Rice 3-Peats at Meet Loaded with Stars
March 12, 2016
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND – On paper, it appeared the Birmingham Brother Rice boys swimming and diving team had an easy road to winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Swimming and Diving Finals at the Holland Aquatic Center. Totaling 313 points, Brother Rice outdistanced second-place Saline by 77 points.
But winning the title, Brother’s Rice’s third consecutive, was anything but easy as the Warriors overcame plenty of obstacles during the season and then held off a number of impressive teams in this weekend.
“We went through a lot of adversity this year,” Brother Rice coach Mike Venos said. “We almost lost a kid to meningitis this year, and we also lost some kids that we expected to score points for us this year.”
To overcome the hurdles, Brother Rice closed ranks and used its overall team depth to march to its third straight title.
“This was the best team effort I’ve been around,” Venos added. “That was the big key for us, our team effort. Our overall team depth carried us all year. The kids understand that the most important thing is the Warrior on our chest and not any individual glory. They always put the team first.”
That team-first attitude showed up in the relays where Brother Rice swimmers won two of three and finished second in the third.
Brother Rice captured the 200-yard medley relay as sophomore Alex Margherio, senior Drew Grady, junior Jake Zalinski and junior Jack Grady turned in a winning time of 1:31.55. The Warriors also won the 400 freestyle relay as Zalinski, senior Bobby Powrie, Margherio and junior Patrick Olmsted turned in a winning time of 3:05.94.
Brother Rice also had an individual champion as Drew Grady won the 100 Breaststroke by more than two full seconds with a time of 55.18.
The lone relay not won by Brother Rice was the 200 Freestyle Relay. Ann Arbor Pioneer, the fifth-place finisher overall, captured race as senior Andrew Heise, senior Joe Riggs, junior Noah Frassrand and senior Jason Orringer-Hau turned in a time of 1:24.41 to edge Brother Rice by fourth tenths of a second.
Individually, Monroe senior Cameron Craig put on a spectacular show of swimming excellence, winning a pair of individual titles in LP Division 1 and all-Finals record times.
One of the top high school swimmers in the country, Craig won an MHSAA title as a sophomore. Last year, however, Craig took the year off from high school swimming to train for the upcoming Olympics.
“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. “This is really a good way to end the year.”
Craig, who will swim collegiately at Arizona State University, raced to victory in the 200 individual medley in a record time of 1:45.42. He set his second Division 1 and all-Finals record in the backstroke in a time of 47.33.
“I’ve been training real hard for this,” Craig said. “It was a goal of mine to win these state titles and set new all-class records.”
A local swimmer also came away with a pair of individual titles. Holland West Ottawa junior Spencer Carl won the closest event of the meet when he took first place in the 200 freestyle. Carl edged Ann Arbor Skyline’s Ryan Vander Meulen by one hundredth of a second in a time of 1:37.15 while Vander Meulen finished in 1:37.16.
“I’m extremely happy,” Carl said. “He was seeded a full second ahead of me. I think my underwaters were the difference. The last 25 yards I did super. That was what I’ve been focusing on all season.”
The MHSAA title was the first of Carl’s career, but he was not finished for the day. Four events later the local standout added a second title as he won the butterfly in 48.25. That time also set an LP Division 1 Finals record.
“It means a lot to do it close to home,” Carl said. “I had a lot of friends and family here. To do this in front of them is really special.”
Carl wasn’t the only local swimmer to shine in front of the hometown fans, as senior Micah DeJonge of nearby Zeeland won the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:29.23. DeJonge also helped Zeeland to a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay and a third-place finish as a team overall.
The diving competition developed into a tight, two-way battle between Saline junior Dakota Hurbis and Rockford senior Jake Herremans.
Herremans came into the event as the two-time reigning champion and LP Division 1 Finals record holder. Hurbis finished second as a freshman and third last year.
This time it was Hurbis who came out on top, as he totaled 516.8 to edge Herremans, who finished a score of 514.55.
“Going in, I really wanted this to be the best meet I’ve had,” Hurbis said. “I really focused on my dives, and once I started hitting my dives I got into a nice rhythm. This is really big for me.”
Hurbis’ efforts helped Saline secure a second-place finish in the team standings.
Jackson O’Dowd, a senior from Livonia Stevenson, was another swimmer who broke through. He won the 50 freestyle in 20.70.
