Preview: Team Titles Too Close to Call
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 7, 2019
The races for team championships at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals could, as a group, finish as the closest in recent memory.
Both Division 1 and Division 3 have a pair of teams tied for the top spot in the rankings heading into Friday’s preliminaries. Meanwhile, Dexter is the three-time reigning Division 2 champion but extended its streak with a slim victory a year ago.
Preliminaries are Friday and Finals are Saturday, with action beginning at noon for both. All three Finals also will be streamed live and can be watched with subscription on MHSAA.tv. Click for lineups and seed times for all three meets, and see below for a number of team and individual contenders at all three meets.
LP Division 1 at Holland Aquatic Center
Reigning champion: Ann Arbor Skyline
2018 runner-up: Holland West Ottawa
2019 top-ranked: T-1. Holland West Ottawa, T-1. Detroit Catholic Central, 3. Birmingham Rice
Skyline won it first championship last season, breaking a four-year winning streak by Brother Rice. West Ottawa finished 67 points back, and a championship this weekend – the program’s first since 1971 – would be a crowning achievement for a senior class that has otherwise dominated. West Ottawa has 12 individual entries and all three relays seeded to score among the top 16, with five top seeds. Detroit Catholic Central has only one top seed, but 11 individual entries and all three relays seeded to score plus a diver. Rice has nine individual entries and three relays seeded to score, plus a diver. The Shamrocks are competing for their first MHSAA Finals title and finished seventh a year ago, while Rice finished third a year ago.
Hunter Gubeno, Howell junior – After taking fifth in the 500 last season, Gubeno is expected to climb the podium multiple times with the top seeds in that race by four seconds (4:33.82) and the 200 free (1:40.98).
Derek Maas, Holland West Ottawa senior – Maas won the 100 backstroke and finished third in the 200 individual medley as a junior and also swam on the champion 200 medley relay. He has the top seeds in the IM (1:52.73) and butterfly (50.23) and is expected to swim on the top-seeded medley relay (1:34.28) and fourth-seeded 400 free relay.
Liam McDonell, Birmingham Brother Rice senior – The top seed in the backstroke (51.93) also will swim the butterfly and on the 200 medley and 400 free relays. He finished 12th in the backstroke at last year’s Finals.
Henry Schutte, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central senior – The four-time Finals champion sprinter is looking to add a few more titles to his two in both the 50 and 100 freestyles won the last two seasons. He’s seeded first in the 50 at 20.35 seconds, 34 hundredths off his all-Finals record 20.01 swam last season. He’s also seeded first in the 100 at 44.27 and is expected to swim on the third-seeded 200 freestyle relay and ninth-seeded 200 medley relay.
Khadin Soto, Holland West Ottawa senior – Soto finished sixth in the breaststroke and also was part of that medley relay championship in 2018. He’s seeded first in the breaststroke (56.17) and sixth in the 200 freestyle, and is slated to swim on the 200 medley and fourth-seeded 400 freestyle relays.
Holland West Ottawa 200 freestyle relay – Senior Sam Smith, juniors Gavin Temple and Jamahl Hogan and freshman Kevin Maas enter with the top seed time of 1:25.16, 1.48 seconds off the meet record swam in 2015 by Ann Arbor Pioneer.
William Henry Schirmer, Ann Arbor Skyline senior – Schirmer is seeking to finish his high school career with his third straight Division 1 championship. His Regional score of 529.20 was nearly 47 points higher than the rest of the Division 1 field, and he should make a run at the meet record of 528.45 achieved in 2015.
Division 2 at Eastern Michigan University
Reigning champion: Dexter
2018 runner-up: Rochester Adams
2019 top-ranked: 1. Dexter, 2. Birmingham Seaholm, 3. Birmingham Groves.
Dexter has won three straight Division 2 championships, last season’s by 21.5 points. The Dreadnaughts have 10 individual entries and all three relays seeded to score this weekend, plus two divers competing. Seaholm, which finished fifth last season, has 11 individual entries and all three relays seeded to score. Groves was third last season, 50.5 points off the lead, and could make a move with eight individual entries and three relays seeded to score, including a top seed.
Alexander Capizzo, Fraser junior – Capizzo won the 200 IM and 500 freestyle as both a freshman and sophomore. He’s the top seed in the IM (1:53.79) and the third seed in the 500 (4:41.08).
