'Outside Shot' Becomes Adams' Historic Win
November 17, 2018
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
ROCHESTER – In his more than two decades as the face of the Rochester Adams swimming & diving program, Tim Hickey has seen his share of great swimmers in his school’s pool, including former Olympian Peter Vanderkaay.
But Vanderkaay and those other standout swimmers weren’t able to achieve what the current Adams girls team accomplished at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals at Oakland University.
For the first time in school history, girls or boys, an Adams swim team was crowned state champion in swimming after the Highlanders finished off a dream season by collecting a meet-best 250 points.
Adams outlasted Oakland Activities Association Red rival Birmingham Seaholm, which was runner-up with 220 points.
Grosse Pointe South was third with 214 points.
“You can’t even really put it into words,” Hickey said. “Early in the season, we thought we had an outside shot. As the season progressed and as the kids started performing the way we needed them to, we knew we had a shot. We had some off swims in prelims that made it a little closer than we wanted. But this team came from behind after prelims to win our league meet, and came from behind to win this. It’s just amazing for these girls to come together like they have.”
Helping Adams’ cause was one of the state’s best overall swimmers in senior Lisa Lohner, who will continue her career next season at University of Toledo.
She won both the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.49) and 500 freestyle (4:58.17), and anchored the winning Adams 200 freestyle relay (1:36.76).
Lohner was indeed fighting off tears when the meet ended, although it actually didn’t have anything to do with helping Adams to historic success.
“I’m really sad because I’m done with high school swimming right now,” Lohner said. “It’s a lot right now. This is my family.”
Lohner entered as the heavy favorite in the 200 and 500 freestyle events going in, but admitted there were still a lot of nerves.
“Going into finals, I was really nervous because I knew a lot of people dropped a lot of times in prelims,” Lohner said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I was really nervous going in. (Coach Hickey) talked about it before today that we could be the first team to do it. We decided to not think about it today, but now it’s all coming down.”
While not having as much of a reason to celebrate as Adams, Seaholm head coach Karl Hodgson said his team had plenty to feel good about with its runner-up finish.
“We thought this was going to be a rebuilding year for us,” Hodgson said. “I would have been happy with a top-five. Somebody had us ranked second throughout the season, and I was like, ‘No, we’re not that good.’ But the girls swam great (Friday). Today, we just ran out of gas a bit.”
Having seen Adams up close throughout the season in league action, Hodgson said it was the Highlanders’ depth that separated them.
“When we swam against them in a dual meet, we swam head-to-head against them and almost pulled it off,” Hodgson said. “But they took all the fifth places, and we took the sixth places. That’s the main difference, their depth. They just keep coming at you."
The other individual star besides Lohner was Midland Dow junior Claire Newman, who won the 50 (23.08) and 100 freestyles (51.19).
Fenton freshman Gracie Olsen won the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:03.19, Walled Lake Western sophomore Kamila Podsiadlo won the diving title with 414.60 points, Grosse Pointe South senior Claire Fisher won the 100 butterfly in a time of 54.86, Grosse Pointe South senior Renee Liu won the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.88, and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central senior Jessica Schellenboom won the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:03.88.
Grosse Pointe South’s team of Liu, Fisher, Olivia You and Hannah Blanzy won the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:46.61, while the Portage Central team of Sydney Sonday, Maggie Farrell, Audrey Vermeulen and Julia Semler won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:31.51.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rochester Adams celebrates its first MHSAA Finals title in girls swimming & diving. (Middle) Freshman Kate Stanley helped Birmingham Seaholm to a second-place finish. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
East Grand Rapids' Depth Nets 24th Team Title, While Jenison Stars Shine
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
November 19, 2022
GRAND RAPIDS – There may not be a heated competition between sisters, but that's definitely not the case for opponents of Grace and Emma Albrecht.
The speedy Jenison siblings went head-to-head in two events in addition to swimming together on two winning relays at Saturday's Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals at Calvin University's Venema Aquatic Center.
"We push each other," said Grace, a junior. "But it's the same as with any other swimmer – we want to win."
The two were critical in helping Jenison finish runner-up behind East Grand Rapids with 219 points. The Pioneers notched their 24th Finals title with 280.
The sisters had a memorable afternoon as Grace edged her younger sister, a freshman, in the 50 freestyle. Grace won the event with a time of 23:41, while Emma was second at 23.82. Grace also was second in the 100 backstroke (54.50), while Emma was seventh (57.46). The two were part of the winning 200 medley (1:43.59) and 400 free relays (3:27.18).
When pressed, Grace will admit she looks at her sister more as a sibling rather than someone she needs to beat.
"Sometimes, once in a while," she said. "But most of the time we're competing against each other."
The sisters began their swimming background at virtually the same time at the club level about seven years ago. Emma said for the most part she looks at her older sister as a competitor, not a sibling.
"She's like any other swimmer," she said. "But we work together as teammates. She taught me always to have a positive attitude, no matter what."
The Pioneers continued their domination of Division 3/Class B Finals. Saturday's title was the team’s sixth in seven years, eighth since 2013 and 14th in 24 years. The program won its first title under coach Butch Briggs in the third year of Swim Finals in 1978 after finishing runner-up at the first two championship meets.
Briggs said the success never gets old. Different maybe, he said, but his swimmers never take anything for granted.
"Coming into the meet we were relatively beyond our seed times. But we found a way to win," said Briggs, who credits depth for the victory. "It's the way we've been all year with the depth. We have a little less than some teams, but Friday was one of our best days I can remember. We were up like 14 points without diving, and diving has saved (us) more than once over the years."
EGR senior Allison Alguire agreed that depth is a team strength, but so is another factor.
"We have a lot of perseverance," said Alguire, one of the team's co-captains who swam personal bests in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke while helping the 200 medley and 400 relays to second and third-place finishes, respectively. "We got close at the end of the year, which made our chemistry better. With our team we don't swim for a best time, we swim for the team."
EGR had only one first place, in the 200 free relay with Caroline Flermoen, Ellery Chandler, Alyssa Hein and Kate Simon.
The top individual performance in the meet came from Dexter senior Lily Witte, who won her fourth-straight diving title with a 554.65, as Caroline Li of Okemos (492.25) finished runner-up for the fourth year. Witte’s score was a Michigan all-Finals and pool record.
"It gets more special," said Witte, who will attend Indiana next season. "The fact that it’s my senior year and last year makes it special. I just try to go out and do what I need to do and try not to worry."
The meet's only double winner was Jenison's Sophie Umstead. She won the 200 individual medley (2:00.33) and the 100 breaststroke (1:01.11). She made a smashing transition from being a club swimmer a year ago as a freshman to becoming a two-event Finals champ.
"I just wanted to come in and swim my best," she said. "Club is similar to high school, but maybe a little more chilled."
Other first places were collected by two Birmingham Seaholm swimmers, Kelley Hassett in the 500 free (4:58.63) and Samantha Clifford in the 200 free (1:48.64). Rhian Russell of Rochester Adams in the 100 butterfly (54.30), Lily Cleason of Ann Arbor Skyline in the 100 backstroke (53.95) and Ella Roberson of Midland Dow in the 100 free (50.13) also won titles.
PHOTO (Top) An East Grand Rapids swimmer leaves the blocks during the 400 freestyle relay. (Middle) Swimmers approach the wall during the breaststroke final. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)