Dexter Digs Depth, Repeats as D2 Champ
March 11, 2017
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
YPSILANTI – There is more than one way to win an MHSAA Finals swimming & diving championship, and the Dexter boys proved it Saturday afternoon at the Michael H. Jones Natatorium on the campus of Eastern Michigan University.
The Dreadnaughts won the opening race – the 200-yard medley relay – and did not win another en route to their second consecutive Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship. A year ago, Dexter had Rob Zofchak win the 100 and 200 titles, and he combined with fellow senior Matt Bergdolt to lead the way.
“Last year, our top guys were really good,” senior captain Alex Janosi said. “Rob and Matt scored a lot of points for us, and this year everyone was scoring their own points, so it was more of a team effort than last year.”
Indeed. All 11 Dexter swimmers scored points as the Dreadnaughts totaled 284 to edge runner-up Ann Arbor Huron (256.5) and third-place Birmingham Seaholm (195.5). It was the fourth MHSAA championship in boys swimming & diving for Dexter and the first time it won back-to-back.
“We have been a depth team all year,” Dexter coach Michael McHugh said. “We don't have all-stars, but we have a lot of really good guys, and that's what won us the meet this year. Those numbers.”
Dexter started the meet in great shape as juniors Alex Shehab and Sam Krahn, sophomore Niklas Eberly and Janosi teamed up to win the medley in 1 minute, 34.42 seconds.
Janosi said that win and the performance in the prelims Friday set the stage for the championship.
“Coming into states, everyone is a little nervous and guys don't know what they can do,” he said. “So to come out and do well in the first day and then win the first event really showed that all of our training paid off, and we could go for it and have fun and win a championship.”
Despite the opening win, Dexter did not lead from start to finish. Huron made an early move and led by 13.5 points after seven events, but McHugh was not too concerned.
“We knew we had to weather the storm early,” he said. “Our big event is the 500 – it has been for years – and we had five guys score in it. That's kind of where we took over, and we knew we had a shot. As long as we were mistake-free, we would win at that point.”
The 500 freestyle – the eighth event - was the perfect showcase for Dexter's depth. The Dreadnaughts did not have a swimmer finish in the top four, but Janosi was fifth, Mitchell Houghtaling sixth, Andrew Golin seventh, Casey Dolen 10th and Sam Latshaw 13th.
Huron did not score in the event as Dexter erased the 13.5-point deficit and turned it into a 191-153.5 lead that it never relinquished.
Eberly had the best individual meet for Dexter. In addition to swimming on the winning 200 medley relay, he was on the second-place 400 freestyle relay and added second-place finishes in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly. He completed his first season swimming for Dexter after transferring from Pinckney.
He said he felt a little bit of apprehension joining a new team at a new school, but it vanished quickly.
“You always feel that way when you join a team, but this team fits me really well,” Eberly said. “We're like brothers. All of us. I started training with them, and they accepted me right away, and I loved them from day one.”
Janosi is the inspirational leader of the team who also contributes a lot in the water. He swam the last leg in the winning 200 medley relay and the runner-up 400 freestyle relay and added fourth-place finishes in the 200 IM and the 500 freestyle.
But what he brings to the team with his leadership skills might be as important as his swimming.
“He is the heart and soul of this team,” McHugh said. “He gets these guys ready to go each and every day. When they're not working, he's on them. He gets these guys motivated; he gets them focused.”
It is a role embraced by Janosi.
“I really enjoy it,” he said. “I like being a leader on the team. We have a really talented group, but sometimes they're nervous or a little shaky, and I like to keep them going and pump them up because I know they have the talent. It's just great to see all that turn into a state championship.”
Shehab, who swam the opening leg on the winning medley relay, also took fourth in the 100 backstroke and 12th in the IM.
Dexter had Will Blodgett, Stephen Sterlitz, Kevin Kimmel and Dolen take third in the 200 freestyle relay, and each of them scored in other individual events in another showing of its depth.
Blodgett also was 10th in the 200 free and 11th in the 100 free, while Sterlitz took sixth in the 100 butterfly and 13th in the 50 freestyle. Kimmel placed 15th in the 50 freestyle, and Dolen, who was 10th in the 500 freestyle, also was ninth in the 200 freestyle.
Other scorers for Dexter were Krahn – a member of the winning 200 medley – in 10th in the 100 breaststroke, Golin, who was seventh in the 500 freestyle and 11th in the 200 freestyle; and Latshaw, who was 12th in the 100 backstroke and 13th in the 500 freestyle.
It all added up to a convincing MHSAA championship over an impressive Huron team that finished second.
