Cranes Climb Pool Podium for 1st Time

March 8, 2014

By Dean Holzwarth
Special to Second Half 

HOLLAND – The Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood boys swimming and diving team had all the motivation it needed entering Saturday’s MHSAA Division 3 Finals at Holland Aquatic Center. 

Last year was still fresh in the minds of the Cranes after a runner-up finish to East Grand Rapids by only four points.

It provided the perfect incentive, and Cranbrook-Kingswood avenged that loss while capturing the program’s first MHSAA title. 

The Cranes scored 297 points to win the Finals in a competitive race among a handful of teams.

Chelsea placed runner-up with 273.33 points, while East Grand Rapids (256.83) was third and St. Joseph (197) fourth. 

“This carries over from last year with our four-point loss,” Cranbrook-Kingswood coach Karl Hodgson said. “These guys have done nothing but talk about that, and they’ve been thinking about that for basically 12 months. The motivation factor was all probably done on them, and I didn’t have to do a whole lot with that part. But I couldn’t be happier with their performance in the water.”

Cranes co-captain and senior Ben Schneider said the team was determined to improve upon last year and make school history. 

“I think we knew from last year that we definitely had what it took to get it, and that was on our minds from the first day of practice and every practice since then,” he said. “We’ve had our eyes on the prize and we finally got it.”

Nate Tattrie, also a senior and co-captain, was thrilled with the team’s push toward a goal that didn’t seem possible a short while ago. 

“This feels excellent,” Tattrie said. “Four years ago we would not imagine that we would be here. It’s amazing, and everyone worked really hard over the summer so we knew coming in that we had a good chance.”

The Cranes opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay behind the foursome of Mitch Buccalo, Giorgio DeGrosso, Andrew Guan and Frankie Misra. 

Buccalo also won the 200 IM with a time of 1:53.43.

“The biggest key was winning the medley,” Hodgson said. “I knew we had a shot at it, and that sort of set the tone for the rest of the day. The rest of it took care of itself, and we knew it was going to be close going in with about four or five teams. All I wanted them to do was swim fast Friday to put us in position today. That’s what we did.” 

Chelsea’s finish was the highest in school history. It took third in 1996 and fifth a year ago.

“We did the best we could in prelims and got enough kids in position where they could score,” Chelsea coach Dave Jolly said. “I laid out a formula (Friday) night and the kids bought into it. I knew we had to come ready to go today, and there were a few trials and tribulations. But we came out really successful.” 

Jacob Burris won the 1-meter diving event over teammate Joe Smith.

Burris finished with a final score of 452.05, while Smith had a 421. Defending two-time champion Henry Swett of Marshall took third (410.95). 

“They brought their “A” game, and success breeds success,” Jolly said. “We just kept clicking and clicking, and at the end we got the first runner-up finish in the history of our program.”

Holland Christian senior Parker Cook-Weeks duplicated his success from a year ago with wins in the 200 and 500 freestyles, both times defeating rival Kurt Swieter of East Grand Rapids. Cook-Weeks clocked a 1:38.95 in the 200 and 4:36.61 in the 500. 

“It had to be the most fun thing I’ve ever had in my career,” Cook-Weeks said. “Me and Kurt go back a long time ago, to age group swimming, and it has always been a battle. Defending my title against him was fun, and it was a fun run for my last year here.”

Cook-Weeks has committed to swim at Olivet Nazarene next season. 

“There was a lot of pressure on me this year,” Cook-Weeks said. “I had pressure from my school because they wanted me to do good, and I got pressure from my college coaches because they wanted me to do good so I can come in their next year and do my best. It was huge pressure, but I was able to deal with it.”

The biggest buzz from the meet came at the conclusion of the 200 freestyle relay. 

East Grand Rapids, Detroit Country Day and Chelsea finished in a three-way tie with identical times of 1:27.08

“I’ve been swimming and coaching for too many years than I would like to admit, but I’ve never ever seen three relays tie it up and then to have 12 individual swims and come out to the hundredth,” Jolly said. “That’s insane, and it was perfect to have those quality of kids all on the stand together. It says a lot about our division. It was a great meet.” 

Hodgson thought there was a problem with the clock.

“I thought it was a malfunction on the board,” he said. “I have been coaching high school swimming for about 30 years and that’s a first. It was kind of cool, and the people around me had ever seen it before, too.”

Milan senior Oliver Smith was the lone record-setter at this season's meet, doing so in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.78.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood celebrates its first MHSAA team swimming and diving championship. (Middle) Milan's Oliver Smith launches into a record-setting swim in the 50 freestyle. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)

Diving & Depth Help Deliver EGR's Latest Finals Win

By Dan D'Addona
Special for Second Half

March 27, 2021

HOLLAND — The East Grand Rapids boys swimming & diving team was devastated when last year’s MHSAA Finals were canceled.

