Performance: Midland Dow's Nehemiah Mork
February 4, 2016
Nehemiah Mork
Midland Dow senior – Swimming & Diving
He's set his share of records, but for a year Mork had his eye on another he just missed breaking as a junior. It's his now. Mork set or was part of four meet records at the Tri-Cities Swimming & Diving Championships at Saginaw Valley State University on Saturday, earning the Michigan National Guard’s Performance of the Week.
The Michigan State University recruit broke his own meet record in the 50-yard freestyle (21.26) and another with his opening leg of the winning 400 relay (45.90). But the record he aimed for was in the 100 butterfly, where he knocked three-time MHSAA individual champion Wade King of Saginaw MacArthur off the board with a time of 51.13; King’s record had stood since 1982. Mork also teamed with Ben Brandstadt, Noah Behm and Jacob Krzciok to break the meet record in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:29.10.
Mork won Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals championships in the 50 and 100 freestyles last season and owns or is part of seven school records – for all three relays, plus the 50 (20.80), 100 (45.67) and 200 (1:41.6) freestyles and butterfly (50.46). A top-10 student at his school academically, Mork has an unweighted grade-point average of 3.95 and will major in mechanical engineering at MSU. He was quick to thank his coaches for investing so much time in his development; his coach, Gary Strickler, in turn explained how dedication had played a great role in creating his latest of many champions.
Coach Gary Strickler said: “The first key is he is a great student; he’s an all-A student, so that’s a significant accomplishment to also be a gifted athlete at the same time. He’s put in countless days of practice since he’s been 10, 11, 12 years old. That in itself is just an unbelievable commitment to a lifetime of swimming. As far as our team is concerned, he shows leadership. It’s different than football or basketball; (for swimming) it’s example. He’s always setting a great example, working at peak level so everyone else sees he’s working at a peak level. And that multiplies his ability to contribute to the team. … If someone sees someone doing great things, they tend to want to copy it.”
Performance Point: “Yes, the two individual events were pretty exciting and breaking Wade King’s record was pretty awesome. But my 200 free relay also beat the meet record. Everybody swam really fast. We were losing for a while, and then we came back to win it, so it was just a really exciting event for everybody.”
Raving about relays: Like many elite swimmers and runners at the high school level, Mork enjoys the opportunities to compete with teammates. “Individual (events) it’s a lot of pressure on me. I have to do so well so I can get an award. For a relay there’s a little less pressure. You have people who can help you if you do not go quite as fast as you want. It also gives you extra incentive to do super well, so your teammates get recognized and get rewards. Relays are nice because everybody gets pumped up; we are united for a goal and we just help each other get excited.”
Unseating the King: “Last year, (Wade King) held the record for the 100 fly for Tri-Cities and (Saginaw) Valley Championships. As a junior I broke his 100 fly record in the Valley Championships and just missed it in Tri-Cities. This year, I said I’ve got to get it this time. A bunch of people were coming up to me during the week saying it’s such an old record, he was such a fast swimmer. ‘Can you break it? Will you break it?’ There was that pressure, but it was very exciting also. It was a super old record, so it was time for it to come down.”
Latest of Dow’s Greats: “You might think it would be stressful to fill those shoes of Jackson Goethe and Ben Martin. They were just so fast and so good, so it’s exciting to me because I get to expand that role. So you get to take on sprint events, and you have to do as well as they did. You feel pressure, but when you accomplish those goals as being faster than they were, it feels extra good. You’re helping out your team, leading the team just as well as the people who came before you. I guess there’s a little more pressure involved, but once you accomplish those goals, it feels so much better.”
Mechanical-Minded: “I’m thinking right now I might want to go into the automotive industry. … I love math and science – those are my two best subjects. I also just love machines, everything they do, and I loving talking about the ideas.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2015-16 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 protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
Jan. 27: Mardrekia Cook, Muskegon girls basketball - Read
Jan. 20: Sage Castillo, Hartland wrestling - Read
Jan. 13: Rob Zofchak, Dexter swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Midland Dow's Nehemiah Mork competes in a race this season and holds seven school records. (Middle) Mork surges ahead during the butterfly. (Photos courtesy of Susan Drumright.)
Performance: Holland Christian's Skyler Cook-Weeks
March 17, 2018
Skyler Cook-Weeks
Holland Christian senior – Swimming
Cook-Weeks capped an outstanding career at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals at Saginaw Valley State University with two more individual and two relay titles to help Holland Christian to its first MHSAA team title since 1989 and earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Cook-Weeks won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:37.27 and the 500 in 4:25.84, and also swam on the victorious 200 (1:24.89) and 400 (3:04.52) freestyle relays. His individual wins and the 400 freestyle relay all set meet records. Total, he finished his high school career with four individual and three relay Finals championships. All four times from Saturday also set school records, and Cook-Weeks also tops Holland Christian’s all-time leaderboard in the 50 (20.62) and 100 (45.03) freestyles.
