Peel, VanMeter Put On Show at Last Meet
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 9, 2019
ROCHESTER – Going into the 2019 Division 3 Boys Swimming & Diving Finals at Oakland University, both Spring Lake senior Cam Peel and Holland Christian senior Riley VanMeter had other numbers driving their respective quests to be No. 1.
For Peel, it was a third-place finish at last year’s Finals meet in the 50-yard freestyle that weighed on his mind as he readied to start this year’s ultimate sprint race.
But Peel avenged that memory by capturing his first 50 freestyle championship, in his last chance, in a time of 19.91 seconds. In Friday's prelim, he set the all-Finals record in the race at 19.86, becoming the first in Michigan to break 20 seconds in high school competition.
“I’ve always wanted to win the 50,” Peel said. “That’s one where the more mature guys win, so it’s super hard to win as a younger guy in the event. This was my year.”
Peel – who will go on to swim at University of Michigan – then completed the sweep of the sprint events by repeating as champion in the 100 yards in a time of 43.94, finishing as one of two individual standouts of the meet.
The other was VanMeter, who first won the 100 butterfly in a time of 48.07 – which wasn’t a surprise since he was the top seed going in.
But VanMeter also eyed a title in the 100 backstroke, an event he entered seeded second.
VanMeter surpassed that seeding with a terrific swim, winning the backstroke in a time of 48.95 to edge his club teammate, Joey Wachter of Spring Lake.
VanMeter, who will swim at Alabama, was second in both events at last year’s Division 3 meet.
“It’s just satisfying to be able to cap that on the end my high school swimming career,” VanMeter said. “It’s great to see where it’s been and where I’m going. I look back on all the amazing people I’ve swam against, and it’s a great way to end my high school swimming career.”
VanMeter was the main standout for Holland Christian, but he certainly wasn’t the only one, as the Maroons repeated as team champions with a meet-best 323.5 points.
East Grand Rapids finished with 267 points to place runner-up for the fourth straight year, while Marshall was third with 198 points.
Spring Lake (197) and Hamilton (139) rounded out the top five.
“We just had a really good Friday,” Holland Christian head coach Todd Smeenge said. “Prelims on Friday set you up for finals on Saturday. You can’t win a meet on Friday, but you certainly can lose it. I can’t say there was any magic trick, but we had some swims that were surprising even to me. I didn’t think they were going to swim that fast.”
Holland Christian and East Grand Rapids were tied atop the state rankings going into the meet, but the depth for the Maroons turned out to be the difference.
Holland Christian’s team of Colin Kalkman, Brant Assink, VanMeter and Brad Windemuller won the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:35.81, while the Maroons had second-place finishes in the 200 freestyle (Levi VanAst) and 100 freestyle (Jacob Heeres). Diving and the breaststroke were the only events where Holland Christian didn’t have a top-five finisher.
“Last year, we had a team made up of top-end studs … that took a lot of first places,” Smeenge said. “We took several state records. This year, we were more about depth and having the guys in all the places.”
Other individual winners besides Peel and VanMeter were Spring Lake junior Kevin Losee in the 200 freestyle (1:39.76), Trenton sophomore Spencer Boling-Hamer in the 200 individual medley (1:55.73), St. Johns senior Cayden Petrak in the diving event (520.20), Mason sophomore Jonas Cantrell in the 500 freestyle (4:34.45) and Milan freshman Andrew Dobrzanski in the 100 breaststroke (58.53).
Spring Lake’s team of Wachter, Sam Sella, Losee and Peel won the 200 freestyle relay in a time of 1:22.88, while Spring Lake’s team of Losee, Charles Brown, Wachter and Peel won the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:03.66.
PHOTOS: (Top) Holland Christian athletes dive into the Oakland University pool Saturday to celebrate their Division 3 championship. (Middle) Spring Lake's Cam Peel, left, and Holland Christian's Jacob Heeres congratulate each other after their 400 relays finished first and second, respectively. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Performance: Spring Lake's Cam Peel
March 15, 2019
Cam Peel
Spring Lake senior – Swimming & Diving
The record-setting sprint star capped his high school career Saturday with two individual titles and as part of two relay championships at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals, earning the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.” In addition to his championships, Peel became the first swimmer in Michigan high school history to break 20 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, swimming an all-Finals record 19.86 seconds in prelims and 19.91 in the championship race.