Niklas Eberly, Dexter senior – Eberly won the butterfly and 200 free last season and was on the winning 200 free relay. Switching things up a bit, he’s seeded second in the 50 (21.06) and first in the butterfly (49.13) and is expected to swim on the top-seeded 400 free relay (3:12.07) and fourth-seeded medley relay.
Jacob Grover, Byron Center senior – Grover is competing in Division 2 this weekend after finishing second in the breaststroke and fourth in the IM in Division 3 in 2018. He is seeded first in the breaststroke (57.61) and third in the IM (1:55.13) and will swim on the medley and 200 freestyle relays.
Eric Hieber, Walled Lake Western junior – After finishing ninth in the 200 free and fifth in the 500 last year, Hieber is expected to make a big jump. He’s seeded first in both races, at 1:40.68 in the 200 and by nine seconds in the 500 at 4:31.73. He also is expected to swim on the 200 and 400 free relays.
Luke Lezotte, Midland Dow junior – In his first season at Dow after moving from Florida, Lezotte will chase at least one meet record. He’s seeded first in both sprints – his 20.52 in the 50 is seven hundredths of a second off the record achieved in 2010 – and he’s seeded first in the 100 free (46.12) by more than a second. He’s also slated to swim on the top-seeded 200 free relay (1:27.38) and second-seeded medley relay.
Tyler Vo, Holland senior – Vo finished sixth in the backstroke last season but is seeded first in that race this weekend (52.23). He’s also seeded fifth in the butterfly (52.46) and expected to swim on the 200 free and medley relays.
Hunter Hollenbeck, Okemos junior – The reigning champion scored 548.40 to win his Regional by nearly 146 points, and his score was 90 higher than any other diver in Division 2. He scored 503.15 at last season’s Final and could make a run at the meet record of 537 from 2009.
Division 3 at Oakland University
Reigning champion: Holland Christian
2018 runner-up: East Grand Rapids
2019 top-ranked: T-1. Holland Christian, T-1. East Grand Rapids, 3. Spring Lake.
A year ago, Holland Christian broke Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood’s four-year hold on the Division 3 title. East Grand Rapids is hoping to break a streak of three straight runner-up finishes by taking the next step. Holland Christian is talented and deep, with 15 individual entries and all three relays seeded to score (with two top seeds) plus a diver competing. East Grand Rapids also has 15 individual entries and three relays seeded to score, plus a diver. Spring Lake has only seven individual entries with its three relays seeded to score – but six top seeds and an opportunity to make things interesting at the top.
Jonas Cantrell, Mason sophomore – Cantrell is seeded first in the 500 (4:41.86) after finishing 14th a year ago. He’s also seeded third in the 200 freestyle (1:45.44) and slated to swim on the 400 free relay.
Andrew Dobrzanski, Milan freshman – Heading into his first Finals, Dobrzanski is seeded first in the IM (1:57.08) by more than two seconds and the breaststroke (58.01) by more than a second. He’s also expected to swim on the 200 medley and 400 free relays.
Kevin Losee, Spring Lake junior – Losee finished fourth in the 200 and 500 freestyles and as part of two runner-up relays in 2018. He’s seeded first in the 200 (1:43.99) and second in the 500 (4:48.07) and expected to swim on top-seeded 200 (1:25.27) and 400 (3:07.52) freestyle relays.
Cam Peel, Spring Lake senior – Last season’s champ in the 100 free (and third-place finisher in the 50) is seeded first in both with a 20.85 in the 50 and by two seconds with a 44.81 in the 100. The 100 time is 16 hundredths of a second faster than the meet record he swam last season. He’s also slated to swim on the top-seeded 200 and 400 free relays.
Riley VanMeter, Holland Christian senior – He finished second in the butterfly and backstroke last season and swam on two winning relays, and could lead a repeat run entering as the top seed in the butterfly (49.75) and third in the backstroke (52.60) and with spots on the second-seeded 200 and 400 freestyle relays. His butterfly time is six tenths of a second off the meet record set in 2015.
Joey Wachter, Spring Lake junior – After finishing fifth in the backstroke and ninth in the 100 free last season, Wachter also is expected to surge. He’s seeded first in the backstroke (51.15) and second in the 50 (21.09) and also will swim on the 200 and 400 free relays.
Spring Lake 200 freestyle relay – Wachter, senior Sam Sella, Losee and Peel enter with a 1:25.27 seed time, 2.25 seconds off the meet record achieved in 2016.
