GRCC Pulls Far Away from Rest to win LPD3
November 21, 2015
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
YPSILANTI – The 1-2 punch of Grand Rapids Catholic Central swimmers Riley Kishman and Susan LaGrand overwhelmed the field Saturday afternoon at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 girls swimming and diving championships at Eastern Michigan University.
They had plenty of help, too, as Grand Rapids Catholic Central won its first MHSAA team championship In girls swimming and diving with 299 points to far outdistance runner-up St. Clair (199) and third-place Holland Christian (197).
Kishman, a junior who was named the Division 3 Swimmer of the Year by the coaches association, won two individual events and swam on two championship relays. LaGrand, a sophomore, also won two individual events in addition to contributing to a championship relay and another relay that placed second.
“It feels really good,” said Kishman, who won the 100 breaststroke and the 200 freestyle. “We’ve been wanting this for a while, and I’m glad it finally happened.
“Coach told us if we were going in thinking that we have it, we won’t have it, so we went in like we were in second place. We knew we had a target on our backs, so we tried to just keep going.”
Kishman, a two-time Finals champion in the 200 individual medley, passed on the event in favor of the 200 freestyle, which she won in 1 minute, 51.01 seconds.
“I have been doing more freestyle lately, and I like the 200 free better,” she said. “I thought we would have a better chance at getting more points if I did that, and I’m glad I did it.”
Kishman did successfully defend her title in the 200 breaststroke in 1:03.20.
“I had my best time in that since my freshman year, so I was really happy about that,” said Kishman, who also swam on the winning 200 freestyle relay and the winning 400 freestyle relay.
LaGrand had one of the more exciting victories of the day when she came from behind to win the 100 butterfly over St. Clair senior Grace Shinske. It was the second consecutive MHSAA title in the butterfly for LaGrand, who set a meet record with a time of 56.85 seconds.
“It’s always better when you have somebody to race,” she said. “It was really great. I could not have gone the time I did without her pushing me.”
LaGrand’s other individual title came in the 200 IM, which she finished in 2:06.97, better than Kishman’s winning time from a year ago.
“It really feels good,” she said after the win. “I have an awesome team behind me that pushes me every day in practice, so that really helps.”
The 200 IM was just two events after the meet-opening 200 medley relay, which had LaGrand and Grand Rapids Catholic Central finishing second to St. Clair. It was a quick turnaround for LaGrand.
“It was a little stressful, but with good time management it’s all right,” she said. “You know what you are going into when you sign up.”
As impressive as Kishman and LaGrand were, Grand Rapids Catholic Central was far from a two-girl show. Six other girls scored points, including senior Liz Rabaut and sophomores Nicole Rotelle and Elise Merucci. All three scored four times, including on one championship relay.
Lauren Lomonoco, another senior, was on two championship relays and placed in another individual event.
“It’s amazing to see how far our team has come since our freshman year,” she said. “We were just trying to get in the top 10 in the state that year, so it’s really rewarding and overwhelming.
“It’s just a great way to end my career.”
Sophomores Emily Merucci and Hannah DeBoer also scored twice in individual events for Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
Kishman and LaGrand were the only defending champions to repeat in their events, and two others failed to repeat as champions. In 1-meter diving, Allegan senior Erin Isola edged reigning champion Taylor Hosein of Milan 454.40 to 435.90. Isola had a lead of less than seven points coming into Saturday but put it away with three solid dives that totaled 139.50 points.
“It really hasn’t hit me yet … it’s like a dream come true,” she said after winning. “I’m really excited.”
She said her second dive – an inward 1½ somersault – was the key dive for her.
“Normally I don’t nail it as well as I did, and it got me a bunch of points to stay ahead of Taylor,” she said. “Taylor is a great diver, and it really could have been either one of us who won. It was really close.”
The other displaced champion was Rileigh Eding of Hamilton, who was edged by Shinske in the 100 backstroke. Shinske, who led LaGrand before finishing second in the exciting 100 butterfly, defeated Eding in the same fashion. Eding had a lead after 50 yards, but Shinske, in the final individual race of her high school career, surged back in the last 50 yards to pass her and win in 56.27.
“It was pretty exciting,” Shinske said. “At one point, I was thinking I was going to finish in second place, and then I realized that I could do it and I just went for it. It feels great.”
Shinske also teamed with Molly Likins, Heidi Likins and Alexis Smith to win the meet-opening 200 medley relay in 1:47.54.
Eding, who failed to repeat in the 100 backstroke, captured the 50 freestyle in 24.04 seconds. Other freestyle winners were Karlee Marsh of Tecumseh in the 100 freestyle (51.80) and sophomore Evelyn VanDeMark of Alma in the 500 freestyle (5:11.43).
Marsh, a junior, had finished third and fifth in two individual events last year.
“I’m really emotional, but it’s a great feeling,” she said. “It definitely helps that I was a second faster coming in, and it made me more confident. I think everybody did really good.”
But the best of those were the girls from Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
“It was a team goal to establish a championship feeling, and we accomplished that,” Grand Rapids Catholic Central coach Mio Vasic said. “I want to congratulate the girls on how they were able to balance their personal lives, school, academics and swimming. I’m very proud of them.”