“I'd like to congratulate Huron; they had really good swims,” Janosi said. “Their top guys were really good and scored a lot of points, but our depth is what won the championship. Everyone was scoring, and it really added up.”
Huron was led by senior Noah Frassrand, who finally bagged his first individual Finals championship by winning the 100 backstroke in the second-to-last event. He had finished second in the IM and also swam the first leg on the 200 freestyle relay team that finished second.
“It's been one of the most competitive meets I've ever been to, and it's been really exciting to race all these people,” he said. “It is always tiring, and it was difficult for me, but racing makes me feel alive. It's what I love to do.
“We had such a great meet, and it was really great to be here.”
It was a great meet despite a few things: No division or meet records were broken, and there were no repeat champions in any event except the 200 freestyle relay, where Birmingham Seaholm had two of its four swimmers back from its winning team from a year ago to finish first in 1:25.74. The foursome featured Michael Arpasi and Ryan Lawrence from last year's winning relay and Joe Girdler and Noah Grout.
In addition to his spot on the 200 freestyle relay team, Lawrence, a senior, won the 50 freestyle (20.55 seconds) and 100 freestyle (44.94). Although he had been on two winning relay teams last year and one this year, the 50 and 100 were his first individual championships. A year ago, he was runner-up in the 100 freestyle.
“It was everything that I have worked for in those four years to finally come to fruition,” he said. “It's just an awesome experience.”
Arpasi, a junior, also had a championship in the 100 butterfly in 50.24 seconds.
Amid the dynamic depth of Dexter and the laurels for Lawrence, a star emerged in Fraser freshman Alexander Capizzo, who at 15 isn't old enough to drive but was old enough to swim to titles in both the IM In 1:50.21 and the 500 freestyle in 4:29.06. He passed defending state champion Graham Miotke of Rochester Adams in the final 50 yards to win the 500.
Capizzo and Miotke were two lanes apart, but that was close enough for Capizzo to keep a close watch on his top opponent, who led most of the way.
“I could see him,” he said. “I just didn't want to lose. I've been racing Graham ever since I was 11 years old, and this is the first time beating him in the 500.”
Capizzo said he did not feel intimidated by his first experience at the Finals meet.
“I just told myself that I belonged here like everyone else,” he said. “It feels amazing. I couldn't ask for more.
“I was definitely very nervous, and they went away as fast as I hit the water. Then I just got in and did what I usually do. That time in the 500 beats my personal best from Friday in prelims by two seconds.”
Battle Creek Lakeview junior Levi Youmans won the 1-meter diving event with 483.25 points to outdistance runner-up Ryan Mullen of Kalamazoo Loy Norrix (452.40) and Chris Kelly of Mattawan (434.25). Youmans had a 17-point lead after Friday's competition.
“That's kind of a lot,” he said of the first-day lead, “so I figured I'd just come out and dig deep and have fun. Me, Ryan and Chris, we had been joking around the whole season saying that we're the best in the state, and that's how it finished out. We didn't know how it would line up. I guess I just wanted it more.”
Youmans had a healthy lead going into his final dive – a back 1.5 somersault with a 1.5 twist. That dive carries a 2.5 degree of difficulty, and he hit it for 50 points.
“Earlier in the season I was hitting that dive, and three meets in a row I did over 60 points, so all I was thinking was to hit it as good as I could and go for the win,” he said. “It's absolutely amazing. The adrenaline rush is still going strong 45 minutes later.”
Other champions included Portage Central sophomore Owen Miller in the 200 freestyle (1:40.30) and Warren DeLaSalle junior Zach Milke in the 100 backstroke (50.40).
However, standing tall above all the individual event champions were the depth-filled Dexter Dreadnaughts with their third team championship in five years.
“These guys are unbelievable and worked their tails off the past two years to accomplish what nobody in Dexter has done before,” said McHugh.
After accepting the championship trophy, McHugh turned to his team and said, “Let's go for a swim, boys.” Coaches and swimmers jumped into the pool, and it sort of allowed McHugh to go full circle in his career.
“This was the first time I swam in this pool since I was in college,” said McHugh, who swam for Bowling Green State University. “My last MAC (Mid-American Conference) meet was right here.”
Now, he has an MHSAA Finals championship in that pool, too.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dexter’s Niklas Eberly approaches the finish during a race at Saturday’s Division 2 Finals. (Middle) A swimmer competes at Eastern Michigan University. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Dexter Builds Lead, Carries it to D2 Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 12, 2016
UNIVERSITY CENTER – Mike McHugh was floating on his back in the Saginaw Valley State University pool Saturday afternoon, water soaking his clothes and a smile covering his face.