Spring Lake 400 freestyle relay – Freshman Charles Brown along with Losee, Wachter and Peel have a seed time of 3:07.52, exactly three seconds off the meet record swam by Holland Christian a year ago.
Caden Petrak, St. Johns senior – The reigning champion won his Regional with a score of 467.85, although it was only the second-highest in Division 3 behind that of East Grand Rapids’ junior Nicholas Merritt (478.45).
PHOTOS: Swimmers prepare to launch at the start of a championship race at the 2017 Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Performance: Dexter's Rob Zofchak
January 13, 2016
Rob Zofchak
Dexter senior – Swimming
Zofchak entered this season poised for a strong finish to his high school career coming off his first MHSAA championship and a Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals record in the 100-yard backstroke (49.72 seconds) last winter. He’s on pace to equal that success – and accomplish much more. Zofchak was one of two multiple winners at Saturday’s Spartan Invitational at Battle Creek Lakeview, besting a field that included most of the top-ranked teams in Lower Peninsula Division 2 to earn this week’s Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Zofchak won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:42.07, more than five seconds faster than the runner-up, and his winning backstroke time of 51.44 was more than a second faster than the rest. He also swam on the winning 400 freestyle relay (3:13.36) and fifth-place 200 medley relay (1:40.39). Top-ranked Dexter as a team finished first overall, in front of No. 4 Warren DeLaSalle and also ahead of No. 5 Lakeview, reigning champion and No. 2 Birmingham Seaholm, No. 3 Birmingham Groves, No. 8 Grosse Pointe South, No. 10 Portage Northern and Division 1 No. 2 Ann Arbor Skyline.
The two-time team Most Valuable Performer holds three individual and a relay school record, and last season was part of 17 pool record swims at pools throughout Michigan. He’s also earned All-America honors five times from the national coaches association and has signed to continue his swimming career on scholarship at the University of Michigan. Zofchak is a member of the National Honor Society, and last summer he qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 backstrokes with times of 56.94 and 2:02.56, respectively.
Coach Michael McHugh said: “Rob is a gifted swimmer, but without the hard work and dedication he has shown throughout his career none of the accomplishments would have been possible. He puts himself in a position to succeed each day and motivates his teammates to raise their effort level to match. He is such a versatile swimmer that I can put in almost anywhere in the lineup and know he will come through for the team. As a captain for us this year he has shown great leadership and a willingness to go the extra distance for his teammates. His teammates look to him in big moments, and he is always ready to give it everything he has in order to get the job done.”
Performance Point: “I think (Spartan) went pretty well. Obviously, there’s a lot that I still need to improve – and there always will be. But it really sets us up with most of the other teams. The meet had most of the top five or six teams in Division 2 there. … We’d never actually gotten a trophy at that meet.”
Title time: Dexter won its last MHSAA team championship in boys swimming & diving in 2012; the Dreadnaughts finished fourth, second and third at the LP Division 2 Finals over Zofchak’s first three seasons. The Dexter girls, including his sophomore sister Sarah, won the LPD2 title this fall. “I know a lot of the guys are really looking at trying to get that title, especially with the girls winning it. It would be a great way to end my high school career, for sure. It would be a really great way to end it after all we’ve been through.”
Family ties: In addition to Zofchak’s younger sister, his older brother Jonathan was a Dexter standout and swims at Michigan State. “I try to teach my sister as much as I can, which is not much. I like to help her as much as I can. With Jonathan, I always try to go after him. I always want to beat my big brother.”
Chasing Clay: “Certainly, there are times and names out there that you always want to measure yourself up to, come close to those times. Clay Youngquist’s times (for Battle Creek Lakeview) in everything; I look at those and aspire for those. His 200 free (1:34.28 in 2011) in pretty absurd, probably untouchable. But I’d like to swim at the end of the year and at least be close.”
Hailing U-M: “I really admire the program there. I really admire the coaches, and I like what they have going on. On top of being one of the best swim schools in the nation, it’s a top academic school as well. Especially with it being 15 minutes from my house, it was one of my greatest choices. I’ll try for med(ical) school. My uncle is a doctor, and I want to help solve issues with people, help make people better.”
– 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 respond 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. 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) Rob Zofchak was a two-time champion at the Spartan Invitational, winning the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. (Middle) The backstroke is Zofchak's favorite stroke, and he is the reigning Lower Peninsula Division 2 champion in the event. (Action photos by Doni Houghtaling; head shot by Tammy Lynne Photography.)