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.
Loy Norrix Swim & Dive Rooted in Community
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
November 12, 2019
KALAMAZOO — When Paul Mahar was hired to coach at Loy Norrix High School, he had nine returning swimmers on a team of just 14 girls.
That was in 2004, and the program was on the verge of becoming a co-op with Kalamazoo Central High School.
But Mahar turned the girls swimming & diving program around in a “rags to riches” story, said athletic director Andrew Laboe.
Norrix has 45 girls on this year’s team, with two individual and three relay team qualifiers so far for the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals on Nov. 22-23 at Oakland University.
Four divers – juniors Samantha Vande Pol, Laurel Wolfe, Sofie Santos and freshman Wen Wadsworth – are all headed to Regionals this week hoping to qualify for the Finals as well.
“(Mahar) has built a program through blood, sweat and tears with excitement, building a community education youth program and through the non-stop drumbeat of recruiting within our school,” Laboe said.
The Knights ended the regular season with a 7-2 record, including a win over perennial power Battle Creek Lakeview.
“Beating Lakeview was a big milestone for them,” Laboe said. “(Norrix is) a very young team this year, and we are hoping to build on that in the next years.”
Senior Carly Loken said a key to the team’s success is the girls’ relationships with each other.
“We have a lot of girls who swam club, and we’re all friends,” she said. “Also, (it helps) being able to pull in kids their freshman and sophomore years and welcome them into the group, and (we) really enjoy spending time together.”
Mahar prefers to deflect the attention from himself to the athletes, but his enthusiasm for the program is evident.
“My first few years I just had my upperclassmen pull kids in, just kids recruiting kids,” he said. “The last 10 years or so with me being in the building (as a teacher), I’ve been able to create relationships with kids and bring them out.
“Just siblings coming out and friends bringing friends out, that’s the big part of it.”
Loy Norrix finished third at the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference championships over the weekend, not a surprise to sophomore Annika Schnell.
“It’s important that we have fast girls, but we also have swimmers who hold our team together,” she said. “We have a lot of depth.”
Community strong
One key to Mahar’s success is a community program he started which now includes K-Central.
“The first few years it was called Knights United,” he said. “Then we had a great conversation with Kalamazoo Central parents to bring swimming back to the city of Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo Public Schools.
“We sat down and agreed we would come together, so we changed it to Kalamazoo United. We started with 25 boys and girls, and now we’re at about 250 kids year round.”
The program, hosted six months at Norrix and six at Central, includes children as young as 4 years old in the “Learn to Swim” class, and up to 18 years old.
Schnell, who became the first Knight headed to the MHSAA Finals when she qualified in the 50-yard freestyle, started in the community program at age 9 and now works with the younger swimmers.
Over the weekend, she also qualified in the 100 butterfly.
One advantage, she said, is having the same coach when girls transition to the high school team.
Mahar agreed.
“The majority of the kids who are on the team I’ve known since they were in third or fourth grade. So I’ve created a relationship with all these kids who are in the water right now for over a decade, and it’s been really great,” he said.
Loken also came through the community program.
“Coach Mahar has been my coach ever since I was little, so I kind of grew up with him and I always knew that I wanted to be a part of this environment,” she said.
“I remember one practice when I was little, (high schoolers) came and helped us with strokes, and I really liked that and wanted to be a part of that group.”
Schnell qualified for the Finals last year and, while she did not make it to the second day’s championship and consolation races, she said it was a good learning experience.
“I didn’t do so hot last year,” she said. “I had an injury. That wasn’t very fun.
“This year, I’m hoping to make one more cut than last year. I didn’t really come in prepared last year, but now I have experience. It’s always good to go with friends.”
Schnell will have a few friends with her this year, with junior Ellie Haase in the 100 backstroke and all three relay teams headed to Oakland so far.
‘No captains, all leaders’
The coach encourages swimmers to be leaders.
“We decided to take away captains, and we asked the girls to start building better relations with each other and create leaders over there,” Mahar said. “Our motto is ‘No captains, all leaders.’
“That creates an opportunity for a newbie, which we call a first-year kid or a freshman or sophomore, a chance to step up and be a leader in some way. It doesn’t always have to be in the pool. Maybe it’s in the locker room. Maybe it’s in the classroom.”
Mahar, who retired this year from coaching the school’s boys team, said when he was first hired, he had no idea that he would still be at Norrix 15 years later.
“I’m fortunate that I made the decision to stay in Kalamazoo, not only to teach but also coach and raise my family here,” he said. “I have two female swimmers who will be coming up soon, so I’m excited about that.”
Those are his daughters, Grace, an eighth grader, and Lillian, a sixth grader. Both participate in the community feeder program.
“I’m very fortunate that I have so many families, parents, athletes who have stuck with us and built this together, and that’s really the only reason we are as successful as we are today,” he said.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Kalamazoo Loy Norrix celebrates its victory at the Allegan Invitational this fall. (Middle) Clockwise from top left: Carly Loken, Annika Schnell, Ellie Haase and coach Paul Mahar. (Below) Haase prepares to launch during one of her races. (Top and below photos and Haase head shot courtesy of the Loy Norrix girls swimming & diving program; Loken, Schnell and Mahar head shots by Pam Shebest.)