Marquette Repeats in Record Fashion
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
February 21, 2015
MARQUETTE — The Marquette boys left nothing to chance Saturday as they retained their MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals swimming and diving title with 326 points.
The Redmen, also champions in 2014, broke four of five U.P. Finals records that fell on this day, with all also school and pool records.
Junior Sam Williams established a record in the 200-yard freestyle race in one minute, 47.59 seconds and the 500 (4:55.74). He also helped the Redmen set a record in the 200 medley relay (1:41.14) and win the 400 freestyle event (3:27.41).
“Sam setting those records were definitely a highlight for us,” said Marquette coach Nathan McFarren. “He’s such a hard worker and has a humble demeanor, and today he reaped what he sowed.
“Today’s performance by both of our teams was pretty awesome. I’m so lucky to be part of this swimming community. We’re not like Goliath. We’re a team. It takes every single kid to make this possible.”
First-year entry Gladstone was runner-up at 230 points, and Sault Ste. Marie edged Kingsford for third 198-195½ .
Marquette senior Nathan Rotundo also set a record while earning his third straight 100 breaststroke title (1:00.29) and recorded a three-peat in the 200 individual medley (2:05.19).
“I think all the training we put in paid off today,” said Rotundo, who also helped the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. “I felt pretty confident coming in. I wasn’t focusing on the win as much as I was on going for time. Everybody on our team did awesome. This is probably one of the best Finals this school has seen in a long time.
“We were a little nervous before the meet because we knew Gladstone had some good swimmers. It’s really cool for them to be able to be part of the U.P. Finals. They’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”
Gladstone sophomore Matt LeClaire set a meet record in the 100 backstroke at 54.91, won the 100 freestyle (51.08) and helped the Braves earn runner-up honors in the 200 medley (1:45.12) and 400 freestyle (3:32.27) relays.
“I really concentrated on that race,” LeClaire said of his record-setting performance in the backstroke. “I was amazed. I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t expecting to get this time.
“Taking runner-up as a team is all right. I think we performed as well as we could. Marquette just beat us.”
McFarren, who swam two 
at Alma College, was impressed with Saturday’s performances.
“I’ve seen faster swimming, but I’ve never seen so much fast swimming as I did here today,” he said. “Our guys outperformed all my expectations today.”
Also taking a first for Gladstone was senior Thomas Prica in the 100 butterfly (57.09).
“I added about three seconds today, but times tend to fluctuate,” said Prica. “We’ve been swimming against these teams for years and years as a YMCA team. It’s nice to be recognized as a high school program. This is just another day of trying to get it done. You just can’t let the atmosphere get to you. It’s not different unless you make it different.”
Sault Ste. Marie was especially successful in Friday’s diving competition, where it grabbed three of the top four spots.
Senior Kyle Flickinger won with a personal-best 223.85 points. Classmate Levi Furr was runner-up (212.2) and junior Erik Finley took fourth (171).
“Staying calm was the key,” said Flickinger. “Last year, I got stressed out and didn’t do as well as I hoped. Our coaches gave me some good advice, and having the competition in practice helped.”
The results also were pleasing to Sault diving coach Dylan Mayer.
“Kyle had a very good score,” he said. “He has all the mechanics down. From the beginning of the season, we knew we had a pretty strong team. Then, about mid-season, we felt pretty confident we could place high up here. It takes a lot of mental toughness to be a diver. It’s about 30 percent physical and 70 percent mental in my mind.”
Sault freshman Leevi Olson won the 50 freestyle (23.11) and helped the fourth-seeded Blue Devils capture the 200 freestyle relay (1:40.41).
“I didn’t think we’d win it because we were such an underdog,” said Olson, who anchored that relay. “The adrenalin just kind of kicked in for everybody. I knew where I was, but didn’t feel anything. I wasn’t sure we had won. We were really excited to get it.”
“I had a real good start in the 50. My feet and legs worked together real good. It helped to be seeded first. That got my confidence up.”
PHOTOS: Competitors race during Saturday's MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals at Marquette High School. (Click to see more from Jarvinen Photos.)
Pioneer Meets Lofty Expectations with Another Trophy Finish
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
March 12, 2022
HOLLAND – Nothing gets the attention of Ann Arbor Pioneer’s swimmers quicker than a glance up at the state championship banners in their home facility.
The piercing whistle of Pioneers coach Stefanie Kerska might be a close second, however.
Pioneer’s boys swimming & diving team made some more noise this weekend at Holland Aquatic Center, capped by another championship in runaway fashion at the MHSAA’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals on Saturday.
On the strength of their depth and relays, the Pioneers amassed 365 points. Northville was runner-up with 267 points, followed by Holland West Ottawa in third (195), Saline fourth (187.50) and Macomb Dakota fifth (157).
It was the second-straight boys Finals title for Pioneer and Kerska. The Pioneers’ girls team, also coached by Kerska, captured a second consecutive championship in November at the Holland facility.
