![Ann Arbor Pioneer's Stella Chapman powers to the win in the 200-yard individual medley at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals.](/sites/default/files/2023-11/231116_swim_2H.png)
Preview: Past Champions Marching Again, but Plentiful Challenges Await
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 16, 2023
Intriguing races are brewing for all three team championships to be decided this weekend at Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals.
Ann Arbor Pioneer is looking to win a fourth-straight Division 1 title. But Jenison, last year’s Division 2 runner-up, is bringing a loaded lineup to Eastern Michigan University in hoping of providing the strongest challenge in some time after Pioneer won all three recent Finals by at least 100 points.
In Division 3, East Grand Rapids returns after a season away and is another likely favorite as it builds on plenty of recent success as well, but with reigning champion Bloomfield Hills Marian in the mix and Cranbrook Kingswood looking to also make a push.
And Division 2 will have a new champion regardless with EGR switching things up.
Competition begins at noon for Friday’s preliminaries and Saturday’s championships. Friday’s action will begin with swimming, with divers taking the pool approximately 3:30 p.m. at all three sites. All three Finals will be streamed live on MHSAA.tv both days. Click for information on purchasing tickets, plus schedules and qualifiers for all three meets.
Lower Peninsula Division 1 at Eastern Michigan University
Reigning champion: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2022 runner-up: Northville
2023 top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 2. Grand Haven, 3. Jenison.
Pioneer has won three straight Division 1 championships, and a fourth consecutive would tie the eighth-longest Girls Swimming & Diving Finals title streak including with its teams that won four straight from 1989-92. Last season’s victory came with 322 points, 104 ahead of Northville, which was then 44 ahead of third-place Saline. Pioneer has 19 entries seeded to score (among the top 16), including all three relays, plus two divers competing. Grand Haven is seeking its first top-two Finals finish since 2000 and 2001 – when it finished runner-up to Pioneer in Class A both seasons – and has 10 individuals and all three relays seeded to score. Jenison was last season’s Division 2 runner-up, posting its best Finals team finish. The Wildcats bring some major star power – among 10 individual entries and three relays seeded to score, four are top seeds, and the team also has two divers.
Grace Albrecht, Jenison senior: After winning the 50-yard freestyle in Division 2 her first three seasons – and also swimming on two championship relays last year – Albrecht is seeded first this weekend in the 50 (23.35) and 100 backstroke (53.69) and is expected to swim on at least one top-seeded relay. She also was Division 2 backstroke runner-up in 2022.
Stella Chapman, Ann Arbor Pioneer senior: She’ll look to add to her career haul of four individual and six relay championships, and is the reigning title winner in the backstroke and 200 individual medley. She’s seeded first in the IM (2:00.01) and backstroke (53.66), the latter three-hundredths of a second faster than the meet record she swam a year ago.
Elizabeth Eichbrecht, West Bloomfield sophomore: After a 2022 Finals debut that included championships in the 200 and 500 freestyles, Eichbrecht is seeded first in both at 1:47.96 and 4:50.15, respectively. That 500 time is more than 12 seconds faster than the rest of the field and less than six seconds off the all-Finals record of 4:44.47.
Sophia Umstead, Jenison junior: She won the IM and 100 breaststroke last season in Division 2 and swam on two championship relays, and enters this weekend as the top seed in the 100 butterfly (54.02) by nearly three seconds and breaststroke (1:01.67) as well. She’s also expected to swim on at least one top-seeded relay.
Anna Wiechertjes, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern senior: Last season’s runner-up in the 50 and third-place finisher in the 100 freestyle is seeded first in both with times of 23 seconds and 50.73, respectively.
Jenison 200 freestyle relay: The Wildcats enter with a seed time of 1:33.79, only 43 hundredths of a second off the meet record swam in 2018 – and they should get a strong push from contenders Grand Haven and Pioneer.
