Grand Blanc Champ's Choices Paying Off

September 29, 2015

By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half

GRAND BLANC — Emma Curtis had two decisions to make as she entered high school.

The first: Volleyball or swimming?

"I had a lot more fun during swimming, because of the people that I met," the Grand Blanc junior said. "When you get really good times, it's the best feeling in the world, so I just stuck with swimming."

The second: High school or club swimming?

Travel seasons in most sports don't conflict with high schools seasons, but swimmers have the option of competing in non-school programs rather than their high school teams. It was certainly a consideration for Curtis, a year-round swimmer who was beginning to hit her stride entering ninth grade.

Once again, as was the case when choosing a sport, the personal relationships she developed tipped the scales in favor of the high school team.

"I met great people," she said. "I just wanted to stick with them. I just loved the people. They have really good practices and I love the coach, so I just stuck with high school."

That was a huge relief to Grand Blanc coach Emily Overmyer, who knew about Curtis from her summer club performances and who coached her brother, Bailey.

"We were really glad she came out," Overmyer said. "She started to drop time instantly and became a very big factor on the team as a freshman."

According to Monday’s post by the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association, Curtis has swam the third-fastest 50 time this fall statewide (24.19, second-fastest for LP Division 1 swimmers only), the eighth-fastest Division 1 time in the butterfly (1:00.98) and the fifth-fastest Division 1 time (and ninth overall) in the 100 freestyle (53.83).

Curtis had her first all-state performance as a freshman in the 2013 MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 meet, swimming the first leg for the seventh-place 200-yard freestyle relay team. Curtis teamed with Eryn Scannell, Rachel Eaton and Lindsay Baywol, a quartet that previously had set the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Lakes Conference record with a time of 1:38.46.

Curtis missed out on all-state in the 50 freestyle when she lost a swim-off with South Lyon's Stormy Malarik for the eighth and final spot in the championship heat. All eight swimmers in the final make all-state from MISCA. Curtis wound up with a 10th-place finish after swimming the consolation heat.

She was 14th in the 100 freestyle and was on the ninth-place 400 freestyle relay team.

Those were solid performances for a ninth-grader in her first MHSAA Finals meet, but they didn't foreshadow what was to come for Curtis last year. Even Curtis had no idea that the stage was set for her to make history the following season.

"Going to states my freshman year, I didn't really place well because it was my first time," she said. "I wasn't very good back then, so going into my sophomore year, I didn't expect to place really high."

She came to the LP Division 1 Finals at Eastern Michigan University to culminate a season in which she set five individual or relay school records, giving her a total of six in her first two years.

When Curtis stood on the starting board for the 50 freestyle final, she was about to hit the water with three other swimmers who beat her the previous year. Not only did Curtis have to lower her own times as a sophomore, but she needed to improve at a greater rate than her competition.

Curtis touched the wall with a time of 23.60 seconds, but it wasn't a clear-cut victory. Rockford senior Erin Hudson, who was second in 2013, hit the wall at nearly the same time.

"It was a very, very close race," Overmyer said. "Everybody had to look at the scoreboard to see what the actual result was, because you couldn't tell by the naked eye."

Curtis' name was in first place by one-hundredth of a second over Hudson. Curtis didn't look at the scoreboard to see if she had won. The faces of her teammates on the pool deck said it all.

"When I finished at the wall all of my teammates were screaming, 'You won states, you won!" Curtis said. "My friend (Scannell) actually pulled me up out of the water when I won; she's just funny."

Curtis knew she was in a close battle, catching occasional glimpses of Hudson during the race.

"That was really exciting," Curtis said. "When I would take a breath, I would see she was right next to me. I was trying to push through and go fast."

The Bobcats have had a strong swimming and diving program over the years, but Curtis became only the third MHSAA champion from Grand Blanc. Julie Little was the Class A diving champion in 1989 and Sarah Salenski won the 100 breaststroke in 1992.

Curtis' day wasn't done. She improved to fourth place in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.01 seconds, then helped Grand Blanc take fifth place in the 200 freestyle relay, along with Sydney Schmit, Lindsey Sieloff and Scannell.

Earlier, Curtis was on a 12th-place 200 medley relay team.

"At the last state meet, I just did not feel good at all," Curtis said. "I was really tired when it got to the 100. Both are sprint races, so the 100 takes a whole lot more out of you. You could say I'm better in the 50. I'm getting a lot stronger in the 100. I did really good during the summer. It's a long course (during non-school events), so it's 100 meters instead of 100 yards. I don't really know what my time would be in yards, but it was a good time for a long course."

Now that Curtis is a defending MHSAA champion, she can't sneak up on anybody when the Division 1 Finals are held Nov. 20-21 at Holland Aquatic Center.

Overmyer is trying to ensure Curtis doesn't feel any undue pressure to repeat.

"We're trying not to focus on that," Overmyer said. "She doesn't appear to be putting any extra pressure on herself. She always puts extra pressure on herself because she doesn't want to let the team down. She always competes for the team and goes where she's needed. When it comes to pressure, that's the main aspect of it."

