Moment: West Ottawa Clinches in Finale
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 31, 2020
Holland West Ottawa long has had one of the most renowned high school boys swimming & diving programs in Michigan. But MHSAA Finals team championships had been elusive – the Panthers fell just shy again with a second-place finish in Lower Peninsula Division 1 in 2018.
How much difference can a few tenths of a second make? On March 9, 2019, enough to see West Ottawa win its first Finals championship since 1971.
Jamahl Hogan, Sam Smith, Derek Maas and Khadin Soto swam the relay in 3:05.84, besting Detroit Catholic Central’s time by six tenths of a second and giving West Ottawa a final eight-point edge in the team standings over the runner-up Shamrocks.
Said Soto, who anchored the relay: “I knew the meet was within a few points, and I knew we had to win that race. I knew I had to beat the guy next to me, and I knew he was really fast. Since I didn’t win the 100 breaststroke like I thought I would, I just kept telling myself that I can’t get caught up in everything else. I just need to do what my teammates need me to do. Just swim like we have been all year. For the last lap I was telling myself I can’t be the one that loses it for everyone.”
Click for Second Half’s coverage – 6 Hundredths Seal West Ottawa’s Title Win – and watch the race below with coverage from the NFHS Network.
Moment: Craig Caps Career with Records
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 6, 2020
After a season away, Cameron Craig returned to the Monroe High School swimming & diving team for his 2015-16 senior year – and ended his prep career with a performance that all expected from one of the nation’s top high school swimmers.
Craig set an all-MHSAA Finals record in winning the Lower Peninsula Division 1 200-yard individual medley in 1:45.42, then set another all-Finals best winning the backstroke in 47.33 on March 12, 2016. Both records still stand.
“This is my senior year and I just wanted to come and see everyone that I competed against as a freshman and a sophomore,” Craig said that day. “This is really a good way to end the year.”
Craig began his college career at Arizona State and currently swims at Ohio State.
Click to check out Second Half coverage of those 2016 LPD1 Finals – Rice 3-Peats at Meet Loaded with Stars – and see below for replays of Craig’s races with coverage from the NFHS Network.