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Finals Preview: Chasing the Champions
November 15, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Farmington Hills Mercy is expected to add to its girls swimming and diving dynasty this weekend. Holland and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood are predicted to take another step in building theirs.
All three reigning MHSAA Lower Peninsula champions are ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions heading into Friday's Finals preliminaries.
But it's not that easy, and especially after some movement among the divisions. In 2011, Mercy moved up from Division 2 to win Division 1. But this fall, top teams from all three divisions have done some shifting to others, which should cause some reordering by the time Saturday's championship races are done.
All three Finals will be streamed live on MHSAA.tv. Click for lineups and seed times for all three meets.
Here's a look at the team favorites, plus a few individuals to remember:
Division 1 at Holland Aquatic Center
Farmington Hills Mercy and Saline are tied for the No. 1 ranking after combining to win the last three championships. Mercy is seeking its sixth straight; the Marlins moved up to Division 1 and won last fall after five straight championships in Division 2. Saline finished 14.5 points back last season after winning in both 2009 and 2010. Holland West Ottawa, seventh last season, is expected to make a move and comes in ranked No. 3.
Farmington Hills Mercy – The Marlins have 19 individual seeds, plus all three relays, among the top 16 in those events. An incredible group of sophomores leads the way – Kathleen McGee has the second-best seed times in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.83) and 500 (4:59.74), Maddy Loniewski has the fastest in the 200 individual medley (2:05.91) and fifth-best in the breaststroke (1:05.86), and Roxanne Griffore has the fifth fastest in the 50 (24.23) and seventh in the 100 freestyle (53.37).
Saline – A strong group of seniors will try to match the boys championship in March, and they’re off to a good start with 14 swim seeds plus all three relays among the top 16 of their events heading into Friday. Senior Maddy Frost swims on two of those relays and also has the sixth-best seed time in the 50 (24.38) and seventh-best in the backstroke (58.15). Senior Emily Lau is on two relays and senior Cristina Czyrka is on one, and both also qualified in multiple individual events. Those three were on the 200 medley relay that set the Division 1 Finals record of 1:45.97 last season.
Holland West Ottawa – The Panthers have 15 individuals plus all three relays among the top 16 seeds in those events, and one of the best chances at setting a new meet record. Seniors Colleen VandePoel, Chelsea Rish, Anna Battistello and Caroline Fender have swum the 200 medley relay in 1:45.51, a little more than four tenths of a second faster than Saline’s record time in 2011. Those four also combine for six of the team’s top-16 seeds. Senior Anna Babinec has the team’s highest, the third-fastest time in the 50 (24.12) and the fourth in the 100 freestyle (52.45).
More to remember – Waterford Kettering sophomore Maddie Wright is favored to add two more individual championships to those she won during her first season. She’s seeded first in the 200 freestyle (1:50.15) and the butterfly (55.27), the races she won in 2011. Hudsonville senior Danielle Freeman has the top seeds in both sprints – 23.49 in the 50 and 51.41 in the 100 freestyle – after taking third in both last season.
Division 2 at Oakland University
After three straight runner-up finishes, Holland claimed its first MHSAA team title in 2011 and is the top-ranked team again returning a number of significant contributors from that championship effort. Grosse Pointe South was fourth last year and is ranked No. 2, but both could be pushed by a pair that placed well in Division 1 last season – Ann Arbor Skyline, which is ranked No. 3 and finished sixth in D1 in 2011, and Bloomfield Hills Marian, which finished third in Division 1 last fall and is ranked No. 4 heading into Friday.
Holland – Holland is set up to score big points again with 14 individual seeds among the top 16 in their events and all three top-seeded relays. Star Courtney Bartholomew graduated, but a crew of standouts have kept the team rushing ahead. Junior Cassie Misiewicz is the reigning champion in the 500 and seeded first again with a time of 5:02.12; she has the second-best time in the 200 freestyle (1:53.35). Sophomore Taylor Garcia has the top seed times in the backstroke (55.43) and butterfly (54.95) after winning the latter and the 50 last season. Junior Holly Morren has the top seed time in the 50 (24.04) and the second-fastest in the 100 freestyle (51.7), and senior Melissa Vandermeulen has the top seed in the breaststroke (1:04.09).