Bill Khan served as a sportswriter at The Flint Journal from 1981-2011 and currently contributes to the State Champs! Sports Network. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Emma Curtis, goggles off, looks to the scoreboard after the 50 freestyle final at last season’s LP Division 1 meet. (Middle) Curtis stands on the top of the award stand, flanked by Rockford’s runner-up Erin Hudson and third-place finisher Meegan Snyman.

East Grand Rapids Dominates From Start to Finish in Earning Title 27

By Brad Emons
Special for MHSAA.com

November 23, 2024

YPSILANTI – Winning MHSAA Finals championships has become standard operating procedure for the East Grand Rapids girls swimming & diving program.

The top-ranked Pioneers did it again Saturday, earning their fourth consecutive crown while giving coach Milton Briggs his 27th title in 50 years by scoring a whopping 407 points to outdistance Bloomfield Hills Marian (173) and St. Joseph (166) at Eastern Michigan University’s Jones Natatorium.

East Grand Rapids has now captured a total of 10 Division 3, 15 Class B and pair of D2 titles under Briggs, who has been at the helm for the Pioneers for a half-century.

“This group came in as a group; they stay together” Briggs said. “They allowed the freshmen to mature, and they accepted each other’s values. We just always made sure they were on track. There’s usually a lot of drama that goes on with a girls team. This one didn’t have any. They were absolutely wonderful to work with.”

The Pioneers swept all three relays, while senior Kate Simon and junior Ellery Chandler each figured in four firsts with two individual titles apiece.

Simon now has a combined four individual and eight relay titles over four years after sweeping the 100- and 200-yard freestyles in 50.6 seconds (meet record) and 1:48.19, respectively.

East Grand Rapids’ Ellery Chandler swims the breaststroke during Friday’s preliminaries at Oakland University.She was also the lead-off leg on the victorious 200 freestyle relay (1:36.24) followed by junior Nora Camfferman, senior Gracie Putnam and Chandler.

The quartet of Camfferman, sophomore Ivey Chu, senior Sarah Lincolnhol and Simon capped off the meet by holding off St. Joseph to win in the 400 freestyle relay (3:37.01).

“It was my goal going into the weekend. I’m happy with it,” Simon said. “It’s been so fun, I’ve had a lot of fun with my teammates and spent the weekend with my best friends, made lots of memories. I think our coach Coach Briggs really makes this team special. I’m honored to be coached by him. He’s really the best, and I look up to him so much.”

Meanwhile, Chandler took the 100 butterfly (56.07) and 100 breaststroke (1:02.86), while also teaming up with sophomore Meredith Sperling, sophomore Addie Hein and Putnam (1:46.40) in the 200 medley relay.

Chandler also had won the breaststroke last season.

“It was definitely so fun, especially being with the team,” Chandler said. “Everyone just has such a good time with everyone, and that’s what it makes it so much fun. There were a little bit of nerves, especially being close to different records and stuff. That’s probably challenging, going into those (to) try and see if we can get them.”

Hein also made her mark by winning the 200 individual medley in 2:06.71.

Another individual double winner was Holland Christian sophomore Camryn Siegers, who captured the 50 freestyle (23.19) while also repeating in the 100 backstroke (55.69).

She helped Holland Christian to a fifth-place team finish.

“Last year I got a gold and a silver, so I came back this year hoping to get two golds and I did that, so I’m very happy with it,” she said. “I still have some work to do, I have big meet in a couple of weeks, so I have another chance to get those.

Chelsea’s Anna McAllister dives during Friday evening’s first rounds. “I think we did really well. We lost a lot of good seniors last year, but we really stepped up this year.”

Another swimmer who made her mark once again was Dearborn Divine Child junior Ella Dziobak, who defended her title in the 500 freestyle (5:12.74) after going a fast 5:03.24 in the prelims. She was also part of two relays that scored for the Falcons.

“I was happy to be able to score some points for DC even though it wasn’t as fast as I went yesterday,” Dziobak said. “I had some goals; I didn’t necessarily reach them, but I’m happy I scored some points and our relays did really well, so ... it’s exciting. I think people at school are going to be pretty excited.”

The meet’s other individual winner was Chelsea sophomore Anna McAllister, who improved upon last year’s fourth-place finish with a victory in the 1-meter diving as she scored 407.40 points. McAllister, who began competitive diving with she was age 7, was the favorite going in.

But the day belonged to the Pioneers, who entered as the prohibitive favorite after winning three straight team titles – in Division 3 last year and 2021, along with D2 in 2022. Coming out of Friday’s prelims, they were seeded first in all three relays and four individual races.

Briggs credits the team’s success to his two assistant coaches – Gwen Barnes, a former EGR swimmer in her fourth year, along with Josh Dolecki, who is in his second season.

With them, EGR has put together a successful year-round program.

“They swim all year; that’s the biggest thing,” Briggs said. “Josh (Dolecki) does our age-group program that keeps going the rest of the year. This win can be dedicated to our age-group swim team because most of the kids who scored came out of there. And those two girls (Simon and Chandler) will do anything to make the team better.”

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) East Grand Rapids’ Ellery Chandler swims the breaststroke during Friday’s preliminaries at Oakland University. (Middle) Dearborn Divine Child’s Ella Dziobak swims the 500 prelim. (Below) Chelsea’s Anna McAllister dives during Friday evening’s first rounds. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)