Marquette Regains UP Boys Title
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
February 15, 2014
MARQUETTE — It was a great Saturday to be a Marquette swimmer as the Redmen swimming and diving team earned its first Upper Peninsula title in four years with 331 points at its home pool.
The Redmen were followed by defending champ Sault Ste. Marie with 306 points and Kingsford with 181.
Marquette topped the standings in all 11 swimming events after Sault Ste. Marie grabbed the top three spots in Friday’s diving competition.
“We knew Sault Ste. Marie would be real good in diving,” Marquette coach Nate McFerrin said. “This is a pretty awesome moment. We wanted all the kids (boys and girls) on the podium (for post-meet photos) because as an adult you don’t get many moments like this.”
A trio of Marquette swimmers had a hand in four firsts, including senior Tony Lackey, junior Nate Rotundo and sophomore Sam Williams.
Lackey won the 50-yard freestyle race in 23.65 seconds, 100 freestyle (53.66) and helped the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays to victories
Rotundo, helping the 200 and 400 freestyle relays to firsts, also won the 100 backstroke (1:03.00) and 200 individual medley (2:07.82).
“They (Sault) got far ahead of us in diving, but we have some real good swimmers,” Rotundo said. “I’m pretty proud of this team. We really wanted this meet because we hadn’t won it since 2010. Our medley relay was just .3 second off the school record (1:44.74), which is pretty impressive. The school record is our goal for next year. We came in here knowing we had to do our best."
Williams captured 100 butterfly (56.03) and 500 freestyle (5:10.67) and helped the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays as well.
“I had been training real hard, but tapered off this week,” said Williams, who swam personal bests in both of his individual races. “We were behind (Sault) going into the 500 freestyle. Also, I wasn’t the top seed in butterfly, which really motivated me. I really wanted to come through for our team.”
Freshman Ben Luke also helped the 200 freestyle relay to victory, which gave the Redmen their first lead (236-233), and Luke also placed third in 100 backstroke (1:06.61) and fourth in 200 IM (2:26.18).
“I’ve been swimming for eight years and this is the best meet I’ve had in my life,” Luke said. “I’m happy with all my races and my teammates’ races. I really wanted to swim today and dropped four seconds from my previous best (in the 200 IM).
“In my opinion, the breaststroke is the most challenging because it takes a lot of technique and skill. But Nate (Rotundo) has mastered that.”
Sault junior Levi Furr topped the standings in diving with 186.65 points, followed by junior Kyle Flickinger (179.9) and sophomore Eric Finley (172.95).
“Diving has been one of our strongest events all year,” Sault coach Denise Mayer said. “That fired our kids coming into today’s swimming events.
“Marquette has very strong swimmers. Nate (coach McFerrin) and his staff should be very proud of them. I’m proud of all our kids, too. There wasn’t a kid on this team that didn’t swim a personal best.”
Not only was McFerrin proud of what the Redmen accomplish, he was impressed with Williams’ performance in the 500.
“Sam dropped 10 seconds in the 500, which is nearly unheard off for a swimmer of his caliber,” said McFerrin, who completed his third year as head coach. “I’m finally getting the feeling this team is becoming ours. I’ve come a long way in learning how to prepare a team for this meet. We’ve been there, done that. We can do it again.”
Also winning individual races for Marquette were junior Collin McCommons in 200 freestyle (1:56.98) and freshman Andrew Kilpela in 100 backstroke (1:00.24).
PHOTOS w: (Top) Marquette sophomore Sam Williams finishes off a 100-yard butterfly championship Saturday at the UP Swimming and Diving Finals. (Middle) Teammate Tony Lackey celebrates his 100 freestyle championship. (Photos courtesy of Jarvinen Photos.)
Performance: Novi's Camden Murphy
March 21, 2017
Camden Murphy
Novi Swimming & Diving – Senior
Murphy is an accomplished champion as one of the nation’s top swimmers in his age group. This winter, he decided for the first time to compete as part of Novi High School's team, and finished a dominating run March 11 with Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals victories in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 butterfly – with an all-Finals record in the latter – to earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week” for March 6-12.