The Pioneers were poised to win and immediately set out on a mission to claim the Lower Peninsula Division 3 title this season.

East Grand Rapids won Saturday’s meet with 308 points despite not winning any swimming events.

Of course, diving was another story.

EGR started strong on Friday, going 1-2 in diving with Charley Bayer winning with 490 points, just ahead of teammate Billy Kirchgessner (472.90). Chelsea’s Mitch Brown was third (450.05).

“Everything started flowing together, and it all worked out in the meet for us,” Bayer said. “That is our biggest advantage. Having a teammate that good can push you, and we pushed each other. It is a blessing to be part of a program like this. This team win is the most important in a long time because we wanted a big win last year and it didn’t happen. This was a redemption win.”

The Pioneers earned their record 26th Finals win with their depth and relays.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, East Grand Rapids finished second in 1:26.89 with Will Laham, Max Jung, Kenny Pontius and Logan McCahill posting the runner-up finish.

“Last year was traumatic. We had a lot of kids work so hard and we had a good chance to win it. This year, just getting to get to the meet was a plus, but to win it without taking any swimming firsts spoke well for the group,” EGR coach Butch Briggs said. “Diving got us 37 points, and you can’t do much better than that. It just got everyone pumped up.”

Lower Peninsula Division 3 boys swimming & diving 2Holland Christian finished second with 218.5 points. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood was third (194), Spring Lake was fourth (196) and Mason was fifth (162).

Holland Christian senior Colin Kalkman won the title in the 100 freestyle, finishing in 45.72. He used a strong finish to pull ahead of runner-up Jacob Ryan (45.92) of Detroit Country Day. Trenton’s Spencer Boling-Hamer was third (47.24).

Kalkman then won the 100 backstroke in 50.96, holding off Pinckney’s Tyler Ray (51.09) and East Grand Rapids’ McCahill (51.45).

The Maroons also won the 400 freestyle relay with Joey Grasman, Christian Hoeksema, Blake Assink and Kalkman touching first in 3:09.58. Spring Lake (3:09.73) was second, followed by Mason (3:10.67).

“That was fantastic to win the final relay. They did what they had to do,” Holland Christian coach Todd Smeenge said. “I am happy for all the seniors, and Colin had a great meet. I am so happy for him. It was satisfying to see that work pay off. We scored about what we thought, but East Grand Rapids ate up all kinds of points.”

The fastest race of the meet was the 100 breaststroke, where the top three finishers bettered the previous Division 3 record. Milan’s Andrew Dobrzanski won the event in 54.67, followed by Cranbrook Kingswood’s Ethan Schwab (55.46) and Otsego’s Owen Stedner (55.85).

Dobrzanski also won the 200 IM in 1:50.07, a dominating performance that beat the field by nearly four seconds. Grand Rapids Christian’s Jacob Haaksma was second (1:53..94), followed by McCahill (1:55.17).

Dobrzanski was named Swimmer of the Meet .

“It means a lot. I was shocked when I saw my name up there,” Dobrzanski said. “The breaststroke was amazing with all of the competition.”

Cranbrook Kingswood won the 200 medley relay in 1:34.97 with Colin Zexter, Ethan Schwab, Josh Zexter and Andrew Zhang.  Spring Lake was second (1:35.51), followed by East Grand Rapids (1:37.63).

Lower Peninsula Division 3 boys swimming & diving 3

Trenton’s Spencer Boling-Hamer won the 200 freestyle in 1:42.21, ahead of Grasman (1:42.40) and Mason’s Jonas Cantrell (1:42.49).

Detroit Country Day’s Ryan dropped nearly half a second from his seed time to win the 50 freestyle in 20.58, holding off Spring Lake’s Charles Brown (20.71) and Mason’s Gabe Williams (21.68) in an extremely fast race.

Pinckney’s Ray was the winner in the 100 butterfly, going 49.23 to hold off Spring Lake’s Brown (49.80) and Mason’s Liam Boomer (50.48).

Cantrell won the 500 freestyle in 4:27.58, ahead of Cranbrook Kingswood’s Schwab (4:35.14) and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Griffin Gushman (4:41.64).

Mason’s Williams, Tommy Hebert, Boomer and Cantrell won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:26.52, ahead of East Grand Rapids (1:26.89) and Grand Rapids Christian (1:27.13).

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) East Grand Rapids celebrates its team championship Saturday at Holland Aquatic Center. (Middle) Milan’s Andrew Dobrzanski won the breaststroke and 200 IM. (Below) Cranbrook’s Andrew Zhang looks up at the clock after a race. (Click for photos by Dan D’Addona.)