Ellie Seiter, Oxford senior: Oxford had the two highest-scoring divers at Division 1 Regionals, with Seiter at 433.05 and followed by teammate Tristan Krajcarski at 427.60. Seiter finished fourth last season while diving for Grand Blanc.
Lower Peninsula Division 2 at Holland Aquatic Center
Reigning champion: East Grand Rapids
2022 runner-up: Jenison
2023 top-ranked: 1. Farmington Hills Mercy, 2. Ann Arbor Skyline, 3. Midland Dow.
With last season’s top two finishers competing in different divisions this season, there will be a new champion and runner-up – although the favorite is plenty familiar with the experience. Mercy has won 11 team titles in this sport, most recently in 2019 in Division 1, and tied for fourth in Division 1 last fall. All three relays and 15 individual entries are seeded to score, with three divers competing, and two Mercy relays are top-seeded. Skyline’s championship came in 2015 in Division 1, and the Eagles finished sixth in Division 2 a year ago and have three relays and nine individuals seeded to score this weekend. Dow is seeking its first top-two Finals finish and placed seventh a year ago. The Chargers also have three relays and nine individual entries seeded to score.
Brooklyn Beauch, Byron Center senior: She finished ninth in the butterfly last season and could finish her high school career with a major splash entering as the top seed in that race (54.25) – her time three-tenths of a second off the meet record – and with the third seed in the backstroke (56.49).
Kelley Hassett, Birmingham Seaholm senior: Last season’s 500 freestyle champion also has a relay title from 2021 and will enter her last Finals as the second seed in the 200 free (1:52.50) and 500 (5:00.37) and expected to swim on the second-seeded 400 freestyle relay.
Tess Heavner, Fenton junior: She finished second in the IM and fifth in the breaststroke a year ago and is top-seeded this weekend in the IM (2:04.21) by more than two seconds and backstroke (56.04) as well.
Amylia Higgins, Farmington Hills Mercy senior: She tied for the top seed in the 50 (23.88) and brings in the sixth seed in the 100 free (53.44) after finishing fifth in the 200 and fourth in the 500 in Division 1 last season.
Emma Klotz, South Lyon sophomore: She’s expected to make a big jump from a solid debut last season of ninth in the 100 free with two top-five relay finishes, entering this weekend seeded first in the 50 (23.88 – tied with Higgins) and 100 free (52.58).
Adrienne Schadler, Ann Arbor Skyline freshman: She’s entering her first Finals top-seeded in the 200 (1:50.54) by nearly two seconds and in the 500 (4:58.96) with a time only 33 hundredths of a second off last year’s winner.
Bryce Scully, Berkley senior: She finished fifth in the butterfly and eighth in the breaststroke last season and enters this Finals the top seed in the breaststroke (1:05.07) and fourth in the butterfly (57.91).
Bella Emery, Holt senior: She finished 11th in Division 1 last season and posted the highest Regional score last week in Division 2 (402.80) by more than 50 points.
Lower Peninsula Division 3 at Oakland University
Reigning champion: Bloomfield Hills Marian
2022 runner-up: Holland Christian
2023 top-ranked: 1. East Grand Rapids, 2. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 3. Bloomfield Hills Marian.
East Grand Rapids is swimming for a third-straight Finals championship and seventh in eight seasons after winning Division 2 a year ago. All three relays are seeded first or second, with 20 individual entries seeded to score and four divers competing. Reigning champion Marian has all three relays and nine individual entries seeded to score, and Cranbrook – seventh in Division 3 last season – has all three relays and 11 individual entries seeded to finish among the top 16 in their respective events, plus two divers competing.
Ellery Chandler, East Grand Rapids sophomore: She finished third in the breaststroke, 12th in the IM and swam on championship and runner-up relays in Division 2 as a freshman, and comes into Division 3 as the top seed in the breaststroke (1:05.53), ninth in the 50 and likely swimming on two top-two relays.
