Comerford, Cranes Repeat as D3 Champs
November 17, 2012
By Gary Kalahar
Special to Second Half
YPSILANTI – By the time she is finished with her high school career, perhaps Plainwell’s Mallory Comerford will be an MHSAA champion in all eight individual swimming races.
Sounds a bit far-fetched to be sure. But after Comerford’s performance Saturday in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 meet at Eastern Michigan University, would anyone care to bet against her?
Comerford, a sophomore, made it four championships in four different races by winning the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle in dominant, record-breaking fashion.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood used its outstanding depth – scoring at least 15 points in every race – to swim away with its second consecutive Division 3 team title. The Cranes scored 361 points, and Bloomfield Hills Lahser finished second with 211.
As a freshman, Comerford was the champ in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. Plainwell coach John DuBois said with another excellent long-distance freestyler last year, Comerford was placed in the sprints to give the Trojans the potential for more points.
“So we trained her in sprints, but her love is distance,” DuBois said. “It wasn't a hard transition at all.”
It certainly didn't look like it, especially on the final weekend.
“I was real happy with how I did,” Comerford said. “I’m very excited. I felt smooth going in the water Friday, and it was the same way (Saturday).”
In the 200 freestyle, Comerford set the Division 3 record with a 1:50.92 in the preliminaries and lowered it to 1:48.07 to win the final by more than six seconds.
“In my heart, I thought she could go 1:48,” DuBois said. “But I didn't know it would be that easy. Easy as in the way she swam – it was so effortless. She was in a groove.”
Comerford’s 4:58.18 in the 500 freestyle preliminaries established a meet record. That one lasted about 24 hours, too, as she went out fast and never slowed down in a 4:53.14 final. She won by 13 seconds with a time that would have made her a winner at the day’s Division 1 or Division 2 Finals.
“That was a surprise to me,” Comerford said.
Ten minutes after that race, Comerford was back on the blocks for the anchor leg of the 200 freestyle relay, boosting the Trojans from sixth place to fourth.
“I had to be there for my team,” Comerford said. “I just had the belief that I was fresh and I could do it."
She brought Plainwell from seventh to fourth on the final leg of the 400 freestyle relay, but the Trojans were disqualified.
“I knew it would be tough, but it was definitely worth it,” Comerford said about switching her focus to the longer distances. “It was a lot more yardage, a lot tougher on your body to be prepared for the longer races. My coaches, John DuBois here and Jeff Russell with USA Swimming, have pushed me as hard as I could go. I couldn't do what I've done without them.”
DuBois, whose team finished fifth with 140 points, said Comerford’s willingness to swim the events where she could most help the team is representative of her attitude.
“She’s a phenomenal athlete, she has great character and she’s an unbelievable worker,” he said. “She obviously is gifted, and we’re lucky to have her at Plainwell. She’s been a model academically and athletically. She’s all the things coaches love to have.”
Another thing all coaches would love to have is the depth of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood rode to the team title. The Cranes had no divers but had girls swimming in every final race. In nine of the 11 events, they scored at least 23 points.
“A lot of it goes to the competition that we started with the first day of practice,” first-year Cranbrook-Kingswood coach Chris Bagley said. “It’s unbelievable to think about how deep we are.”
Senior Kylie Powrie swam on teams that finished second in Division 3 her freshman and sophomore years and won titles the last two.
“It’s amazing,” Powrie said. “Our team has come so far. We've improved so much over the years. I never would have thought this was possible my freshman year. When I started, it was hard for us to fill up all the events.”
Powrie, the 2011 champion in the two races won by Comerford this year, finished her career by helping the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams to victory, the latter in a Division 3-record 3:33.63.
“We just wanted our team record, and we got it and got the state record,” Powrie said.
Lara Kokubo was Cranbrook-Kingswood’s lone individual champion, winning the 100 freestyle. She also swam on the two winning relay teams.
“We knew we were going to have high expectations, but to do what we did, the way we did it, is just unbelievable,” Bagley said. “We set our goals at the beginning of the year, and we never talked about winning a state title. We talked about being the most improved team in the state, and I think we did that.”
Ines Charles led runner-up Bloomfield Hills Lahser. She repeated as champion in the 100 backstroke, helped her 200 medley relay team to a second straight title and finished second in the 100 butterfly.
PHOTO: Members of the Cranbrook-Kingswood 400-yard freestyle relay team celebrate their LP Division 3 Final record time Saturday. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Eichbrecht Stacking Championships at Midpoint of West Bloomfield Career
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 28, 2023
WEST BLOOMFIELD — When she started high school swimming last fall, West Bloomfield sophomore Elizabeth Eichbrecht didn’t know what expectations to have, given she knew full well the high level of competition there was throughout the state.
Well, after two seasons, it’s safe to say Eichbrecht has blown any expectations she had out of the water, pun intended.
At the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals on Nov. 17-18 at Eastern Michigan University, Eichbrecht won her third and fourth individual championships.
She won the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:48.08, more than three seconds ahead of the next finisher. The winning time qualified for All-America recognition and bested her first-place time from the 2022 Finals by 0.34 seconds.
Later on, Eichbrecht won the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:47.66, more than 11 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Her All-American time in that event was more than five seconds better than her winning time in 2022.
Two years, four Finals titles. Not too shabby.
“Yes it’s surprising, because there are so many fast girls and we are all very competitive,” Eichbrecht said.
Eichbrecht already holds six school records – in all four freestyle events, the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly.
She also owns Oakland Activities Association records in the 200 and 500 freestyles and the 100 butterfly.
“I like the distance events more, mainly because I don’t have to all-out sprint,” Eichbrecht said.
West Bloomfield head coach Ronson Webster said the big reason why Eichbrecht was even better this year as a sophomore after making such an impact as a freshman wasn’t necessarily because she was bigger and stronger, although those were contributing factors.
Mainly, her success this year was the validation that she belonged after such a great freshman season.
“She gained more confidence this year going into her races,” he said. “She focused on racing her race and not who was next to her. Meeting the time we worked for was the goal. Winning is a bonus.”
While Eichbrecht excels at so many events, her specialty has been the 200 and 500 freestyles, which is stating the obvious given the Finals titles she has won in those events.
“Her training is very specific as it is for every swimmer on our team,” Webster said. “Everyone is trained differently. Her technique is very important and specific to her event and body size. Since she is shorter, she can’t swim the same as a tall person. Having the right technique designed for the swimmer and the correct race plan goes a long way.”
Eichbrecht next will focus on her club season for Supernova Swim Team based out of Farmington Hills, and she already is looking forward to competing at the Winter Junior Nationals in Columbus from Dec. 6-9.
By the time her career is over, it’s safe to say Eichbrecht might be the best all-time from a West Bloomfield school that’s not known as much for swimming as other Oakland County powers such as Farmington Hills Mercy or the Birmingham schools. But Eichbrecht is relishing putting her school on the swimming map with all her success so far.
“I love swimming at WB,” she said. “My teammates are amazing, and they work super hard. I’m super proud of all the work they put in this season, and I can’t wait for next season.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTOS (Top) West Bloomfield’s Elizabeth Eichbrecht swims the winning 200-yard freestyle Nov. 18 at Eastern Michigan University. (Middle) Eichbrecht talks with runner-up Yan Yee Adler from Ann Arbor Pioneer after also winning the 500 freestyle. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)