Swim & Dive Community Jumping In to Get Oxford Back in Pool
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
December 10, 2021
Many are reaching out to offer assistance to Oxford High School’s athletic teams, and the swimming & diving community is among those lining up to help the Wildcats return to familiar, and hopefully comforting, practice and competition routines for this time of year.
Meets for MHSAA boys swimming & diving teams began Dec. 4, but athletes are unsure when they will be allowed to return to the school to retrieve needed gear.
Earlier this week, the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association sent a thread on their websites that Oxford was in need of equipment.
The response has been swift and overwhelmingly positive from coaches, organizations and companies both locally and nationally.
“Just so the boys can get back to some sense of normalcy,” said Brad Jones, the head boys swim coach at Fenton and former president of MISCA. “We’ve gotten calls from club teams in California that want to donate, just to make sure these guys can get back in the water and just feel normal again. That was kind of the goal in the swim community.”
Swimmers typically have more equipment with them for a given practice or meet than many realize.
Not only are there suits, goggles and caps, but also items such as paddles, kickboards, snorkels and fins that aid training during practices.
Jones said coaches within MISCA have been in touch with Oxford swim coach Jackie Rank to see exactly what is needed.
The outfitter Arena has donated suits, while other companies such as Speedo and Different Strokes have also offered to help donate equipment.
“I know they want to start competing, and we just want to help in that training process,” Jones said.
Oxford also is in need of a pool for training and competitions, and its neighbor school has offered to help in that regard.
Chris Bell, athletic director at Lake Orion High School, said he has invited Oxford swimmers and divers to practice at Lake Orion’s pool.
Oxford and Lake Orion share a diving coach to begin with, but the Dragons are also happy to share their pool while Oxford needs it.
In addition, Bell said he has also been in touch with Oxford athletic director Tony DeMare and offered Lake Orion’s facilities for other Wildcats sports teams if needed.
“We will make every effort to support them and provide what we can for them,” Bell said.
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.)