Pair of Relay Champs Set Pace as Pioneer Runs Finals Win Streak to 5
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2024
HOLLAND – The end of a high school career couldn’t have been scripted any better for Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Reese Heidenreich.
The senior standout swam the first leg of the final event of her career and set the tone in a 400-yard freestyle relay victory.
It was the exclamation point on a day that saw the Pioneers dominate once again en route to a fifth-straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 swimming & diving championship at Holland Aquatic Center.
"An amazing way to cap off my career,” Heidenreich said. “It’s bittersweet because it's my last year, but I wouldn't want to end it any other way.”
Pioneer finished with an astounding 386 points to finish well ahead of runner-up Jenison (222). Northville (165) placed third and Grand Haven (142) was fourth.
It’s the second-longest title streak in program history behind the 2000-08 teams that won nine consecutive Finals.
“We were favored coming in and favored all season, but the girls weren't complacent and they didn't take anything for granted,” Pioneer coach Stefanie Kerska said. “They showed up every single day as if they were the underdogs, and I really respect their work ethic and how they conducted themselves in and out of the pool each day.”
Pioneer’s supreme depth was on full display as it didn’t have an individual event winner.
The Pioneers did, however, also win the 200 freestyle relay with the foursome of Heidenreich, Katelyn Van Ryn, Ursula Ott and Meg Pinkerton.
“We really come together in relays, and that’s what makes us our best and that’s where we shine,” Heidenreich said. “We can lean on each other and support each other. The 400 relay at the end was the highlight of the day because it took so much grit and teamwork to pull that out.”
Ott said the team takes pride in continuing to live up to the tradition of Pioneer swimming.
“It just pushes us to be better and get more and more state titles under our belt,” she said. “This team is truly amazing, and I love everyone on it. I think just the closeness is what drives us to be our best. We just always come together and support each other, and it's just really sweet and amazing to see.”
In addition to its three relays and three divers, Pioneer had 26 individual entries seeded to score (among the top 16 in their events).
“I’ve been doing this for a really long time and I can't remember a more fun or functional team that I've worked with,” Kerska said. “It’s the culture, it's the tradition and it’s the senior leadership. They just want it for each other so badly, and it's never about them. It’s only about the team and the program, and you go a long way when you have kids like that.”
The win was a culmination of a work ethic that is second to none.
“This victory is just a testament to the hard work of every single person on this team as well as the coaches that pour so much effort and energy into this program,” Heidenreich said. “To see us come out on top again just really validates all the hard work.”
Jenison tied for its highest finish in school history after also placing runner-up in Division 2 two years ago.
“To come up a division and be second here is just a testament to how awesome these girls swam and dove the last two days,” Jenison coach Kyle Stumpf said. “This was the best Day 2 I’ve been a part of in 10 years, and every single spot was held or moved up.
“We knew Pioneer was going to be loaded and have lots of depth, so you can only control what you can control. And I told the girls we can't control how other teams swim, so let's just swim and dive the best we can and see where the chips fall. It was awesome to see their hard work all season pay off, and this was a great team to coach.”
Senior Sophia Umstead led the Wildcats and capped a stellar high school career with two more individual titles, in the 200 individual medley (1:59.98) and 100 breaststroke (1:00.72).
She also was a member of the winning 200 medley relay and finished her career with six individual and five relay championships.
“It’s been an amazing four years, and I’ve had such a great experience swimming with this team,” Umstead said. “I don't know what I would've done without Jenison swimming, and I’m very happy to come out here and swim fast with my team. It was a great experience.”
West Bloomfield junior Elizabeth Eichbrecht repeated as champion in the 200 freestyle (1:48:48) and 500 freestyle (4:51.87) events, while Zeeland junior Madison Ensing won the 50 freestyle (22.94) and 100 freestyle (50.11).
West Ottawa’s Mackenzie Baldwin took top honors in the 100 backstroke, while Kalamazoo Central’s Maggie Spybrook finished first in the 100 butterfly.