Grosse Pointe South – The Blue Devils have eight individual seeds plus all three relays among the top 16 in their events, and two divers competing as well. They’re led by the DeLoof sisters – junior Gabby and senior Catie – who swim on two relays ranked among the top five. Gabby DeLoof also has the third seed time in the 200 individual medley (2:07.61) and the second-best in the backstroke (57.31), while Catie won the 100 freestyle last season and has the third-best time in that race (52.18) and the eighth in the 50 (24.67). They’re joined on those two relays by freshman Jennifer Maiorana, plus freshman Claire Young on the 200 medley and junior Cassandra Morse on the 400 free. Maiorana has two top-16 individual seeds, including the seventh-best time in the butterfly (58.77).
Ann Arbor Skyline – Although ranked behind Grosse Pointe South, Skyline might be the team best in position to catch Holland. The Eagles are led by a reigning Division 1 champion in senior Ashley Shanley, who won the breaststroke at that Final last season and has the second-seeded time in that event (1:04.61) and the top seeded in the 200 individual medley (2:06.08). Those are two of 10 top-16 individual seeds, and all three relays are ranked second right behind those from Holland. Senior Rebecca Dickey, junior Shannon Cowley and freshman Katie Portz all are seeded among the top eight in both of their individual events. Those four swim together on the 400 freestyle relay.
More to remember – Bloomfield Hills Marian sophomore Mollie Pulte swims on two top relays and has the top seeds in both of her individual events, the 200 freestyle (1:51.66) and the 100 freestyle (51.42). She was third in the 200 and fifth in the 100 at the Division 1 Final last season. East Grand Rapids senior Olivia Kassouni has won the Division 3 diving championship the last two seasons and will try to add one more against some new competition.
Division 3 at Eastern Michigan University
After two straight runner-up finishes to East Grand Rapids, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood won its first team championship last season. East Grand Rapids moved into Division 2 this fall, but the Cranes must hold off local rival Bloomfield Hills Lahser as it seeks its first title in its final season before merging next year with Bloomfield Hills Andover. Plainwell, third last season, is ranked No. 3.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood – The Cranes are loaded for another run at the title and for the next few seasons as well. They are seeded among the top 16 in all three relays and 18 times individually – the breakdown being seven seeds by seniors, two by juniors, three by sophomores and six by freshmen. Senior Kylie Powrie is the reigning champion in the 500 and 200 freestyles; she’s tied for the third seed in the 200 (1:57.84) and her top seed time of 5:07.49 in the 500 is more than five seconds better than the second seed. Sophomore Lara Kokubo has the top-seeded time in the 100 freestyle (52.84) and the third-best (24.31) in the 50. Among those speedy underclassmen, freshmen Charlotte Lee and Anuschka Sambel both have two top-five seed times in their individual events.
Bloomfield Hills Lahser – The Knights return winners of three races last season. Junior Ines Charles won the backstroke and the butterfly and is tied with Adrian junior Jennifer Wagley for the top seed time in the butterfly (58.99) and has the top seed alone in the backstroke (57.99). Charles and the rest of her reigning champion 200 medley relay team – senior Lucy Ramonat and juniors Hailey Sambor and Mary Pilibosian – will go for another repeat. Pilibosian has the top seed time in the 200 individual medley (2:09.09) and is second only to Charles in the backstroke (58.78).
Plainwell – Although Plainwell has only four individual seeds (plus all three relays) among the top 16 in those events, the Trojans have a two-time reigning champion in sophomore Mallory Comerford. She won the 50 and the 100 freestyles last season, but this weekend has the top seed in the 200 freestyle (1:54.24) and third-fastest in the 500 (5:14.96). Sophomore Kim Jones was the runner-up diver last year.