“They walk in every day to a facility that has multiple, multiple, dozens of banners on the wall and they know. We have alumni come back to speak about the program and what it means. There is a lot of pressure – people don’t realize that,” Kerska said about her boys team.
“There is a daily pressure on these guys to not only be the best here, but to live up to what’s come before them. I know I feel it, walking into my office every day. I’ve got a picture of Liz and Denny Hill on my desk, and I just try to be what they were.”
Under the Hills, Pioneer captured 15 Division 1 or Class A Finals titles in boys swimming and 16 more on the girls’ side. Kerska and the Pioneers certainly have kept that championship tradition afloat with four more titles between the boys and girls teams the last two years.
Kerska also learned from Denny Hill, her mentor, how handy the shrieking whistle across a noisy natatorium can be. When she does it, the Pioneers tend to stop in their tracks on the pool deck. They can hear her in the pool, too, and take their cues.
“I’ve been doing it for a long time. Actually, Denny Hill tried to teach me how to do it without my fingers, which is probably the better way, especially with COVID, to do it,” Kerska said with a smile. “I’ve been doing it for years and years and years. Although, I think I do have the same shrillness and tone that he did, so I’m trying to follow in his footsteps.
“We kind of do, like, the Von Trapps: Wherever they are on the pool deck, when they hear my whistle, they look. It comes in very handy with 17 boys.”
Kerska’s boys answered the call. Seniors Ryan Hume and Jack Wilkening led the way for Pioneer.
Hume repeated in the 200-yard individual medley (1:49.44) and he also won the 500 freestyle (4:26.65) after finishing runner-up in the latter event last year. Wilkening captured first place in the 100 free (45.06) and swam a leg on the victorious 200 medley relay (1:31.91) along with seniors Robert Yang and Alex Farmer plus junior Gabriel Sanchez-Burks.
Hume and Wilkening also joined Yang and senior Harrison Sanders on the Pioneers’ winning 400 free relay (3:03.99), which closed the Finals meet with an exclamation point.
Pioneer senior Teodor Jaworski captured the title in the 200 free (1:39.45), and he took second in the 500 free behind teammate Hume. Wilkening also placed second in the 100 backstroke.
“It’s all about the team. I had to have (a strong) relay for the team and I was performing for the team at that point,” said Wilkening, who signed to swim at University of Michigan.
As a member of back-to-back state title teams, Wilkening said this one was a little more special, mostly because things were a lot closer to “normal” in comparison to 2021.
Last season was shortened amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Last year was a crazy year for swimming in particular, men’s swimming, just because of how shortened our season was, how different everything was – the training, too,” Wilkening said.
“We really got to become a team again, I think. That’s what really set this one apart. We actually got to bond as one, be as one in total, more than last year.”
As Wilkening put it, being surrounded by the “greatness” of high-achieving coaches and peers has driven him and his teammates to achieve at this high level.
Sanchez-Burks can vouch for that. He is not a year-round swimmer like many others in the Pioneer program, as he also focuses his attention to water polo – but he played a key role for his team.
Sanchez-Burks was especially pleased by his runner-up finish in the 50 free, which established a school record with a time of 20.60.
“It’s been a struggle for me to keep up with everybody,” Sanchez-Burks said. “In practice, I always try to push myself to stay with all the year-round swimmers and I always try to push myself to stay with all the people I’m competing against today. It’s a lot of fun.
“All the relays, I think that’s where we strive because we have such a diverse team – we spread out so many good swimmers.”
Other first-place finishes belonged to West Ottawa senior Kevin Maas in the 50 free (20.58), Saline senior Joshua Brunty in the 100 breaststroke (55.85), Rochester senior Jack VanHowe in the 100 backstroke (48.13), Canton junior Ryan Gurgel in the 100 butterfly (49.34), Waterford Mott junior Alex Poulin in 1-meter diving (456.70), and Northville’s 200 free relay team (1:23.88) of Evan Scotto-DiVetta, Kyle McCullough, Nate Obrigkeit and Leonardo Simoncini.
Maas, who also is taking his swimming talents to U-M, was a back-to-back winner in the 50 free. Last year, he swam on the winning 200 free relay and tied for second in the 100 free.
On Saturday, VanHowe repeated in the backstroke.
“It was super emotional and super electric in so many ways,” Maas said about his performance Saturday in a venue that’s very familiar to him. “I never knew I could be so happy and so energetic after dropping only 0.02 (in the 50 free), but just to get the ‘W’ for the team and repeat for my team and my family, it meant a lot to me and I was emotional.
“That was the happiest I’ve ever been, and it felt so good.”
PHOTOS (Top) Robert Yang swims the third leg of the winning 200 medley relay for Ann Arbor Pioneer. (Middle) Pioneer’s Teodor Jaworski pulls to the front on the way to winning the 200 freestyle. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)