Oxford senior Tristan Krajcarski won the diving portion of the meet with a final score of 432.60.
PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Ursula Ott swims the breaststroke during Saturday’s Division 1 Finals at Holland Aquatic Center. (Middle) A Jenison swimmer competes during the 200 medley relay. (Below) Racers power through the backstroke Saturday. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Senior Standouts Lead Cranbrook Surge
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
January 16, 2021
LAKE ORION – The Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood girls swimming & diving team had waited nearly a year for a chance to make amends.
So, what was another two months of waiting?
Cranbrook came oh-so-close at the last Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals in November of 2019, finishing just 11 points behind East Grand Rapids for the top spot.
Cranbrook’s wait for redemption was only at six days before a state-mandated pause in November due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced a stoppage in the season and Cranbrook to wait longer.
But after an additional two months of wondering, waiting and training, the season was able to resume and Cranbrook finally finished its path to avenging what happened at the previous year’s meet.
This time, Cranbrook took home the bigger championship trophy, scoring 379 points to easily best the field at Lake Orion High School.
Hamilton was second with 199 points, while Bloomfield Hills Marian was third with 192.
Marian was swimming with heavy hearts after it was announced Thursday night that longtime athletic director David Feldman had died from COVID-19.
Reigning champion East Grand Rapids opted out of the Finals, but was slated to compete in Division 2 regardless.
It was Cranbrook’s second Finals title in four seasons after it last won in 2017.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad way for Cranbrook head coach Paul Ellis to break into the program in his first year at the helm.
“It’s phenomenal, Ellis said. “It makes me so incredibly happy as a coach. The credit goes back to all the girls on the team. Every single girl that was there today scored. Every girl contributed. That says everything about the character of the girls, their tenacity and dedication to what we have been doing.”
Cranbrook had the perfect blend of first-place star power and depth to amass their points.
The star power was provided by the tandem of Justine Murdock and Gwen Woodbury, who both will swim collegiately in the Big Ten.
Headed to Northwestern, Murdock won the 200-yard individual medley (2:08.19) and 100 backstroke events (55.04), setting pool records in both events.
Murdock won the backstroke for a third year in a row and the individual medley for a second-straight season in finishing with five career Finals titles.
“It was really hard not only for me and my team, but for everyone in Michigan,” Murdock said. “Pool space has been hard to come by this fall. We’ve had our set of roadblocks. To be here and to be able to be putting up the times I’ve been able to put up and our team has been able to put up, it shows how dedicated we were to finish the season and finish what we started in August.”
Signed with Ohio State, Woodbury won the 100 freestyle (1:48.31) and 200 freestyle (50.29) events to also finish with five career individual titles.
Woodbury won the 100 freestyle as a freshman and junior and the 200 freestyle as a freshman.
As was the case with Murdock, her times were pool records.
“It just feels really good,” Woodbury said. “The whole waiting and wondering if we would have a state meet and then waiting again, it makes it all worth it. It’s so exciting to see all my teammates swim fast as well. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
The twosome helped Cranbrook sweep all three relays as well, so essentially Murdock and Woodbury had a hand in Cranbrook winning seven of the meet’s 12 events.
“I’m really proud to finish it off with these girls in my senior year,” Murdock said. “It’s so rewarding and super exciting.”
Other event winners were Williamston junior Gwen Eisenbeis in the 50 freestyle (23.87), Otsego junior Abie Sullivan in diving (455.50), Flint Powers Catholic senior Lara Wujciak in the 100 butterfly (56.77), Plainwell junior Riley Nugent in the 500 freestyle (5:06.47) and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett junior Ginger McMahon in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.31).
PHOTOS: (Top) Cranbrook Kingswood's Justine Murdock swims to one of her two championships Saturday at Lake Orion. (Middle) A Holland Christian swimmer competes. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)