“I finished third in two events last year,” O’Dowd said. “This is a big deal for me and a lot of fun. I was really hoping to win one my senior year.”
Vander Meulen, a champion last season in LP Division 2, did win a close race Saturday in the 100 freestyle. His time of 45.75 edged Henry Schutte of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central by four hundredths of a second. Skyline finished fourth overall as a team.
PHOTOS: (Top) Members of the Brother Rice boys swimming and diving team hoist an MHSAA Finals championship trophy for the third straight season. (Middle) Monroe’s Cameron Craig swims the individual medley, one of two races he won on the day. (Below) Holland West Ottawa's Spencer Carl swims for the win in the butterfly. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Losses Can't Stop Pioneer from Winning 3rd-Straight Finals Championship
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 11, 2023
GRAND RAPIDS – Gabriel Sanchez-Burks didn't see the sense in wallowing over the past.
Instead, the Ann Arbor Pioneer senior swimmer considered it smarter to focus this season on what his team could still accomplish despite huge graduation losses from the program's last two Lower Peninsula Division 1 swimming & diving champions.
That's how Sanchez-Burks explains the Pioneers winning their third-straight Finals title Saturday at Calvin University.
"We lost a lot of good kids, but we stepped up," said Sanchez-Burks, named the Swimmer of the Meet by the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association after winning two events while helping two relays to titles. "We encouraged the young guys to step up, and they did. It was definitely my most memorable moment; we had so many great successes."
Pioneer topped off its season by scoring 288 points to outdistance runner-up Holland West Ottawa's 177 points. Brighton was third at 156, Novi was fourth with 155 and Zeeland fifth at 147.
This championship came after Pioneer, which had only 10 swimmers on the roster, returned only three key contributors from last year's title-winning team. The team had 18 swimmers on the 2022 champion and 14 on the 2021 title winner. The four seniors on this year's team – Sanchez-Burks, Alec Lipham, Justin Su and Young Yun – never lost a dual, conference or Finals meet over the last three years.
"Every team is different; it's like your children. They have their own makeup, their own personality, their own way of doing things. It's just so rewarding," Pioneer coach Stef Kerska said. "When you're working with 14 or 15-year-old boys, you just try to get them to focus. It takes a special group."
Sanchez-Burks won the 50-yard freestyle (20.19) and the 100 free (45.25) while also helping the 200 free relay (1:33.73) and 200 medley relay (1:25.92) to first places. Pioneer won the meet's first race, the 200 free relay, and never trailed in the meet. Pioneer also won the 400 relay (3:07.96).
"They realize how special our environment and culture is," Kerska said of three-peating. "We remind them to enjoy every day, every practice, every conference meet, every state meet. I feel like they've learned that."
Rockford's Julian Cardenas was named diver of the meet after winning that event with a 474.35. After finishing second last year as a sophomore, he wound up unbeaten this season. He said the difference between finishing runner-up and winning a state title is miniscule.
"It's a fine-tuning. You (can lose) on the smallest of mistakes. It can be your mechanics, your style, where your hands are. I just try to stay relaxed," he said. “It’s all about repetition and doing things over and over again."
Zeeland's Owen Stevens was a double winner, taking the 200 individual medley (1:50.76) and 500 free (4:30.81). The sophomore, who was sixth in the 200 individual medley and fourth in the 500 a year ago, said considering the workload he's put in the last two years, he had hopes of winning a pair of events.
"Your goal is always to win," he said. "When the (seeds) sheet came out, I was seeded well. I've improved every day, put in the work. I worked on all four strokes, and it paid off. You just have to swim your own race and not focus on anyone else."
The other champions included Ryan Gurgel of Canton, who captured the 200 free (1:39.66) and 100 butterfly (49.00). He qualified for the Finals as a freshman and sophomore and was second in the 200 free a year ago.
"It was a goal of mine after coming up short last year," he said of winning a pair of titles. "Expectations can put a lot of pressure on yourself, but you have to live up to them. I think I swam well. I was proud of myself."
Olin Charnstrom of Oxford won the 100 backstroke (49.04), and Brighton's Luke Newcomb won the 100 breaststroke (55.34).
PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer's Christopher Leuciuc and Detroit Catholic Central's Roshi Turner race in the 200 IM. (Middle) Rockford’s Julian Cardenas completes one of his dives on the way to winning his event. (Below) Zeeland’s Owen Stephens swims to a championship Saturday in the 200 individual medley. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene).