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.
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.)
Performance: Spring Lake's Cam Peel
March 15, 2019
Cam Peel
Spring Lake senior – Swimming & Diving
The record-setting sprint star capped his high school career Saturday with two individual titles and as part of two relay championships at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals, earning the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.” In addition to his championships, Peel became the first swimmer in Michigan high school history to break 20 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, swimming an all-Finals record 19.86 seconds in prelims and 19.91 in the championship race.
Peel had won the 100 freestyle as a junior and placed four more times in individual events before jumping into the Oakland University pool last weekend. In addition to winning the 50, Peel took the 100 in a meet record 43.94 seconds, anchored the 200 freestyle relay in a meet record 1:22.88 and also anchored the winning 400 relay in a meet record 3:03.66. Spring Lake as a team finished fourth, to go with finishes of 13th, fifth and third during his career. He will graduate with the school records in the 50 and 100, and also in the 200 freestyle (1:39.65), individual medley (1:54.14) and 100 butterfly (50.96).
Sprinting runs in the Peel family, at least these last two generations – his father Rob, also Spring Lake’s coach the last three seasons, won an NCAA Division III championship in the 50. Sister Meg Peel has reached the Division III Finals as well in the backstroke. Cam actually quit swimming during middle school, taking up football and lacrosse as his main pursuits instead. But he returned to the pool for high school, and will continue at University of Michigan. He carries a 3.85 GPA and plans to study business with an emphasis on property management or marketing.
Coach (and father) Rob Peel said: “I’m nothing short of amazed by Cam’s dedication these last few years. He’s earned everything that he’s accomplished, has worked so hard and sacrificed so much to go so fast. It was an experience for me both as a coach and especially his dad to watch him perform last weekend. It was one of those things, it made me try to hold it together when he’d swim so fast. I was thrilled when he got third at state a couple of years ago – it was a 46.99, I couldn’t have been more proud of that. And for him to go as fast as he has the last couple of years has just blown me away. It’s been inspiring I think to other kids on our team to see you can just put your head down and commit to excelling in a sport and get those kind of results, because I think there are other kids on our team that look at Cam and now say, I can have that – maybe not to that level, but I can be successful in this sport because it’s based upon your work and commitment and sacrifice, and they watched him every day do that.”
Performance Point: “I didn't know that no one had broken 20, so it was a little bit of a surprise for me,” said Cam Peel of his 50 record time. “It's a super high honor, and I'm really proud of it. After prelims, I was told they announced it at the other division state meets; it was pretty cool. … My biggest takeaway (from Finals) was probably that I had a lot of fun with my team. Fourth place, we were super close, one point away (from third), but I couldn't ask for a better way to go out with my brothers.”
Magic numbers: “I had been wanting to see 19 for a long time, too early than anyone thought I should. It was super relieving, and I was super buzzed I finally did it. … My freshman year at states – I only swam one event and I swam three relays – but I led off our 2(00) free relay and I went 22.40, and after that season I didn't set a number time, but I wrote a little note to myself and kept it in my room. I still have it to this day. It says I was gonna win states the following year in the 50, which didn't happen, But for that to finally happen (this year) was great.”
Spring Lake pride: “Our team swam great. We have Kevin Losee and Joey Wachter, two standout juniors that are coming back next year. They helped me train all year. That's what nobody seems to realize, is that they're pushing me every single day. And guys like Evan (Schock) and Sam (Sella) and Eric (Geschiere), the seniors, to make it to state there, it was a total team effort.”
Dad knew: “One thing he always said was find something you're passionate about. And before high school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. Then I found swimming, which I'd swam before, but I quit because it was hard and time-consuming. My dad had always said as long as I keep getting faster, I'm going to keep swimming. I guess I've been living by that, and I want to continue doing that as long as I can.”
Coach’s Son: “He's been a great coach. I always get a bunch of flak from the other swimmers about being the coach's son, but it kinda comes along with it. My name changed from Cam to "Coach's Son" pretty much the whole year. And my dad would joke around; we’d ask after swim meets, ‘Do we have to warm down coach?’ I'd be in the mix, and my dad would say, ‘Yeah, you have to warm down, but Cam you don't have to do anything.’ It was just a joke. … He tells me when I ask (for advice). He doesn’t feed me with information, but it’s cool too to look back at stuff he’s done. We have old videos of (his races), and he has an awesome mind in the sport. So I’m learning as much as I can now, and I think it’s going to benefit me in the future. His best events were the 50, 100 and 200, but mostly the 50 – his short course time was 19:83. He was three hundredths of a second faster (than me) in the 50, but I think I have him in the 100 and 200.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
March 7: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson wrestling - Read
February 28: Kevon Davenport, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Read
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Spring Lake's Cam Peel launches during a relay at Saturday's Division 3 Finals. (Middle) Peel stands atop the awards podium at Oakland University. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)