Kiera Danitz, Ogemaw Heights senior: After finishing third in the 50 and ninth in the 100 freestyle last season, she enters this Finals top-seeded in the 50 (24.42) and 11th in the 100.
Ella Dziobak, Dearborn Divine Child sophomore: The reigning champion in the 500 and runner-up in the 200 free is the top seed in the 500 (5:06.29) by more than five seconds and second in the 200 (1:52.84).
Julijana Jelic, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood senior: She’s the reigning backstroke champion and was fourth in the IM a year ago as well; she’s the third seed this time in the backstroke (58.94) and fourth in the IM (2:12.01) and likely to swim on two top-three relays.
Scarlet Maison, Standish-Sterling junior: The IM champion as a freshman in 2021, she finished third in that race and second in the breaststroke last season. She is seeded this weekend first in the IM (2:08.65) and second in the breaststroke (1:07.31).
Lauren McNamara, Flat Rock senior: She’s won the butterfly the last two seasons and also was second in the IM in 2022. She’s seeded first in the butterfly (56.48) by nearly three seconds and third in the IM (2:10.95) this weekend.
Camryn Siegers, Holland Christian freshman: She’ll debut at the Finals with top seeds in the 100 free (51.40) and backstroke (55.88) – the latter time 3.04 seconds ahead of the field – and may swim on two top-three relays as well.
Kate Simon, East Grand Rapids junior: She was third in both the IM and 100 free and swam on winning and third-place relays in Division 2 last season, and will enter this weekend top-seeded in the 200 free (1:51.13), second in the 100 (51.97) and also likely to swim on two top-two relays.
Annabelle Williams, Mian senior: The reigning 200 free champion also finished third in the 100 free last season. She’s seeded fourth in the 200 (1:54.83) and third in the 100 (52.57) this weekend.
Laney Wolf, Wayland sophomore: She debuted with championships in the 50 and 100 freestyles and two top-six relay finishes a year ago. She’ll look to encore entering as the fourth seed in the 50 (24.54) and 100 (53.55) and possibly swimming on two top-five relays.
Maria Colombo, East Grand Rapids senior: She finished fourth in Division 2 last season with a 412.25 – after finishing third in Division 3 as a sophomore – and her 444.75 at her Regional last week was the highest score in any division.
Kaitlyn Molnar, Grosse Ile senior: The reigning Division 3 diving champion won last year with a score of 360.05 and won her Regional last week with a 409.75 – second only to Colombo in Division 3 and higher than all three winning scores in Division 2.
PHOTO Ann Arbor Pioneer's Stella Chapman powers to the win in the 200-yard individual medley at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
![](/sites/default/files/imported/Photos/161118_Dexter_2H.jpg)
Dexter's Schultz Supplies Success, Joy
By
Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
November 18, 2016
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
DEXTER – For many people, success breeds happiness.
Dexter junior Annette Schultz sees it the other way.
“I like to think being happy leads to success,” said Schultz, the reigning MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals champion in two events heading into this weekend's meet at Eastern Michigan University. “Success isn't what leads to being happy; you have to be happy in order to get there.”
It can be assumed that Schultz has led a very happy life during her 16 years. As a sophomore, Schultz led Dexter to the Division 2 team championship by winning the 100 and 200-yard freestyle races and swimming a leg on the 200 medley relay, but it seems her success does not define her.
Schultz has an outgoing personality. She has not let success go to her head, and she reaches out to others despite her status as an elite swimmer.
“She's always talking with someone new before a race, or talking with the officials or the timers,” said Dave Gendernalik, who has coached her since she was 6 on the Dexter Community Aquatics Club (DCAC) and assists coaching the Dreadnaughts. “That is something I learned as a coach. I stress to be focused and be ready, but that is how she gets herself ready for a race and takes the stress out of it.