The Dexter coach, who had spent the previous four hours wearing out his shoes walking the pool’s deck, could now relax as his Dreadnaughts had won the Lower Peninsula Division 2 boys swimming and diving championship.
“It was the best swim I’ve ever had,” said McHugh, who also led Dexter to an MHSAA title in 2012 and a runner-up finish in 2014. “These guys work. I’m thankful for all the work they put in. I’m thankful for all the support I get from home. It’s a relief. It’s been a lot of pressure being ranked No. 1 all year, so being able to finish it off feels really good.”
Behind championship swims in the 200-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke by senior Rob Zofchak, and 13 total top-eight finishes, Dexter finished with a meet-best 284 points. Warren DeLaSalle was second with 266, two-time reigning champion Birmingham Seaholm was third with 211 and Battle Creek Lakeview was fourth with 205.
“We knew coming in we had to build up a lead,” McHugh said. “DeLaSalle’s really good in the back and breast(stroke). We’re really good in the 200 (freestyle), 500 and (individual medley). We knew we had to go big, and having seven top-eight swims in those three events was huge. I had three seniors make top eight in the 200 free (Zofchak, Matt Bergdolt who was second, and David Merz who was eighth). That’s the leadership we’ve got. Three senior leaders, two of them captains, just doing everything they can.”
Dexter still had work to do in the final race of the meet, although it wasn’t much. If DeLaSalle didn’t win the 400 freestyle relay, all the Dreadnaughts needed to win the meet were to not get disqualified in the race. They finished second, one spot ahead of the Pilots. Fittingly, it was Zofchak who swam the final leg of the relay.
“It’s something special,” Zofchak said. “You feel great. Even though you’re swimming hard, you’re going as hard as you can and you’re really tired, you still feel great. Like, ‘Wow. There’s not much I can do right now to mess this up.’”
The anchor leg capped off a great day in the pool for Zofchak, who won the 200 freestyle in 1 minute, 38.23 seconds, and the 100 backstroke in 49.26 – breaking his own meet record.
“I swam pretty well,” he said. “There’s definitely things I can improve on, and I’ll keep working on those, but in general I’m pretty proud of my swims.”
Zofchak was one of three swimmers to take home two individual titles on the day, joining Grosse Pointe South’s Jacob Montague and Midland Dow’s Nehemiah Mork.
Montague won the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke with LP Division 2 meet records of 1:47.4 and 53.93, respectively. It was the second straight year he’d won MHSAA titles in those events.
As Montague swam to commanding leads in both races, spectators watched in awe, some even counting the number of times he came out of the water in the breaststroke and marveling at how infrequently he did so.
“My freshman year, I only qualified for one event at the state meet and I didn’t even make it to finals,” Montague said. “I never thought that I’d be able to compete at a level like this. These past couple years I’ve given everything I can in the pool, every practice, every day. I just give 100 percent, just trying to get better. When everything pays off in the end, it’s just a great feeling.”
Mork was also a repeat champion in both of his events. He won the 50 freestyle in 20.83 seconds, one hundredth of a second ahead of Seaholm’s Liam Little. Mork won the 100 in 45.43 seconds.
“I could kind of see that (Little) was close to me – I had no idea it was a hundredth of a second close,” Mork said. “I saw him gliding a little bit; that’s when I knew I had to get a good finish, and I touched him out. But then everybody started cheering and I thought, ‘Aw shoot, I lost.’
“Then I looked up and it was a hundredth of a second and I still won, so I’ll take it.”
Also repeating as champion was Seaholm diver Sebastian Fay, who won with 479.4 points. He had a commanding lead coming into the final dives, but didn’t rest on his laurels.
“It puts more (pressure) on me, because diving is a sport where anything can happen,” Fay said. “I try not to let the lead get in my head because then I’ll just relax. With that dive especially, that last dive, I need to go after it, and if I relax I’m going to screw it up.
“So honestly, I felt a little more nervous at the end. My heart was pounding pretty hard, so I had to calm down.”
Seaholm won the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, while DeLaSalle won the 200 medley relay. DeLaSalle’s P.J. Desmet won the 100 butterfly in 51.21, while Rochester Adams’ Graham Miotke won the 500 freestyle in 4:35.64.
PHOTOS: (Top) Swimmers launch during Saturday’s LP Division 2 Finals at Saginaw Valley State University. (Middle) A diver arches during competition. (Below) Dexter poses with its championship trophy. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)