PHOTO: (Top) Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Susan LaGrand swims her winning 200 individual medley Saturday. (Middle) St. Clair’s Grace Shinske works toward her butterfly championship. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Performance: Grand Haven's Kathryn Ackerman
November 27, 2019
Kathryn Ackerman
Grand Haven senior - Swimming
The Buccaneers’ standout will graduate next spring as one of the most accomplished athletes in Grand Haven history and one of the top high school swimmers in Michigan all-time. She won her fourth and fifth individual MHSAA Finals championships at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at the Holland Aquatic Center to earn the MHSAA “Performance of the Week” – and ranks among the nation’s fastest high school swimmers in both of her events this fall.
Ackerman earned her third straight championship in the 200-yard individual medley (1:57.61) and won the backstroke (54.70) for the second-straight year. She also teamed with senior Alonna Clark and juniors Ocean Veldhouse and Mary Violet Springer on the runner-up 400 freestyle relay (3:27.92) and with Springer, Veldhouse and junior Georgia Basil on the ninth-place 200 medley relay (1:47.58). Her IM time was the second-fastest in MHSAA Finals history, from all divisions/classes, behind her record-setting time from 2018. The superiority in the IM is evidence of her impressive versatility – she holds Grand Haven records in that race but also the 200 and 500 freestyles, butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke, and has been part of all three school-record relays. Grand Haven as a team finished seventh at Saturday’s Finals, up from 10th a year ago, 12th her sophomore year and 15th when she was a freshman in 2016.
Next up for Ackerman will be another club season as she prepares to swim at next summer’s Olympic Trials and then join University of Michigan’s program, which finished third at last season’s NCAA Championships. She expects to swim the 200 and 400 IM races, freestyle and backstroke moving forward, with an eye on also competing at the 2024 Olympic Trials. Her IM time from Saturday is the fastest by a high school swimmer in the nation this fall according to swimcloud.com, and her backstroke time ranks 12th nationally. Ackerman, who also played high school tennis as a freshman, carries a 4.11 grade-point average that places her among the top 15 academically in her graduating class at Grand Haven. Math and science always have been her strengths – and she’s planning to study engineering at U-M.
Coach Doug Thorne said: “Kathryn is by far one of the most passionate, but humble student-athletes I've ever coached. Her love for the sport is like no other.”
Performance Point: “I think the biggest thing was just having the chance to spend my last high school state meet with the girls that I started swimming with – I’ve been swimming with some of the same girls since I was 8 years old, so it was bittersweet,” Ackerman said. “But it was a lot of fun to finish off the meet with the 400 freestyle relay where we were runner-up, and to swim to those two championships was a lot of fun too. To finish off on that note was good.”
Go Bucs: “High school sports have been incredible. Going into high school swimming, I wasn't expecting to accomplish this much just because I've been so familiar with club sports my entire life. To go through these four championship meets and set records, and experience all of these accomplishments that I have, it's been incredible and I wouldn't ask for anything more from high school sports. … (I’ll miss most) the team and the team atmosphere. The girls are so supportive and encouraging at every meet. They're behind the lane, cheering you on, and always wished me good luck before races. So I'll definitely miss the team and obviously the coaches and everyone that surrounds that sport too.”
Go State to Go Blue: “Actually, my entire family, they’re pretty big Michigan State fans. So it’s kinda hard to make the switch (to U-M), but just recognizing that Michigan has such an excellent swim program and school made it easier to make the switch. My family is supportive of anything I do.”
Plan to succeed: “Growing up, I always just focused a lot on my stroke technique. It wasn’t always about swimming the most yards, or high-intensity workouts. It was about doing drills and starting that foundation so I could go faster in high school. It definitely paid off in these four years … and the times that I have right now are looking really good going into Michigan. So I’m looking forward to the next chapter, but I definitely have to thank all of my coaches for all of the work that they’ve done for me. I appreciate all of them and the support they’ve shown me throughout this process too.”
Learning to lead: “There have been some girls that I've swam with on my club team in Holland, and they have always been so encouraging and supportive of their teammates. I not only look up to them for their characteristics of being supportive and encouraging, but they're also super hard-working, and they're fast, so I've always had them as role models. … It's helpful to have someone who has been that kind and supportive to me. They've exemplified so well what a good leader is. It was helpful to have that foundation as I went through high school and was the leader of the younger girls. (Also) my older sister Anna was on the high school team through her four years too, and she was elected as a captain her junior and senior year. S I also learned a lot from my sister on how to be a supportive and encouraging teammate. A lot (of credit) goes out to my sister as well.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Past honorees
Nov. 21: Emily Van Dyke, Southfield Christian volleyball - Report
Nov. 14: Taylor Wegener, Ida volleyball - Report
Nov. 7: Carter Solomon, Plymouth cross country - Report
Oct. 31: Jameson Goorman, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian soccer - Report
Oct. 24: Austin Plotkin, Brimley cross country - Report
Oct. 17: Jack Spamer, Brighton cross country - Report
Oct. 10: Kaylee Maat, Hudsonville volleyball - Report
Oct. 3: Emily Paupore, Negaunee cross country - Report
Sept. 26: Josh Mason, South Lyon soccer - Report
Sept. 19: Ariel Chang, Utica Eisenhower golf - Report
Sept. 12: Jordyn Shipps, DeWitt swimming - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Haven's Kathryn Ackerman swims to the championship in the 200 IM during Saturday's MHSAA Finals at Holland Aquatic Center. (Middle) Ackerman also repeated as champion in the backstroke. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)