“She has the perfect personality you want in an athlete. She is thinking about school and thinking about her teammates and thinking about herself. We've never had any outside problems, and she knows that this year is a big year for her and next year is going to be even bigger, and she is doing the work now so she can seize that moment next year.”
Getting in the swim
At age 6, Schultz didn't make her age-group swim team.
“I didn't want to cross the red line in the pool, which was the deep end,” she said. “I didn't want to go past that.”
Two years later, with that hurdle cleared, Schultz had a different attitude about the sport.
“When I started setting some records, I was like, 'Oh, I'm not too bad at this. I should keep going,'” she said.
At that point, Dexter High School coach Cory Bergen knew he had a budding star in the school.
“I saw her grow up in the age-group program and couldn't wait to get her in the high school program, obviously,” he said. “She started breaking the age-group records of some of our top All-American high school kids when she was in 8 and under, so I kept an eye on her for sure.”
Schultz made an immediate impact as a freshman. She swam on the 200 medley relay team that included her older sister Gretchen and finished third at the MHSAA Final. She also was third in the 200 freestyle and fourth in the 100 freestyle in that meet as a freshman.
A year later, she champion in all three as Dexter won its second MHSAA Finals team title in history. She sliced her time in the 100 freestyle from 51.04 seconds to 50.34 and cut her 200 freestyle time from 1 minute, 50.56 seconds to 1:47.89. In the 200 free, Schultz won by 3.35 seconds over Rochester Adams senior Claire McGinnis, who went on to win the 500 freestyle.
“I wasn't expecting to drop as much time in the finals, so that was really cool to see on the boards,” Schultz said of her effort in the 200. “My body just hurt so badly, and it's a great feeling to know that I put everything into a race.”
The 200 freestyle was the second event of the meet. The 200 medley relay was the first, so in a matter of 10 to 15 minutes, Schultz had to swim in both events. A challenge? Sure. But again, Schultz had a little different – and more positive - spin.
“I like to think of it as a warm-up for my 200 free, to get my heart rate up,” she said.
The 200 medley relay again featured her sister Gretchen, who was a senior a year ago and gave the siblings a chance to share an event title.
“She has been such a huge influence on me,” Annette Schultz said. “She went on to swim at MSU (Michigan State), so it’s cool to see her swim in college at a Division I school.”
A coach's dream
When it comes time to practice, Schultz sets a perfect example.
“Most of what we do is practice swimming,” Bergen said. “We practice an awful lot, and she is the top kid in the pool driving the practice.
“When you have somebody that dedicated but yet having so much fun and is so team-orientated – she loves her teammates and includes them in everything – it sets an example for everyone else. It can be an individual sport thinking about yourself, but she is very driven in what she wants to succeed and includes everybody.”
It is part of why she has been so successful. After being happy, of course.
“She's a technician,” Bergen said. “I've had her swim backstroke in the medley relay the last few years, and she broke the school record.
“She also is very strong. She has done 18 pull-ups, and that's strong. We had six girls do double digits, and she was far and away tops in that.”
What Bergen has noticed in high school, Gendernalik has seen on the age-group team.
“She is a great teammate and a great listener, and I use her as an example for the other kids,” he said. “We take attendance for the club team, and she's always at the top of the list.
“We sometimes do meets with kids on the younger team, and they love her and look up to her. That's the great thing about her. She will do what you ask her to do, and that is a great example for the other kids.”
Schultz recognizes her strengths and weaknesses, and faces the weaknesses with a realistic approach.
“My biggest thing I'm working on right now is my turns because they're not as fast as they could be,” she said. “But I'm very determined to get to the wall. I do a lot of pulling and kicking.”
Gendernalik said he has spent more time working with her on the psychological side than the technical side.
“She has the physical tools, so knowing that you're good and then going to bigger meets, that can weigh on your mind when you are swimming against college kids and you are 16 years old,” he said. “So I've worked more with her on the psychological part. We've done a lot of work with that in the last year.”
