Skyline Star Power Leads Championship Run with 6 Event Wins
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 12, 2022
ROCHESTER – Sometimes swim & dive teams ride depth and lots of top-5 finishes to state titles, while other times they rely on star power and plenty of first-place finishes.
The Ann Arbor Skyline boys team abided by the latter at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals at Oakland University.
Of the 12 events held, Skyline finished first in six of them, riding all those first-place points to its first Finals title since it won the Division 1 crown in 2018.
Skyline finished with 291 points, ahead of runner-up Detroit U-D Jesuit’s total of 266.
Grosse Pointe South was third with 238 points.
Leading the way for Skyline was senior Even McKelvey, who had a hand in four of those first-place finishes.
“Winning with the boys is so much more fun than individually,” McKelvey said. “As Bo Schembechler said, ‘The team, the team, the team.’ That’s how we ran all season.”
McKelvey finished first in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:39.21, and then won the 100 freestyle ahead of senior teammate Matthew Lee in a time of 44.89.
The team of McKelvey, junior Jack Stanton, senior Ben Kurniawan and Lee then set an LPD2 Finals record in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:23.72.
To finish the meet off, in the 400 freestyle relay, the team of McKelvey, sophomore Lucas Caswell, Kurniawan and Lee won in a time of 3:05.63.
The individual wins were quite a jump from last year for McKelvey, who was seventh in the 100 freestyle and fifth in the 200 freestyle as a junior.
“Just sprinting it all out and doing the best I could do,” McKelvey said. “I race (good swimmers) every day in practice, so that’s the vision I had in my mind. Just race them like I do in practice.”
Kurniawan and Lee also got in the act individually, with Lee winning the 50 freestyle in a time of 20.63 and Kurniawan capturing the 100 butterfly in a time of 49.31.
“Our star power brought along the rest of the team,” Skyline coach Maureen Murett said. “The reason we were so good this year is because we had tremendous leadership from those guys. It wasn’t good enough for them that they were really good or that they were succeeding. All season long, they were the ones who brought the young guys along. That made the difference. Everybody had a role.”
While Skyline was jubilant over winning another championship trophy, there was a sense of pride for U-D Jesuit claiming the runner-up trophy because it was the best finish in program history.
Senior Drew Collins won the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:50.21, while senior Christian Bouchillon won the 100 backstroke in a time of 49.50 to lead the Cubs.
“Obviously it’s hard for the kids not to focus on the big No. 1. But they did phenomenal and swam their hearts out,” U-D Jesuit coach Drew Edson said. “It’s the best our school has ever done, and they’re happy. We’re going to stay up top for a long time, I’ll tell you that.”
Grosse Pointe South’s 200 medley relay team of junior Keiran Rahmaan, senior Drew Vandeputte, senior Jake Vallan and senior Tucker Briggs set meet record with a winning time of 1:31.85.
Other individual winners were Grosse Pointe South junior Logan Hepner in diving with 509.70 points, Walled Lake Northern junior Sean Diffenderfer in the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:35.67 and Byron Center senior Michael Grovers in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 54.54.
PHOTOS (Top) An Ann Arbor Skyline swimmer begins his leg of the 200 freestyle relay. (Middle) Detroit U-D Jesuit's Drew Collins swims the winning 200 IM. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Houghton Boys Rise With Last-Event Win
February 17, 2018
By Ryan Stieg
Special for Second Half
MARQUETTE – For the past two years, the Houghton boys swimming & diving team has watched Marquette come out ahead of the Gremlins for the Upper Peninsula Finals championship.
On Saturday, the Gremlins finally finished on top, but it came down to the wire.
Trailing the Redmen by two points heading into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Houghton needed a strong performance if it wanted to end Marquette’s four-year title reign.
They got it as Houghton’s relay took first place, and as a team edged the Redmen 242-232. That was the only event the Gremlins won all day, and they picked the perfect time to do it.
“We were down two points, and I told the boys just give it everything you’ve got and they came through,” Houghton coach Erik Johnson said. “This feels pretty darn good. These kids worked really hard, and we only did it with nine guys. I’m really happy for our seniors to be able to send them out this way. It’s been a goal of theirs for a long time, and they were able to get it done.”
It was a tough outcome for the Redmen, who had won four events on the day – including the other two relays – and did so despite having a small roster. Matt Brauer (200 freestyle) and Ryan Glover (100 backstroke) were Marquette’s two individual winners.
“Quite honestly, if you told me at the beginning of the year that our boys would get second, I would’ve said you’re crazy,” Marquette coach Nathan McFarren said. “We lost some amazing swimmers that I had for four solid years. The boys team gave it everything we had. We just didn’t have the depth when it came down to it. We won a lot. We swam hard. We worked hard and we had a great taper, but it wasn’t in the cards this year.”
Kingsford finished third in the eight-team meet with 192 points, with Caleb Plumley winning the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke. Sault Ste. Marie took fourth at 182 and Gladstone fifth at 176. The Blue Devils took first in four events with Leevi Olson (50 free and 100 free) and Andrew Innerebner (500 free, 100 butterfly) both winning twice.
“All our kids had top times, and even our role kids stepped up,” Sault Ste. Marie coach Steve Habusta said. “If you would’ve told me where we’d be at, I wouldn’t have believed you. With Leevi, I don’t know if there’s another swimmer that’s gone four-for-four four years in a row in the same event (50 free). I’ve been here for a while and I’ve never seen that, so that’s special. Also, Andrew had a U.P. (Finals) record in the 500 free (4:55.13), so that’s awesome for him.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Swimmers launch during Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Finals at Marquette High school. (Middle) Sault Ste. Marie’s Andrew Innerebner completes his meet record 500 freestyle. (Photos by Daryl Jarvinen/Jarvinen Photos.)