Dexter Secures D2 Title in Final Race
November 21, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
ROCHESTER HILLS — All of her obligations for the weekend were complete.
Sophomore Annette Schultz won three events and anchored the championship-clinching relay performance as Dexter edged East Grand Rapids by five points for the team title in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 meet Saturday at Oakland University.
She went through all of the post-meet celebrations, standing on the podium with her teammates to accept the trophy, diving into the pool with them and their coaches (still in street clothes), posing with the trophy and conducting an interview.
Everything started to sink in as Schultz picked up her belongings from the pool-side bleachers, the last Dexter swimmer to depart the deck.
"Whew!" she said. "What a fun week!"
Fun, indeed.
Schultz started the finals popping off Dexter's winning 200-yard medley relay team, won the 200 and 100 freestyle races and capped the championship by securing third place for the Dreadnaughts in the 400 relay.
Dexter needed to finish in the top five in the final event, which East Grand Rapids won. The 32 points the Dreadnaughts received for taking third gave them a 256-251 victory over the Pioneers, who moved into Division 2 after winning the Division 3 title the last two years.
It is the second MHSAA title for Dexter, which won Division 2 in 2002. The Dreadnaughts have been second seven times, including three times to East Grand Rapids, which has a record 19 MHSAA championships.
How much did it bother Schultz that she didn't win all four of her events?
"It's not a problem at all," she said with a smile. "I'm very proud of getting that third, because we got first overall."
Schultz's two individual victories came in stacked fields that featured swimmers with MHSAA titles on their resumes.
With a time of 1:47.89 in the 200 freestyle, Schultz won by a sizeable margin of 3.35 seconds over Rochester Adams senior Claire McGinnis, who would go on to win the 500 freestyle. Taking third was East Grand Rapids senior Emily Converse, who was on two winning relays Saturday after winning seven of her eight events the last two years in Division 3.
In the 100 freestyle, Schultz won in 50.34 seconds to edge Bloomfield Hills Marian junior Sophia Schott by 0.33 seconds. Earlier, Schott won the 50 freestyle. Taking third was East Grand Rapids' Gabby Higgins, who won four events in Division 3 last year and two relays on Saturday. Fifth-place Lexus VanHoven of East Grand Rapids has five career MHSAA victories in relays.
"The 100 freestyle was anyone's game," said Schultz, who was named the Division 2 Swimmer of the Meet by the coaches association. "That was a race to the death on that one. I was so glad I got that third one. That was cool. All those girls pushed me to get there."
With two events remaining, Dexter was in third place with 188 points, 20 behind East Grand Rapids. The Dreadnaughts' comeback started in the 100-yard breaststroke, which Dexter senior Lizzy Merriman won in 1:03.68. Senior Kate Mesaros picked up 16 crucial points by taking third in 1:04.15.
"I was really nervous going in, because last year I was seeded second going into the finals and ended up getting sixth," Merriman said. "It was good to have one of my teammates next to me racing me. I have to give some credit to her, because she's my building block, I guess. It was pretty painful, but still good."
The performances of Merriman and Mesaros gave Dexter a one-point lead over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and a 13-point cushion over East Grand Rapids.
The Dreadnaughts closed the deal when the 400 freestyle relay team of senior Sarah Lynch, sophomore Sarah Zofchak, sophomore Amelia Kinnard and Schultz took third. Schultz closed with a 100-yard leg of 49.61 seconds, the fastest split in the event.
"I gave them the game plan," Dexter coach Cory Bergen said. "Safe starts and go like (crazy) when you hit the water. I went over it about 1,000 times, so they knew. I have the fastest freestyler in the meet at the end; we knew what we had to do."
Forest Hills Central was also in contention heading into the final event, finishing third with 247 points. A remarkable 80 of those points came in diving, as the Rangers swept the first four places and added another all-state finish with a seventh.
Junior Erin Neely repeated as the diving champion with a score of 485.20 points, a Division 2 meet record and only 4.35 points shy of the Lower Peninsula all-Finals mark set by Albion's Elyse Lee in 2003.
"I just felt like it was any other meet," Neely said. "Just go in there and dive."
Sophomore Colleen Kramer was second, junior Nicki Bailey third, senior Allison Fitzgerald fourth and junior Nicole Carlson seventh for Forest Hills Central.
"We really push each other to do our best," Kramer said. "It's nice to compete against them, because I'm always trying to do better and better."
No other team has swept even the top three places in the Lower Peninsula Finals. By putting five divers in the top seven, Forest Hills Central eclipsed the five divers in the top 10 by Birmingham Groves at the 1983 Class A meet.
