Marlins 3-Peat In Closest of Finishes
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2019
HOLLAND – This weekend’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Girls Swimming & Diving Final came down to a back-and-forth tussle between Farmington Hills Mercy and Ann Arbor Pioneer.
In the end, the winner was decided by less than a point.
Mercy collected its third consecutive Finals championship with a thrilling win Saturday afternoon at Holland Aquatic Center. The Marlins edged Pioneer, 298-297.5. Saline took third (197.5), while Rockford placed fourth (179.5).
“I’m getting too old for this,” Mercy coach Mike Venos joked. “But I’m never going to complain about a state championship and these girls held it together mentally, which is something we’ve been working on with this senior group for four years. Just learning to control the things in their control, and that’s coming in here swimming fast and diving well.
“Pioneer swam fantastic today, and if it would’ve been a tie for both of us that would’ve been great because honestly, they deserve it as much as we do.”
Top-ranked Pioneer was seeking its first team championship since a string of nine in a row ended in 2008.
The Pioneers won the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:34.75) and the 400 free relay (3:25.31).
“Going into today we decided we were going to take it one race at a time, and we were going to try and do everything we could,” Pioneer coach Stefanie Kerska said. “We were going to control our controllables, and we did that really well.
“I’m super proud of the way they handled themselves in a tough moment to be in, and they handled themselves very gracefully with a lot of grit. That’s all you can ask of them.”
Mercy junior Greta Gidley won the team’s lone individual championship. She raced to victory in the 100 free in a time of 50.53 seconds and bested Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Lucy Mehraban (50.86) by the slimmest of margins.
“I woke up this morning at 6 a.m. because I couldn’t go back to sleep, and all I could think about was this is a dream team and I will never be on a team as great as this one,” Gidley said. “The whole time, there was never a doubt in my mind that we could not do it, that we couldn’t win it again.
“This team is closer than it’s ever been before, and I think that has helped. We’re all best friends, and we train together and dive together. That just makes it that much better.”
The Marlins won last year’s Final by 11 points over Harrison-Farmington.
“I thought last year was close, and this was even closer now,” senior Julia Coffman said. “I couldn’t imagine doing this with any other people, and it’s like a dream. This is the most incredible group I’ve ever been around, and I’m savoring this moment.
“We train with Pioneer, and we are close with them and they put their hearts into it. They are a great team, but today we were just a little better.”
Hudsonville senior Claire Tuttle pulled off the three-peat in the 100 breaststroke and nearly set a new meet record in the race. Tuttle clocked a time of 1:00.79, nearly besting Miranda Tucker, who swam a 1:00.56 in 2014.
Tuttle also won the 50 free in 22.80 seconds.
“My expectations were to just do the best I could and support my team,” Tuttle said. “I really wanted to go for Miranda Tucker’s state record, but she’s also insanely fast and it’s an honor to be that close to her.
“I didn’t expect to do as well as I did in the 50 free, but that was insane, and I just feel beyond blessed that I’ve been able to be a part of such a supportive team and to make these friendships that have lasted throughout high school and have gotten me through so much. It’s sad to see it all go, but I’m excited for the new beginning (at the University of Michigan ).”
Grand Haven senior Kathryn Ackerman ended her high school career in style by capturing a pair of individual titles to finish with five at the Finals.
She won her third straight 200 individual medley (1:57.61) championship while also coming out victorious in the 100 back (54.70).
She also helped her team finish runner-up in the 400 free relay.
“I was pretty happy with all my swims,” Ackerman said. “It was a little bittersweet to go into my last meet, so there were a lot of emotions. I was just hoping to go out there and have fun and get close to my best times, and I was. It was fun to have that comeback at the end and have that be my last swim as a Buccaneer.”
Grand Ledge senior Lola Mull became a three-time winner in the 500 free with a time of 4:55.02, while Ann Arbor Skyline senior Allison Haak won the 200 free (1:50.65) and Northville freshman Emily Roden won the 100 fly (55.43).
Ann Arbor Huron junior diver Annie Costello avenged her runner-up finish at last year’s Final and put forth a dominating effort with a winning score of 424.40.