More to remember – After finishing fourth in the breaststroke and fifth in the individual medley in 2011, Tecumseh senior Rachel Waite is seeded second in the IM (2:11) and first in the breaststroke (1:06.66). Holland Christian sophomore Sydney Asselin is seeded second in both the 500 and 200 freestyles, and junior teammate Ashlee Sall is seeded second in the 50 and 100.
PHOTO: A competitor pushes on during a race at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final.
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Redettes Continue U.P. Finals Domination
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
February 21, 2015
MARQUETTE — The Marquette girls put together a solid performance in Saturday’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Swimming and Diving Finals, retaining their title with 315 points.
The Redettes repeated as champions and claimed their 13th title over the last 14 seasons.
They were followed by Gladstone with 269 points and Houghton with 223 in their home pool.
Marquette senior Janelle Carroll won the 500-yard freestyle race in five minutes, 48.18 seconds, and helped the Redettes capture the 200 and 400 freestyle relays in 1:49.45 and 3:57.27, respectively, She was also runner-up to senior teammate Logan Vear in 200 freestyle.
“Janelle had been sick for two weeks and was injured during the season, but she really burned it up today,” said Marquette coach Nathan McFarren. “We’re going to miss our seniors. They’re going to be tough to replace.”
Vear was clocked in 2:06.66 in the 200 freestyle, with Carroll at 2:07.58.
Also winning for Marquette were sophomores Lyndsey Welch in the 200 individual medley (2:24.54) and Lauren Rotundo in 100 breaststroke (1:13.85).
Gladstone sophomore Katie Stephenson won the 100 backstroke in 1:04.15 and was runner-up in the 50 freestyle (25.87).
“I’ve been working a lot on starts,” said Stephenson, who led off the winning 200 medley relay. “I finally got beat after two years in the 50 freestyle, which just motivated me more for the 100. I just pushed myself harder in backstroke.”
Junior Jesse Flath, who anchored Gladstone’s winning relay, added second places in the 100 freestyle (57.82) and 200 IM (2:32.41).
Gladstone coach Tom Desy said he was pleased with the team’s performance.
“This was a very nice performance by both of our teams,” he added. “We knew it’d be tough to beat Marquette. Our kids did very well.”
Rudyard sophomore Trista MacDowell was a double winner, taking the 50 freestyle (25.67) and the 100 (57.43).
Houghton senior Lauren Jackson retained her diving title Friday with 169.65 points, more then 11 points better than the remainder of the field.
“I just tried to keep calm,” said Jackson, who plans to attend Northwest Michigan College in Traverse City this fall. “I went in thinking it’d be OK. Then, I watched some of the other kids dive (in warm-ups) and thought maybe my position wasn’t as solid as I thought. My first dive was one of my more iffy dives. But when I went up on my second dive, I thought it was there. My confidence came back.”
Saturday’s performance was the best this season for Houghton, according to coach Erik Johnson.
“The girls put forth their best effort and scored more points than I thought they would,” he said. “Several of our girls did well in IM and (100) butterfly. We have a lot of developing talent on both teams. We’re looking forward to next year. We had a very good day overall.”
Manistique had a champion in junior Allison Halpin, who took the 100 butterfly in 1:04 and placed third in the 100 freestyle in a school-record 58.1 seconds.
“I dropped seven seconds in 100 fly,” she said. “I’m surprised I was able to do that. The atmosphere up here pumps you up and it definitely helps when you know what to expect. The competition in 100 free was tougher this year and having Gladstone here makes the competition that much better. The races were back-to-back, and I was a little tired in freestyle. But I’m still happy with what I did.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Racers leave the blocks during Saturday's MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals at Marquette High School. (Middle) A competitor swims toward the finish. (Click to see more from Jarvinen Photos.)