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' Briggs to Receive Deserved Spotlight for Half-Century of Swim
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
May 17, 2024
EAST GRAND RAPIDS – When the idea was presented to celebrate his coaching milestone, Milton “Butch” Briggs balked at it.
The longtime East Grand Rapids swimming & diving coach doesn’t like to be the center of attention, although his teams certainly have been over the last 50 years as he’s established a pair of perennial state powerhouses.
“He vehemently said, ‘No, we’re not doing this,’” Pioneers assistant girls coach Gwen Barnes said. “But it’s going to be super cool and so deserving. We need to mark this occasion as a community and swimming community. He has influenced so many people and been an active member of the community for a long time.”
On Saturday, the East Grand Rapids Community Foundation and Alumni Association will commemorate Briggs and his 50 years of coaching at the school.
Briggs took over the East Grand Rapids boys swimming & diving program for the 1972-73 season, and the girls program beginning in the fall of 1974. He has coached 102 seasons total, winning 26 MHSAA Finals championships with the girls and 12 with the boys.
Briggs has always wanted the focus to be on his teams rather than himself.
“He is not one who likes the spotlight,” retired Pioneers athletic director Tim Johnston said. “He is a very private man, but it is awesome that this group of alumni, swimmers and parents want to celebrate him.
“He is one of the best coaches I have ever had the opportunity to work with, but to be completely honest, he is a better person and more than just a coach. That is the truth.”
Past EGR swimmer Kris Ward was a member of the first girls state championship team in 1978.
“He had a huge impact on me,” Ward said. “Just from understanding hard work and dedication and being part of a team. Then following it through. He worked with a variety of people on the team and helped us to come together. It was all about life lessons, and he's teaching the kids that while still being successful.”
Briggs also coached Ward’s daughters Alex, Ashley and Abby.
“He was always about connecting with the kids,” Ward said. “My kids were all able to swim for him, and so I had that experience with him in a different way and seeing how he was with all of my girls on the team.
“He starts with connecting with one person and carries that through to make the success better.”
Barnes, an assistant coach for the girls team the past three years, also swam under Briggs from 1984-87.
Her teams won four straight Finals championships and never lost a dual meet.
“There were high expectations for us, and despite them being unspoken, we felt it,” Barnes said. “We wanted and felt this desire to do our best on that team each year, and he instilled this culture of commitment and hard work. Every swimmer had different abilities, but he was able to tap into getting us to do our best.”
Barnes has gained a different perspective of Briggs as his assistant.
While she noted that he still displays the same traits as far as his demeanor, sense of humor, kindness and patience, his devotion to the program and his student-athletes also has never wavered.
“Coaching with him as an assistant, you see how much work and time he puts in that goes unnoticed sometimes,” Barnes said. “To maintain that level of commitment for 50 years is pretty remarkable, and he still has this presence when on the pool deck that challenges everybody to do their best. He set the same standard for everyone, and everyone on the team feels important, which I think is cool.
“He weaves in a lot of stories and lessons from over the years and maintains traditions that I think make current teams feel like they are a part of and building onto the history.”
Briggs, who played football and ran track & field in high school, was inducted into the Grand Rapids Hall of Fame in 2009. The EGR natatorium was named after him in 2014.
Briggs, who taught at Ottawa Hills High School, has received national attention, too. In June 2020, he was named National Girls Swim Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association. Briggs had received the same honor in 2011.
He wrote this of his coaching philosophy as part of the nomination for the NFHS girls swimming award:
“My coaching philosophy has been, and continues to be, a work in progress. I have formed relationships with hundreds of amazing young people. They have taught me life lessons in real time and real situations. As a neophyte coach, the experience revolved around winning. We worked together as a team, supported each other in and out of the pool, and won often. Thankfully, I became aware of the value within each athlete. Today, I attempt to interact with each athlete at every team activity and follow their progress in non-swimming endeavors. In short, when I removed my ego from the team's expectations and outcomes, the entire atmosphere was much more enjoyable and productive. And we are still capable of being successful. The Lord has put me in the right place at the right time.”
Ward said she expects about 200 people to attend Saturday’s celebration.
“He has impacted so many people in the swimming community, and there is something special in what he has created,” Ward said. “All of the kids on the current teams and their families will be there, as well as a lot of different generations. I also know that there will be people coming from far away.”
As far as Briggs’ future, Barnes doesn’t see him stepping down any time soon.
“I don’t really ever see him stopping,” she said. “His passion is EGR swim, and I think he will continue to be a part of the program as he can and wants to be.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Longtime East Grand Rapids swimming coach Butch Briggs, right, will be celebrated this weekend for his half-century of coaching the Pioneers. (Middle) Briggs, second from far left, celebrates the 2014 Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship with his girls team. (Top photo by Kris Ward; middle photo by High School Sports Scene.)