After following five-time Finals individual champion brother Parker Cook-Weeks through Holland Christian, Skyler also will follow Parker to Queens University (N.C.) – which is competing this weekend for a fourth straight NCAA Division II championship. Skyler plans to study business and architectural design and spends part of his Holland Christian school day in work study with an uncle’s construction company.
Coach Todd Smeenge said: “Skyler’s success has been due to a strong work ethic and drive to get faster. Skyler sets goals that are just far enough out that he has to really work hard to make those goals. He is not the biggest kid on the team, but his heart makes up for what he might lack in stature, and his stamina takes over from there. Skyler is like the energizer bunny in the pool. It's not often that a workout taxes him beyond what his body can handle. When it does, he recovers and attacks his goals again the next day. … As far as the team goes, his work ethic pushes a lot of his peers, but it is really his words of encouragement to younger athletes, guys that are trying out the sport for the first time, that is going to be missed. He isn't flashy about it, but I often see the little things he does and says on the deck at meets that encourages or positively challenges those newer or younger swimmers.”
Performance Point: “The end part was the best part,” Cook-Weeks said of Saturday’s Finals, “because that’s when we won the meet and sealed it off with the 400 free relay, and that sealed the whole thing for us to win our first championship in 20 years. … Each practice we would always push each other to be the best; even if it was warm-up we would go fast. But once we got to the main sets, that’s where we’d push each other. Even for the kids who just started out, their freshman year, we wanted to push them to be the best that they can be. … I’m happy with how it turned out. At the beginning of the season, if somebody would say, ‘You’re going to win a state championship at the end of the season,’ I would say I don’t think we would. But in the end, we got it done.”
Picked up from Parker: “After my sophomore year, I went to his DII nationals in Indianapolis, and I went there and I watched how their team interacted with each other and treated everyone. And I took that to my junior year and to my senior year, to be more interactive – help people with what they need to be helped with and be a better teammate and a better leader.”
Building faith: “I think (becoming a leader) helped me become a better person, and it helped my faith a lot because my faith when I came in as a freshman wasn’t that good. But it progressed better and better throughout the years. I got into praying before each race, and praying for others that they could do the best they could do.”
Mr. Versatile: “I’ve always been known as a distance swimmer, but I kinda developed into more of a sprinter. So I can do the 50 and 100 but I was really known for the 200, 500, 1,000 and mile. When I first swam (the mile) in the summer of 2014, I wanted to scratch out of it because I hadn’t done it before. It took forever. Once I swam the mile for the first time, I went a pretty decent time. After that I developed into a different swimmer with a lot of endurance. I want to try to take that into sprint events because that’s where I can help out the team.”
Back on dry land: “Everyone at school has probably only known me as a swimmer, like that’s all he focuses on. But when I get home I like to watch other sports and hang around with friends. … I like to watch football – I root for the Carolina Panthers.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2017-18 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army 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 2017-18 honorees:
March 8: Dakota Greer, Howard City Tri-County wrestling - Read
March 1: Camree' Clegg, Wayne Memorial basketball - Read
February 23: Aliah Robertson, Sault Ste. Marie swimming - Read
February 16: Austin O'Hearon, Eaton Rapids wrestling - Read
February 9: Sophia Wiard, Muskegon Oakridge basketball - Read
February 2: Brenden Tulpa, Hartland hockey - Read
January 25: Brandon Whitman, Dundee wrestling - Read
January 18: Derek Maas, Holland West Ottawa swimming - Read
January 11: Lexi Niepoth, Bellaire basketball - Read
November 30: La'Darius Jefferson, Muskegon football - Read
November 23: Ashley Turak, Farmington Hills Harrison swimming - Read
November 16: Bryce Veasley, West Bloomfield football - Read
November 9: Jose Penaloza, Holland soccer - Read
November 2: Karenna Duffey, Macomb L'Anse Creuse North cross country - Read
October 26: Anika Dy, Traverse City Central golf - Read
October 19: Andrew Zhang, Bloomfield Hills tennis - Read
October 12: Nolan Fugate, Grand Rapids Catholic Central football - Read
October 5: Marissa Ackerman, Munising tennis - Read
September 28: Minh Le, Portage Central soccer - Read
September 21: Olivia Theis, Lansing Catholic cross country - Read
September 14: Maddy Chinn, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Skyler Cook-Weeks launches during the 200-yard freestyle at the LP Division 3 Finals. (Middle) Cook-Weeks follows the line on the way to the start for the 500. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)