Peel had won the 100 freestyle as a junior and placed four more times in individual events before jumping into the Oakland University pool last weekend. In addition to winning the 50, Peel took the 100 in a meet record 43.94 seconds, anchored the 200 freestyle relay in a meet record 1:22.88 and also anchored the winning 400 relay in a meet record 3:03.66. Spring Lake as a team finished fourth, to go with finishes of 13th, fifth and third during his career. He will graduate with the school records in the 50 and 100, and also in the 200 freestyle (1:39.65), individual medley (1:54.14) and 100 butterfly (50.96).
Sprinting runs in the Peel family, at least these last two generations – his father Rob, also Spring Lake’s coach the last three seasons, won an NCAA Division III championship in the 50. Sister Meg Peel has reached the Division III Finals as well in the backstroke. Cam actually quit swimming during middle school, taking up football and lacrosse as his main pursuits instead. But he returned to the pool for high school, and will continue at University of Michigan. He carries a 3.85 GPA and plans to study business with an emphasis on property management or marketing.
Coach (and father) Rob Peel said: “I’m nothing short of amazed by Cam’s dedication these last few years. He’s earned everything that he’s accomplished, has worked so hard and sacrificed so much to go so fast. It was an experience for me both as a coach and especially his dad to watch him perform last weekend. It was one of those things, it made me try to hold it together when he’d swim so fast. I was thrilled when he got third at state a couple of years ago – it was a 46.99, I couldn’t have been more proud of that. And for him to go as fast as he has the last couple of years has just blown me away. It’s been inspiring I think to other kids on our team to see you can just put your head down and commit to excelling in a sport and get those kind of results, because I think there are other kids on our team that look at Cam and now say, I can have that – maybe not to that level, but I can be successful in this sport because it’s based upon your work and commitment and sacrifice, and they watched him every day do that.”
Performance Point: “I didn't know that no one had broken 20, so it was a little bit of a surprise for me,” said Cam Peel of his 50 record time. “It's a super high honor, and I'm really proud of it. After prelims, I was told they announced it at the other division state meets; it was pretty cool. … My biggest takeaway (from Finals) was probably that I had a lot of fun with my team. Fourth place, we were super close, one point away (from third), but I couldn't ask for a better way to go out with my brothers.”
Magic numbers: “I had been wanting to see 19 for a long time, too early than anyone thought I should. It was super relieving, and I was super buzzed I finally did it. … My freshman year at states – I only swam one event and I swam three relays – but I led off our 2(00) free relay and I went 22.40, and after that season I didn't set a number time, but I wrote a little note to myself and kept it in my room. I still have it to this day. It says I was gonna win states the following year in the 50, which didn't happen, But for that to finally happen (this year) was great.”
Spring Lake pride: “Our team swam great. We have Kevin Losee and Joey Wachter, two standout juniors that are coming back next year. They helped me train all year. That's what nobody seems to realize, is that they're pushing me every single day. And guys like Evan (Schock) and Sam (Sella) and Eric (Geschiere), the seniors, to make it to state there, it was a total team effort.”
Dad knew: “One thing he always said was find something you're passionate about. And before high school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. Then I found swimming, which I'd swam before, but I quit because it was hard and time-consuming. My dad had always said as long as I keep getting faster, I'm going to keep swimming. I guess I've been living by that, and I want to continue doing that as long as I can.”
Coach’s Son: “He's been a great coach. I always get a bunch of flak from the other swimmers about being the coach's son, but it kinda comes along with it. My name changed from Cam to "Coach's Son" pretty much the whole year. And my dad would joke around; we’d ask after swim meets, ‘Do we have to warm down coach?’ I'd be in the mix, and my dad would say, ‘Yeah, you have to warm down, but Cam you don't have to do anything.’ It was just a joke. … He tells me when I ask (for advice). He doesn’t feed me with information, but it’s cool too to look back at stuff he’s done. We have old videos of (his races), and he has an awesome mind in the sport. So I’m learning as much as I can now, and I think it’s going to benefit me in the future. His best events were the 50, 100 and 200, but mostly the 50 – his short course time was 19:83. He was three hundredths of a second faster (than me) in the 50, but I think I have him in the 100 and 200.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes 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.
Past 2018-19 honorees
March 7: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson wrestling - Read
February 28: Kevon Davenport, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Read
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Spring Lake's Cam Peel launches during a relay at Saturday's Division 3 Finals. (Middle) Peel stands atop the awards podium at Oakland University. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)