"All of them increased their (personal records) by at least 30 points, which is so cool to watch as a coach," said Forest Hills Central diving coach Jasmine Ramahi, a former diver for Grand Valley State University.
"What's so great is they're all so close competitively diving-wise, but they can put that aside and be friends. It's really cool to watch how they push each other, because they know they're each other's best competition."
Proving that the Rangers' program isn't one-dimensional, sophomore Felicity Buchmaier took to the pool in the first event after diving and won the 100 butterfly in 55.60 seconds. Buchmaier was third last year behind senior Taylor Garcia of Holland and sophomore Emma Cleason of Ann Arbor Skyline, which moved into Division 1.
"I had a little bit of a feeling, because Skyline had left to go to Division 1 and Taylor Garcia graduated," Buchmaier said. "I came in third last year, so subconsciously I guess it was in my mind, but I had never dreamed it. I started crying yesterday when I knew I was the first seed; it was crazy."
Senior Claire Young became the first Grosse Pointe South swimmer to win two events in the same MHSAA Finals, taking the 200 individual medley in 2:04.78 and the 100 backstroke in 55.20 seconds.
"It's amazing," Young said. "It's been four long years training and working with awesome teammates helping me through it."
Defending-champion Marian finished in fourth place with 214.5 points. Leading the Mustangs was one of the stalwarts from their championship team, junior Sophia Schott. She repeated as the 50 freestyle champion in a personal-best 22.99 seconds. She won in 23.66 seconds last year, and has five MHSAA titles to her credit.
"It was my goal this year to break 23," Schott said. "I'm so happy I did it. I know I could never have done it without my teammates' support. Right before a race when you're super, super nervous, like so scared, you just look at your teammates, take a deep breath and it's like, 'I can breathe; they're all supporting me.'"
Rochester Adams’ McGinnis, who competed in club swimming during the fall until this year, won the 500 freestyle in 4:59.18.
"I just wanted to have fun my senior year," said McGinnis, who will swim for the University of Miami (Fla.) next year. "I thought it'd be fun to come out and try to win the 500. I wanted to be more part of a team, too. It's been really fun. It's a different dynamic, but I'm really happy I got to be part of something like this."
East Grand Rapids put itself in a position to win by winning the 200 and 400 freestyle relays with the quartet of VanHoven, Hanna Sanford, Converse and Higgins.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dexter celebrates its Division 2 championship from the top of the awards stand Saturday. (Middle) Swimmers launch into the pool for the backstroke championship race. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Practice Makes Champion for Saline
November 22, 2014
By Chip Mundy
Special to Second Half
YPSILANTI – Saline swimming coach Todd Brunty often ends practice the same way, setting up a relay with the atmosphere of a race that would decide the outcome of a meet.
Practice became reality Saturday afternoon at the Michael H. Jones Natatorium on the campus of Eastern Michigan University.
But this time, the final race – the 400-yard freestyle relay - didn’t decide a normal meet; it decided the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 swimming and diving championship.
“Every single time we finish practice, Todd always says, ‘Swim like it’s coming down to the last relay,’ and that’s exactly what we did,” said Saline senior Alex McPherson, who swam the second leg on the relay as Saline won it in 3 minutes, 28.13 seconds.
Farmington Hills Mercy, which led the meet by a half-point coming into the final event, was second in the relay in 3:31.26. Saline won the championship by a margin of 267.5-262.
Junior Amelia Armstrong-Grant swam the first leg for Saline, followed by McPherson, junior Allison Eppinga and freshman Lizzy Spears.
Brunty said he had no reservations about having a freshman swim the last leg in such an important race.
“She had a tough meet. It was her first year here, but we stuck with her,” he said of Spears. “She got a baptism by fire right there.
“She did a job, and that’s part of this team. We have expectations here, and no matter who you are, at any given time you have to be willing to swim.”
The girls made a point to say they were swimming more for each other than for themselves.
“When I was on the blocks, I just thought, ‘This is it. Swim for them, not for yourself,’” McPherson said. “I love these girls more than anything, and I just wanted to win for them. I consider all of those girls my sisters, and I’m not going to let down my family.”
McPherson was the only senior on the relay, and Spears – the freshman who swam the last leg – said winning for McPherson was important.
“I had to do it for Alex because it’s her senior year, and I had to do it for the rest of the team,” she said. “It’s such an honor to swim the last leg. All I was thinking was that I had to be the first one to the wall, and the team was counting on that.”
Saline had roughly a 3-second lead when Spears entered the water for her final leg, and the winning margin was roughly 3 seconds.
“I told them all I needed was a lead,” she said.
It was the third MHSAA team championship for Saline, and like the two previous ones, it came without an individual champion on the swimming side.
