Flashback 100: Ann Arbor Pioneer's Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons
September 6, 2024
Ann Arbor Pioneer's girls swimming & diving team is celebrating its 2002 Lower Peninsula Division 1 title in the photo above, and the Pioneers remain the record holders for longest Finals championship streak in that sport with nine consecutive from 2000-08.
Pioneer has won a total of 20 Finals team titles in girls swimming & diving, 16 under the direction of longtime coach Dennis Hill and the last four under the leadership of current coach Stefanie Kerska. The Pioneers also have finished Finals runners-up 11 seasons.
Future Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce swam on the 2001 and 2002 Pioneer teams, setting all-Finals records as a senior in the 50-yard freestyle (22.04), 100 freestyle (48.59), 200 freestyle (1:46.34), and as part of the 200 freestyle relay (1:32.77). She still holds those all-Finals records in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events, and at one point she owned the national high school records for both races as well.
Joyce went on to swim at Georgia, winning 18 NCAA championships and setting two national records, and she competed at the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Olympics for Team USA, winning a total of four medals.
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Previous "Flashback 100" Features
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read
Performance of the Week: Grosse Pointe South's Caroline Bryan
November 14, 2024
Caroline Bryan ♦ Grosse Pointe South
Freshman ♦ Swimming
The standout freshman won two individual races and swam as part of two first-place relays as Grosse Pointe South won the Macomb Area Conference Red championship meet for the 24th consecutive season. The Blue Devils are ranked No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 2, and Bryan will be in contention later this month to become South’s first individual Finals champion in this sport since 2018.
Bryan won the 100-yard backstroke at the MAC Red meet in 57.29 seconds, the seventh-fastest among swimmers’ top times in the state this season for that race, and second-fastest top time among Division 2 swimmers. Her 55.47 to win the 100 butterfly was the third-fastest top time overall for that race this fall and fastest in Division 2. She also teamed with Mischa Eng, Nicole McEnroe and Lorelei Carr on the winning 200 medley relay, and Eng, Whitney Handwork and Hannah DiDio on the first-place 400 freestyle relay. The 400 relay’s time of 3:35.50 was the second-fastest top time in Division 2 this fall. Bryan's older brother Ben also swam for South, and older sister Heidi is a standout junior on the team.
@mhsaasports 🏊♀️POW: Caroline Bryan #swimming #grossepointesouth #MACRed #champion #part1 #highschoolsports #tiktalk #interview #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ original sound - MHSAA
@mhsaasports 🏊♀️POW: Caroline Bryan #tiktalk #questiontime #tangled #laughing #emoji #bbqchicken #invisibility #gretchenwalsh #part2 #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA @carolinebbryan ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
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Previous 2024-25 honorees
Nov. 8: Kaylie Livingston, Whitmore Lake cross country - Report
Oct. 25: Oliver Caldwell, Grand Rapids West Catholic tennis - Report
Oct. 18: Alex Graham, Detroit Cass Tech football - Report
Oct. 11: Victoria Garces, Midland Dow cross country - Report
Oct. 4: Asher Clark, Bay City John Glenn soccer - Report
Sept. 26: Campbell Flynn, Farmington Hills Mercy volleyball - Report
Sept. 19: TJ Hansen, Freeland cross country - Report
Sept. 12: Jordan Peters, Grayling soccer - Report
Sept. 6: Gabe Litzner, Sault Ste. Marie cross country - Report
Aug. 30: Grace Slocum, Traverse City St. Francis golf - Report
(Photos courtesy of the Bryan family.)