At her age, Schultz is the complete package.
“She's very driven and very passionate about the sport,” Bergen said “She has a joy about it. She loves it. She loves the hard work. I keep throwing more and more at her, and she takes it with a smile, which, as a coach, is a dream.”
On the horizon
Obviously, colleges have taken notice, but as a junior, Schultz has so much left before taking the next step. However, with the DCAC, she competes against some college swimmers and has not been overmatched.
“This summer, she swam against some of the better kids from Ohio State and Michigan, and she placed in the top eight in some of the events swimming against college kids,” Gendernalik said.
Those top-eights have come in the backstroke, something she swims only on a medley relay in high school. She said her favorite races are the 100 and 200 backstrokes, 50, 100 and 200 freestyles and the butterfly.
“I love the 100 backstroke; it is one of my favorite strokes,” she said. “My 200 free has a better time than my 100 free. The 100 is like a different feeling, it's such a short event you have to turn the jets on the second you hit the water, but the 200 free I do a little bit more pacing in that one.
“It's just a different feeling.”
At the MHSAA Final last year, Schultz's potential shined the brightest in the 200 freestyle, where her time nearly matched the pool-record time of 1.47.54 set by future Olympian Allison Schmitt in 2006.
“She should be able to make the qualifying times when she is in college, and the next time around, I expect her to be at the Olympic Trials,” Gendernalik said.
While Schultz isn't looking that far ahead, she conceded it is something she has thought about.
“It is a dream of mine to go to the Olympics, of course, but right now I'm just focusing on what I can do now and get some of my cut times for USA swimming, which do transfer into Olympic Trial times,” she said, “and I'm hoping to get those soon.”
Schultz said she does as many different strokes as she can during practice, although she is not fond of tackling the breaststroke.
“I definitely practice as many strokes as I can, even the breaststroke, but I don't like that one,” Schultz said. “It's definitely harder, and I've never had a connected stroke for breaststroke and I've always struggled with it, so I never developed a love for it.”
Obstacles in the pool
The road to success has not been without obstacles. Schultz has been diagnosed with scoliosis, and it became bothersome in her freshman year.
“I knew I had it, but they found out to which degree, and that was playing a role as I was having problems with my shoulder,” she said. “I have to strengthen certain parts of my body, and that helped out with swimming because they found out I was using certain muscles in replacement for other ones.
“I try to swim a lot of backstroke at practice because of it. The backstroke helps stretch out my shoulder for freestyle, and that definitely helped out a lot. I do some PT (physical therapy) exercises at the beginning of swim season to be sure those muscles are strengthened around my spine and shoulders so that I won't get injured.”
For now, Schultz is focused on this weekend's meet, and then the age-group team before she embarks on her senior season next year. Despite all of her success, she is far from satisfied.
“This year, I would like to break some state records,” she said. “That's on my plate of things to do. Other than that, I just want to keep improving.”
And, of course, be happy, because if she's happy, she believes she will be successful.
“You have to balance out your schedule between swimming and school and family, but I also take all of my friends and family and put them into swimming, too,” she said. “I'm a captain this year, and I do feel like a leader on the team, but I like to look up to other people on the team, too, and I like to think that I have people on the team who look up to me. I don't want them to think they have to look up to my swimming. I want to be a good influence.
“It's like a balance. It's nice. I definitely love what I'm doing.”
Chip Mundy served as sports editor at the Brooklyn Exponent and Albion Recorder from 1980-86, and then as a reporter and later copy editor at the Jackson Citizen-Patriot from 1986-2011. He also co-authored Michigan Sports Trivia. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dexter’s Annette Schultz stretches her lead in the 200 freestyle at last year’s Division 2 Finals. (Middle) Schultz holds up her medal while standing surrounded by other placers on top of the awards podium. (Below) Schultz, third swimmer from right, cheers as Dexter coach Cory Bergen hoists the team trophy last season. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)