However, Saline did have a champion in diving, and it dominated the event with four divers finishing among the top 15. Sophomore Amy Stevens defended her title and won with 488.20 points – an LP Division 1 Final record – while Camryn McPherson was second, Miranda Eberle seventh and Emmi Ruela 15th.
Stevens had roughly a 10-point lead over McPherson after the semifinal and maintained that edge throughout the final. McPherson had won the Regional title by 19 points.
“You always want your teammates to do good, but you don’t want them to do better than you,” Stevens said. “It’s great competing with them because it’s a fun environment, and when you are having fun you always dive well.”
Brunty made a point to single out the divers for their contribution to the overall championship.
“The divers were paramount to our win,” he said, pointing to the trophy. “It does say swimming and diving, and a lot of people think it’s something else, but we’re going to make sure people understand that we are a program that believes in everything.
“We support diving. A lot of coaches sometimes forget how important it can be, but I think we proved today that diving is an integral part of the sport. It is a swimming and diving state championship, and we are the state champs.”
Armstrong-Grant finished second in the 200 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle, while McPherson was runner-up in the 500 freestyle and fifth in the 200 freestyle. Eppinga also tied for fifth in the 100 freestyle and took sixth in the 100 backstroke.
Saline also was third in both the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay, and the meet took a dramatic turn in the latter. Farmington Hills Mercy was disqualified when its leadoff swimmer moved in the blocks before the race began. The Marlins finished third but had to forfeit their 32 points from that event.
“Everybody drops the ball every now and then,” Mercy coach Shannon Dunworth said. “Our girl flinched on the blocks. You have to remain motionless, and she twitched.
“The kids did marvelous. I think they’ve got their heads up, and my hat’s off to Saline for sure.”
Mercy won the meet-opening 200 medley relay in 1:45 with Katie Minnich, Maddie Loniewski, Alaina Skellett and Roxanne Griffore making up the team. Minnich, a freshman, later won the 100 backstroke in 55.06 for Mercy’s only individual championship.
The meet also was highlighted by record-breaking efforts by two Waterford swimmers who successfully defended their 2013 championships.
Senior Miranda Tucker, who plans to swim at Indiana University next year, broke her all-division record set last year in the 200 IM (1:59.14). She also broke her all-division record in the 100 breaststroke in the prelims on Friday (1:00.58) and again in the final (1:00.56).
Tucker admitted she was a little disappointed that she was not able to take her breaststroke time under 1 minute.
“I was pretty mad that I didn’t break that minute barrier that I’ve been hoping for all this time,” she said. “But I got to thinking it over. I’m just enjoying myself. I’m going all out to see what I can do. There’s always another chance.
“I felt like I could have done better, but I’ll take what I can get. I gave it my all.”
Waterford senior Maddie Wright closed out her high school career with her seventh and eighth Finals championships. She repeated in the 200 freestyle in 1:49.30 and had to come from behind to edge Morgan Bullock of Zeeland in the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.51.
“Morgan has incredible underwaters, and she was just beating me on all of those,” Wright said. “For a while, I was thinking maybe it’s someone else’s turn to be the champion, and then on the last turn I just saw her and said, ‘I know I can make that up. I know I can do it.’ It was very close.
“I loved every second of it.”
Another successful defense was turned in by Northville sophomore Laura Westphal in the 500 freestyle. She won in 4:54.46, less than a second ahead of Saline’s Alex McPherson.
“It was really fun,” Westphal said. “I enjoyed it. I was a little concerned as they were gaining on me the last bit. I think we all went faster because we had better competition. I’m glad how it turned out.”
Grand Blanc sophomore Emma Curtis took the 50 freestyle in exciting fashion as she out-touched Erin Hudson of Rockford to win by one hundredth of a second in 23.60.
“Honestly, I didn’t know if I had won,” Curtis said. “I had no idea. As it was getting close to the end, I took a breath and saw her. She was right next to me, so I knew it could have went either way.”
Hudson was part of Rockford’s winning 200 freestyle relay team that finished in 1:35.88. Other members of that relay were Meegan Snyman, Dakota Noble and Peyton Rayburn.
Brighton sophomore Taylor Seaman won the 100 freestyle in 51.16, while Rockford won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:35.88.
But the day belonged to Saline.
“I’m just proud of the girls and the resolve they showed throughout the day,” Brunty said. “We didn’t swim our best, but we swam good enough to be state champs, so we’ll take it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Saline's Amy Stevens performs a dive en route to repeating as champion of the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final on Saturday. (Middle) A Saline swimmer competes for the eventual team champion at Eastern Michigan University. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)