Murphy’s winning 200 IM time of 1:48.99 was more than a second faster than the field. But his butterfly time was the stunner – 46.63 seconds, breaking the former all-Finals record swam in 2011 by Battle Creek Lakeview star Clay Youngquist (who went on to swim at University of Texas) by 48 hundredths of a second. Murphy also swam on second-place 200 medley and fourth-place 400 freestyle relays as Novi as a team finished fourth overall. Murphy earned automatic All-America honors from the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association this season for his IM and butterfly times and also for the 44.78 he swam in the 100 freestyle, while the 400 freestyle relay is under All-America consideration. Murphy will graduate with Novi records in all three of those individual races and as part of the two relays.
This past weekend, Murphy won the butterfly at the National Club Swimming Association Junior National Championships (in 46.58), and he has an eye on eventually making the U.S. national team. He’s signed to continue this fall at the University of Georgia, where he’s considering studying business. He'll leave behind a major impression made in his one high school season – Murphy was named “Division 1 Swimmer of the Year” by the Michigan Interscholastic Swam Coaches Association, but showing his selflessness, said his best memories were watching his teammates hoist a team trophy and coach Brent Pohlonski receive MISCA’s Division 1 coaching award at the meet.
Coach Brent Pohlonski said: "It was an honor to coach Camden this season. For a swimmer of his caliber to be so humble and team-oriented was very refreshing. Each week he was willing to swim whatever events our team needed him to win. He was very open to suggestions from our entire coaching staff, and the guys on our team loved swimming with him. He is very deserving of all the accolades he is receiving. He is a perfect example of great things happening to great people."
Performance Point: “Honestly, the high school state meet … had the strongest atmosphere,” Murphy said. “It was really loud, really exciting. Everyone takes it really seriously, and that makes it fun. I kinda expected things to turn out the way they did, but a lot of it was a surprise. The state meet was a really big deal; there were a lot of people in the stands, and I wasn’t expecting there to be.”
For the Wildcats: “I thought it would be a really fun experience to be on the high school team, represent Novi. And I knew it would be a good experience to do before going into college swimming, because it’s almost the same thing – balancing school and swimming, being on a team representing your high school.”
Thanks Coach: “He’s very motivational, every single day in and day out. Even during the morning practices at 4:30 in the morning, he’s always in a good mood. He’s always wanting us to get better. Even when we’re super tired for a Monday morning practice, he’s always enthusiastic.”
Big deal beating Youngquist: “I had heard his name for a really long time, and I know he was really fast. (But) not until a few people told me who had raced against him, and told me it was a really big deal ... then it hit me.”
Bulldogs and business: “Right now I’m thinking business. I’ve taken a lot of business classes, and I thought a lot of them are really interesting. I might go into marketing or management, but I’m not sure yet.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize 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.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
March 9: Ben Freeman, Walled Lake Central wrestling – Read
March 2: Joey Mangner, Chelsea swimming & diving – Read
Feb. 23: Isabelle Nguyen, Grosse Pointe North gymnastics – Read
Feb. 16: Dakota Hurbis, Saline swimming & diving – Read
Feb. 2: Foster Loyer, Clarkston basketball – Read
Jan. 26: Nick Jenkins, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling – Read
Jan. 19: Eileene Naniseni, Mancelona basketball – Read
Jan. 12: Rory Anderson, Calumet hockey – Read
Dec. 15: Demetri Martin, Big Rapids basketball – Read
Dec. 1: Rodney Hall, Detroit Cass Tech football – Read
Nov. 24: Ally Cummings, Novi volleyball – Read
Nov. 17: Chloe Idoni, Fenton volleyball – Read
Nov. 10: Adelyn Ackley, Hart cross country – Read
Nov. 3: Casey Kirkbride, Mattawan soccer – Read
Oct. 27: Colton Yesney, Negaunee cross country – Read
Oct. 20: Varun Shanker, Midland Dow tennis – Read
Oct. 13: Anne Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country – Read
Oct. 6: Shuaib Aljabaly, Coldwater cross country – Read
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Novi's Camden Murphy swims the butterfly during a meet this season. (Middle) Murphy, in his only high school season, was named MISCA's "Division 1 Swimmer of the Year." (Photos by John Heider (top) and Brad Emons/Novi News)