Dexter Makes Good as Favorite in 3-Peat
March 10, 2018
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
ROCHESTER – If ever a championship gave the winning team more feelings of relief than exuberance, such was the case for the Dexter boys swimming & diving team Saturday after winning its third straight Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals.
Dexter was a favorite going into the meet at Oakland University, which made coach Mike McHugh uncomfortable.
“It’s never fun being the target,” McHugh said. “But we were able to overcome that and embrace that a little bit.”
Dexter sure did, capturing its third straight title by scoring a meet-best 241.5 points, 21.5 points ahead of runner-up Rochester Adams.
Birmingham Groves was third with a final total of 191, Warren DeLaSalle fourth at 190 and Birmingham Seaholm rounded out the top five with a score of 183.
Leading the way for Dexter was junior Niklas Eberly, who won the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:40.16 and the 100 butterfly in 48.83.
Eberly finished runner-up in both events last year and was seeded only fifth in the 200 freestyle, but that didn’t deter him from going a step further than last year in both events.
“Basically, all season long I knew I wasn’t swimming my best,” Eberly said. “Pretty much today and yesterday, I just threw it down.”
Eberly also was the lead swimmer on Dexter’s team that won the 200 freestyle relay in a time of 1:24.95.
The other individual standouts of the meet were Warren DeLaSalle senior Zach Milke and Fraser sophomore Alexander Capizzo.
Milke won the 100 freestyle (44.97) and 100 backstroke (49.63) before finishing off his high school career in grand fashion as the anchor leg of DeLaSalle’s 400 freestyle relay team.
Entering the pool more than a second after the leader, Milke rallied and touched the wall first to give the Pilots the title with a time of 3:07.28.
“I knew it was going to be close, but it was my last meet with the boys and I had to make them proud,” Milke said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better day. In my hotel this morning, I was freaking out. But once I got here in my element, nothing could stop me.”
Capizzo successfully repeated in the 200 individual medley (1:50.42) and 500 freestyle (4:27.48) despite missing a good portion of this season with a broken ankle.
Capizzo also said this was his last high school meet, as he will swim exclusively with his club team during his junior and senior seasons, and that he will always cherish swimming for his high school team the last two years.
“All the people on my swim team were amazing,” Capizzo said. “They cheered me on, I cheered them on and they were always there when I needed them.”
The other individual winners were Birmingham Seaholm senior Michael Arpasi in the 50 freestyle (20.83), Okemos sophomore Hunter Hollenbeck in diving (503.15) and Grosse Pointe South senior Matthew Koueiter in the 100 breaststroke (56.71).
Groves started off the meet by winning the 200 medley relay (1:33.65).
PHOTOS: Dexter's Clayton Kinnard races during Saturday's LP Division 2 Finals. (Middle) Portage Northern's Marco Pastrana cruises just beneath the water's surface during the backstroke consolation final. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Marquette 'Electrifies' with 3rd Title in 5 Years
By
Ryan Stieg
Special for Second Half
March 13, 2021
MARQUETTE – For the second year in a row, the Marquette boys swimming & diving team climbed atop the Upper Peninsula podium, and on Saturday, they did it in dominant fashion.
The Redmen finished with 421 points, 194 more than second-place Houghton, while Sault Ste. Marie (170) edged Kingsford (107) for third.
This was also Marquette’s third team championship in five years.
Marquette won eight of the 12 events, including all three relays (200-yard medley, 200 freestyle, 400 free).
“I don’t think it was really going to be a surprise,” Marquette head coach Nathan McFarren said. “I don’t want to sound cocky, but coming in, we were pretty stacked. We’ve broken records, but I don’t know if we’ve ever had this much depth. A couple of events we went 1-2-3. We won every single relay outright. The whole day was electrifying.”
Liam McFarren and Colin Vanderschaaf both won two events for Marquette with McFarren winning the 200 free and 100 butterfly and Vanderschaaf taking the 500 free and 100 breaststroke. Maverick Baldwin added a win in the 100 free.
According to Coach McFarren, both Liam McFarren and Vanderschaaf finished the season undefeated, including relays, and the coach said the whole team was locked in from the start.
“The focus this year having a team of mostly sophomores is way up,” he said. “Shortened season and everything came together in the end. It was pretty sweet.”
Morgan Burd earned two titles for Sault Ste. Marie, in the 50 free and 100 backstroke, and Cameron Bauers won the 1-meter diving competition Friday night. Houghton’s Davin Evans was the other individual champion as he won the 200 individual medley.
All in all, McFarren was extremely pleased with his team’s performance and knew from the opening event it was going to be a fun afternoon.
“Oh my God, it was amazing,” he said. “I could tell from the moment I showed up that was going to be an electrifying day.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette's Liam McFarren charges through his win in the 200-yard freestyle Saturday. (Middle) Sault Ste. Marie's Morgan Burd makes his move toward the 100 backstroke championship. (Photos by Daryl Jarvinen.)