enters this weekend seeded first in the butterfly (50.34) and second in the backstroke (51.10).
Adam Orringer-Hau, Ann Arbor Pioneer senior – Earned part of a relay championship as a sophomore and finished third in the 200 freestyle and seventh in the butterfly last season; he’s seeded first in the 200 (1:39.08) and third in the 100 freestyle (45.86).
Ben Rojewski, Livonia Stevenson junior – Placed third in the 500 freestyle and 13th in the 200 a year ago and has jumped up to the top seed in the 500 (4:35.89) and 11th in the 200.
Henry Schutte, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central junior – Last season’s 50 and 100 freestyle champion is seeded first in both at 20.28 and 44.92, respectively, and should threaten the meet record of 20.26 in the former.
Henry Schirmer, Ann Arbor Skyline junior – Last season’s champion by more than 53 points won his Regional last week by 50 with the highest score in all of Division 1 at 522.35.
LP Division 2 at Oakland University
Reigning champion: Dexter
2017 runner-up: Ann Arbor Huron
2018 top-ranked: 1. Dexter, 2. Rochester Adams, 3. Birmingham Seaholm.
Dexter is competing for its third straight LPD2 title after finishing 27.5 points ahead of the field last season (and with runner-up Ann Arbor Huron now in LPD1 instead). The Dreadnaughts have only their three relays and seven individual entries seeded to score, but some depth including a few individuals who could break into the top 16. Rochester Adams is seeking its first title after placing 10th a year ago. All three relays are seeded to score, as are 12 individual entries, and the Highlanders boast a Regional champ diver as well. Seaholm finished third in 2017, 88.5 points back, but won this meet in 2011, 2014 and 2015. The Maples have all three relays and 11 individuals seeded to score, plus a diver, and enough high seeds to make this interesting at the top.
Michael Arpasi, Birmingham Seaholm senior – Last season’s butterfly champion also has three relay titles to his credit, and enters the weekend seeded first in the 50 (21.08), butterfly (50.01) and as part of the 200 medley relay (1:35.26).
Alexander Capizzo, Fraser sophomore – After claiming both the IM and 500 championships as a freshman, Capizzo will attempt to repeat entering as the second seed in the IM (1:55.56) and third in the 500 (4:35.50).
Daniel Frederick, Warren DeLaSalle senior – Finished fourth in the 500 and seventh in the 200 freestyle a year ago, but carries the top seed in the 200 (1:41.76) and second in the 500 (4:35.44) into this weekend.
Eric Hieber, Walled Lake Western sophomore – After finishing 14th in the 500 and not qualifying for the final heats in the 200 in 2017, Hieber has the top seed in the 500 (4:23.71) by nearly three seconds and the sixth seed in the 200 (1:43.41).
Matthew Koueiter, Grosse Pointe South senior – Placed fourth in the breaststroke and 15th in the butterfly as a junior, but is pointing toward a strong finish with the top seed in the breaststroke (58.25) and fourth seed in the butterfly (52.48).
Jason Krzciok, Midland Dow senior – Enters seeded second in the 50 (21.25) and third in the 100 (46.97) and as part of the top-seeded 200 freestyle relay (1:26.48) after finishing ninth in the 50 and fourth in the 100 in 2017.
Zach Milke, Warren DeLaSalle senior – Added a backstroke title last year to his relay championship in 2016, and also took sixth in the 50; he’s seeded first in the 100 freestyle (46.05) by three-quarters of a second, first in the backstroke (50.37) by more than a second and will swim on the top-seeded 400 freestyle relay (3:11.23).
Owen Miller, Portage Central junior – Finished first in the 200 free and third in the 500 a year ago and is seeded second in the 200 (1:42.12) and sixth in the 500 (4:39.99) this time.
Zane Rosely, Walled Lake Northern sophomore – Scored points taking 13th in the IM and 15th in the 500 last season, but is expected to score a lot more with the top seed in the IM (1:53.80) and the fifth in the 500 (4:37.25).
Levi Youmans, Battle Creek Lakeview senior – Won the diving competition last season by more than 30 points and took second at his Regional last week with 443.90 – which ranked second in all of Division 2 as well.
LP Division 3 at Saginaw Valley State University
Reigning champion: Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
2017 runner-up: East Grand Rapids
2018 top-ranked: 1. Holland Christian, 2. East Grand Rapids, 3. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
If rankings are correct, another major streak will end as Cranbrook has won the last four LPD3 titles. Holland Christian came in third last season, just 26.5 points back, and East Grand Rapids was second trailing by 13. Christian enters this weekend with 17 individual entries and three relays seeded to score, including an astounding six top seeds. East Grand Rapids has nine entries and three relays seeded to score, but plenty of depth and two divers including a Regional champ. Cranbrook will work to contend again with all three relays and six individual entries seeded among the top 16.
Christian Bart, East Grand Rapids senior – The reigning champ in the breaststroke and 50 free has three individual and two relay titles total over his career, and enters this weekend seeded first in the 50 (20.68) and second in the breaststroke (58.09). That qualifying time in the 50 is four hundredths of a second off the meet record he swam in 2017.
Nolan Briggs, Byron Center senior – The reigning champion in the butterfly is seeded third this time (50.84); he also was fourth in the 50 last season and is seeded second (21.06) behind Bart in that race.
Skyler Cook-Weeks, Holland Christian senior – He’s won the 500 the last two seasons and added a relay title last year as well. Cook-Weeks is seeded first in the 500 (4:35.90) and 200 (1:38.61) and as part of a top-seeded 400 relay (3:07.47) that could make a move on the meet record of 3:06.15.
Kevin Hao, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood senior – Enters seeded third in both the breaststroke (58.73) and IM (1:55.18) after finishing fifth in the breaststroke and second in the IM last season.
Luke Mason, Holland Christian senior – He’ll look to add to last season’s 200 IM and relay titles, entering this weekend as the second seed in the 200 free (1:41.94) and sixth seed in the 500 (4:50.85).
Ian Miskelley, Holland Christian senior – Swimming his first season in high school (he previously attended Holland Black River, which doesn’t have the sport), Miskelley has shown why he’s been known as one of the state’s top talents. He enters the weekend with the top seed in the IM (1:50.63) that is only eight hundredths of a second off the meet record and the top seed in the backstroke (49.88) that is already faster than the meet record in that race. He’ll also swim on the 400 relay noted above.
Cam Peel, Spring Lake junior – Finished sixth in the 50 and third in the 100 last season, but is seeded first in the 100 (46.16), third in the 50 (21.25) and is expected to swim on the top-seeded 200 medley relay (1:35.17).
Cooper Prue, Flint Powers Catholic senior – Placed sixth in the breaststroke and swam the prelim heat in the 200 freestyle last season, but could make a big jump coming in seeded first in the breaststroke (56.53) and fourth in the butterfly (51.13).
Riley VanMeter, Holland Christian junior – Tied for second in the butterfly and finished second in the backstroke in 2017; enters this weekend seeded first in the butterfly (49.84) and second in the backstroke (51.22).
Cayden Petrak, St. Johns junior – Last season’s runner-up to a now-graduated senior, Petrak missed the championship by less than two points. He won his Regional by 155 last week with a score of 496.10, second in Division 2 only to East Grand Rapids’ Nicholas Merritt (499.25).
PHOTOS: Swimmers prepare to launch during last season's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)