Top-seeded Rockford (Sara Kraus, Masy Folcik, Rachel Gamm and Ashley Lund) held off Pioneer to win the 200 medley relay (1:42.40).
PHOTOS: (Top) Farmington Hills Mercy cheers on its 400 freestyle relay, which finished third to give the team a ½-point overall championship win. (Middle) Hudsonville’s Claire Tuttle swims to her third-straight 100 breaststroke championship. (Below) Grand Haven’s Kathryn Ackerman swims to her third-straight title in the 200 IM. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Tested West Ottawa Prepped for Finals
November 14, 2018
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND – The West Ottawa girls swimming & diving team always is prepared when postseason time comes around.
The rigors of competing in a competitive Ottawa-Kent Conference Red have their benefits.
West Ottawa recently claimed an outright O-K Red title with a victory at the final conference meet. The Panthers ousted a trio of top-10 Division 1 teams, including runner-up Rockford, en route to the victory.
The Panthers will enter this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at Eastern Michigan University tied for the No. 10 spot in the final rankings with league rivals Hudsonville and Grand Haven, and just behind the No. 8 Rams.
“We’re very blessed to swim in a very talented conference,” said West Ottawa coach Steve Bowyer, who has guided the program since 2006.
“Rockford, Hudsonville and Grand Haven are all ranked in the top 10, and to win the O-K Red you need an incredible amount of depth. That’s one thing our team had this year.”
Senior Ayisha Afrik, one of West Ottawa’s top performers, said the O-K Red provides a grueling test.
“I think the O-K Red is super competitive,” she said. “The east side of the state has a lot of fast swimmers, but I definitely think the O-K Red has some pretty fast swimmers, too. It’s nice to have that there during the conference dual season because you understand the competition and what you are in for when state rolls around.”
It was the second straight O-K Red championship for the program. The Panthers also swept the league dual meets.
“That was a great time, and it was kind of a surprise,” Afrik said. “We knew some of the teams were pretty evenly matched, but after prelims we felt pretty secure – and to win it twice in a row out of my four years was really great.”
The Panthers hope to carry the momentum from their conference success into this weekend’s Finals. They will send 11 athletes – 10 swimmers and a diver – and have aspirations of finishing among the top 10.
West Ottawa finished eighth in 2017, but just a point out of seventh and 29 out of fifth.
“Coming into the meet, our goal as a program each year is to try and be in the top 10,” Bowyer said. “We feel like if we can consistently be a top-10 team at the Division 1 meet, then we’re doing some good things and we’re moving in the right direction.
“We know that we have our work cut out for us because there are a lot of great teams this year and a lot of fast relays. The key to finishing in the top 10 is to score three relays, and that’s our goal.”
West Ottawa won the LP Division 1 title in 2012 and has placed among the top 10 consistently over the past decade.
Bowyer attributes the team’s ability to maintain consistency at the Finals to a dedicated group.
“We have a lot of kids who are very committed to the sport, and we’ve been fortunate to have a number of kids come through the program who have been committed to swimming in-season and out of season,” Bowyer said. “And you get a few of those coming through, and then they pull a few kids along with them and it’s been really cool to see the program grow the last 10 years.”
Afrik will be the catalyst this weekend and has the potential to finish among the top 10 in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles. She finished eighth in the 50 and 14th in the 100, and helped two relays to fifth-place finishes last season.
“Hopefully we can get some individual PRs (personal records) and get top eight in two of our relays,” Afrik said. “I would like to get the school record individually, and that would be nice to have. I just want to have a great last meet with my team.”
Sophomore Lilly Brandt is expected to swim well in the 200 and 500 freestyles, while senior Kasey Westenbroek is strong in the 100 backstroke. Brandt placed 13th in the 200 and 15th in the 100 last season, while Westenbroek just missed qualifying for the championship heats in backstroke.
Junior Ryann Harper will attempt to help her team in the diving portion of the meet after also competing at the Finals as a sophomore.
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) West Ottawa’s Ayisha Afrik will look to finish her high school career with another strong performance at the MHSAA Finals. (Middle) Ryann Harper performs a dive during competition. (Photos courtesy of the Holland West Ottawa athletic department.)