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.)
Talented Pioneer Dominates with Depth, Extends Team Title Streak to 4
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 9, 2024
ROCHESTER — Just when it seemed like the dynasty that is the Ann Arbor Pioneer boys swim & dive program couldn’t come up with another method for winning a state title, the Pioneers did so at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at Oakland University.
It was something Pioneer head coach Stefanie Kerska said she hadn’t even seen from her team before.
“We didn’t win a single event, and we didn’t win a single relay,” Kerska said.
But that didn’t stop Pioneer from winning a fourth straight title, using its supreme depth to collect a meet-best 275 points.
Saline was the runner-up with 245 points, edging third place Detroit Catholic Central’s total of 243.5. Northville (226) and Zeeland (136) rounded out the top-five.
“For every single person to play their part and do their job, it’s just a really special feeling for this team,” Kerska said.
If Pioneer managing to finish first despite not winning an event was not deflating enough for opponents, it may be even worse for them to consider the Pioneer dynasty looks like it will continue for the foreseeable future – with its longest streak of six straight Finals titles won from 1977-82 potentially approached by this group.
“Ten of 17 had never been here before,” Kerska said. “Our 400 free relay was made up of freshmen and sophomores. We are a fairly young and inexperienced team.”
Individually, two standouts ruled the day.
The first was Oxford senior Olin Charnstrom, who first followed up a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle from last year by winning the event Saturday in a time of 45.03.
“I really have a drive for freestyle,” Charnstrom said. “Last year, I had a really bad prelims and a good finals. This year, I made sure to come in and leave nothing behind.”
A short time later, Charnstrom took the pool again and defended his title in the 100 backstroke, winning that event in a time of 48.10.
“It feels great,” said Charnstrom, who will swim at Wayne State. “My progress from my freshman year to now, every single year I’ve gotten better and put in more work. It’s so nice to see all that pay off.”
The other standout was Zeeland junior Owen Stevens, who defended his titles in both the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle.
Stevens, who has committed to Louisville, swam the IM in a time of 1:49.68 and the 500 in a time of 4:27.48.
“This year I came in with more expectations,” Stevens said. “There was some pressure there. It was a little nerve-wracking. But I had a lot of fun, and it was some good swimming. I felt better about the 500 more than the 200 IM. I was little off from where I wanted to be in the 200 IM. But it was still a very good time I dropped from last year.”
Other individual winners were Catholic Central senior Luke Mychalowych in the 200 freestyle (1:37.98), Northville senior Phillip Zhavoronkov in the 50 freestyle (20.65), Rockford senior Julian Cardenas in diving (537.95 points), Rochester senior Lucas Hosch in the 100 butterfly (49.80) and Brighton senior Luke Newcomb in the 100 breaststroke (54.56).
Catholic Central also won the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:32.61 and the 200 freestyle relay in 1:24.61. Holland West Ottawa won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:08.65.
PHOTOS (Top) The championship heat of the 50-yard freestyle, including Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Henry Baumhover and Christopher Leuciuc, launches Saturday. (Middle) Oxford’s Olin Charnstrom swims to a repeat championship in the backstroke. (Below) Zeeland’s Owen Stevens swims to the win in the 500 freestyle. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)