East Grand Rapids Claims 7 Event Wins and 7th Finals Title Over Last 8 Seasons
By
Teddy Rydquist
Special for MHSAA.com
November 18, 2023
ROCHESTER – East Grand Rapids captured its seventh MHSAA Finals girls swimming & diving championship over the last eight seasons Saturday by totaling 420 points at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 meet at Oakland University.
The title was East Grand Rapids’ fifth in Division 3 since 2016, with the Pioneers also having added Division 2 victories in 2017 and 2022.
Winning seven of the 12 events Saturday, including all three relays, East Grand Rapids was led by junior Kate Simon, who was victorious in both the 100 and 200-yard freestyles and was a member of the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams, earning herself the Swimmer of the Meet honor from the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association.
“It’s really cool, especially for East. We’re such a good team, and they always have a good team,” Simon said of the honor.
“It’s cool to do it under Butch, too.”
While the Pioneers had a couple of young athletes in freshman Addie Hein and sophomore Ellery Chandler play valuable roles Saturday, Simon pointed to the leadership of the Class of 2024 as a major reason why this team continued to thrive.
“I think the seniors and the captains have been really good leaders,” she began. “They’ve really brought our team together, and I think made this team such good friends.”
The “Butch” Simon referenced is legendary head coach Milton “Butch” Briggs, with Saturday’s triumph representing the latest accomplishment in a long line of success for one of the sport’s most accomplished program leaders.
Even with all of the winning the program has done under his watch, his 2023 Pioneers still found a way to make themselves special and stand out from some of his teams of years past.
“What makes this group special is we lost the first two meets of the year, and we hadn’t lost a dual meet in quite a few years,” Briggs shared. “So just to watch this group of girls come together, not only as athletes, but as friends and as people.
“We had a few of our age group coaches step up and help with the program this year, and it made us a lot more complete on depth. It was just fun to be around them; it was the best part of my day.”
Like Simon, Chandler was part of two relay teams for East Grand Rapids and tallied an individual victory in the 100 breaststroke with an All-American consolation qualifying time of 1:03.17.
Alongside Hein and Simon, Chandler is a member of the promising core the Pioneers figure to return in 2024 and she delivered a smiling, humble response when asked about her individual success.
“It feels good to have my hard work pay off and get to do it as a team,” Chandler said.
East Grand Rapids also took home first place in 1-meter diving, courtesy of senior Maria Colombo’s score of 441.4. Addy Buck, her Pioneers classmate, was right behind her in second place at 390.9.
Rounding out the top-five teams Saturday were Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood with 219 points, Bloomfield Hills Marian (214), Milan (163) and Holland Christian (145).
Freshman Camryn Siegers won the 100 backstroke for Holland Christian at 55.37 seconds, and Flat Rock senior Lauren McNamara touched the wall first in both the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley, posting times of 55.68 and 2:05.59, respectively.
PHOTOS (Top) East Grand Rapids launches during a relay exchange Saturday at Holland Aquatic Center. (Middle) Flat Rock's Lauren McNamara swims to the championship in the 200 individual medley. (Below) EGR's Ellery Chandler surges to the win in the 100 breaststroke. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
East Grand Rapids' Depth Nets 24th Team Title, While Jenison Stars Shine
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
November 19, 2022
GRAND RAPIDS – There may not be a heated competition between sisters, but that's definitely not the case for opponents of Grace and Emma Albrecht.
The speedy Jenison siblings went head-to-head in two events in addition to swimming together on two winning relays at Saturday's Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals at Calvin University's Venema Aquatic Center.
"We push each other," said Grace, a junior. "But it's the same as with any other swimmer – we want to win."
The two were critical in helping Jenison finish runner-up behind East Grand Rapids with 219 points. The Pioneers notched their 24th Finals title with 280.
The sisters had a memorable afternoon as Grace edged her younger sister, a freshman, in the 50 freestyle. Grace won the event with a time of 23:41, while Emma was second at 23.82. Grace also was second in the 100 backstroke (54.50), while Emma was seventh (57.46). The two were part of the winning 200 medley (1:43.59) and 400 free relays (3:27.18).
When pressed, Grace will admit she looks at her sister more as a sibling rather than someone she needs to beat.
"Sometimes, once in a while," she said. "But most of the time we're competing against each other."
The sisters began their swimming background at virtually the same time at the club level about seven years ago. Emma said for the most part she looks at her older sister as a competitor, not a sibling.
"She's like any other swimmer," she said. "But we work together as teammates. She taught me always to have a positive attitude, no matter what."
The Pioneers continued their domination of Division 3/Class B Finals. Saturday's title was the team’s sixth in seven years, eighth since 2013 and 14th in 24 years. The program won its first title under coach Butch Briggs in the third year of Swim Finals in 1978 after finishing runner-up at the first two championship meets.
Briggs said the success never gets old. Different maybe, he said, but his swimmers never take anything for granted.
"Coming into the meet we were relatively beyond our seed times. But we found a way to win," said Briggs, who credits depth for the victory. "It's the way we've been all year with the depth. We have a little less than some teams, but Friday was one of our best days I can remember. We were up like 14 points without diving, and diving has saved (us) more than once over the years."
EGR senior Allison Alguire agreed that depth is a team strength, but so is another factor.
"We have a lot of perseverance," said Alguire, one of the team's co-captains who swam personal bests in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke while helping the 200 medley and 400 relays to second and third-place finishes, respectively. "We got close at the end of the year, which made our chemistry better. With our team we don't swim for a best time, we swim for the team."
EGR had only one first place, in the 200 free relay with Caroline Flermoen, Ellery Chandler, Alyssa Hein and Kate Simon.
The top individual performance in the meet came from Dexter senior Lily Witte, who won her fourth-straight diving title with a 554.65, as Caroline Li of Okemos (492.25) finished runner-up for the fourth year. Witte’s score was a Michigan all-Finals and pool record.
"It gets more special," said Witte, who will attend Indiana next season. "The fact that it’s my senior year and last year makes it special. I just try to go out and do what I need to do and try not to worry."
The meet's only double winner was Jenison's Sophie Umstead. She won the 200 individual medley (2:00.33) and the 100 breaststroke (1:01.11). She made a smashing transition from being a club swimmer a year ago as a freshman to becoming a two-event Finals champ.
"I just wanted to come in and swim my best," she said. "Club is similar to high school, but maybe a little more chilled."
Other first places were collected by two Birmingham Seaholm swimmers, Kelley Hassett in the 500 free (4:58.63) and Samantha Clifford in the 200 free (1:48.64). Rhian Russell of Rochester Adams in the 100 butterfly (54.30), Lily Cleason of Ann Arbor Skyline in the 100 backstroke (53.95) and Ella Roberson of Midland Dow in the 100 free (50.13) also won titles.
PHOTO (Top) An East Grand Rapids swimmer leaves the blocks during the 400 freestyle relay. (Middle) Swimmers approach the wall during the breaststroke final. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)