Rockford Wins 1st Finals on Last Event
November 19, 2016
By Ed Wright
Special for Second Half
ROCHESTER – During the final climactic moments of Saturday’s drama-saturated MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Girls Swimming and Diving Championship Meet, possibly the coolest customer in the jam-packed Oakland University natatorium was the one bearing the most pressure – Rockford’s 400-yard freestyle relay anchor Peyton Rayburn.
With her team clinging to a precarious four-point lead over Farmington Hills Mercy heading into the final event and needing to finish ahead of the Marlins in the race to capture its first MHSAA girls swimming and diving title, Rayburn proved to be Ram tough, overcoming a fraction-of-a-second deficit to push past her Mercy counterpart and spark a joyful orange-and-black victory explosion on the nearby deck.
“Relays are the most fun part of the meets for me so, honestly, I was more excited than nervous,” Rayburn said, reflecting on the seconds leading up to her exclamation-point performance. “My mindset was, ‘Hey, I’ve been training and practicing for this for a long time; now it’s time to let the hard work pay off, give it everything I have, and hope it’s good enough.’
“This is the best team in the history of Rockford swimming, so it feels great to be able to contribute. It probably won’t totally set in for me though until the drive home when I’m eating my ice cream.”
Setting the stage for Rayburn’s last-leg heroics were her three 400 relay teammates: Hunter Ignasiak, Morgan Kraus and Sara Fredricks. The foursome’s time of 3 minutes, 26.55 seconds placed it behind first-place Saline, but comfortably ahead of Mercy (3:28.21).
The Rams, who joined their coaches in a celebratory dip in one of the warm-up pools after receiving their trophy, piled up 249 points, 10 more than the runner-up Marlins.
Also in the hunt throughout the day were third-place Saline (231.5 points) and fourth-place Ann Arbor Skyline (221).
Sealing the deal
After three straight years of knocking on the door of an MHSAA Finals title, it felt good to finally break the door down, noted Rockford coach Tom Parks.
“Even though we finished in the top four the last three years, we didn’t really have a shot at winning it,” said Parks. “This year, though, the girls knew it was possible. They knew they belonged here and they knew what they were capable of.
“I really didn’t think about us winning today until the 400 relay. The three girls in front of Peyton swam out of their minds. Peyton is a 49-second swimmer in the 100, so I felt pretty good when she hit the water.”
The Marlins reached the threshold of a championship with a team that included seven freshmen and a solid nucleus of upperclassman, including champion backstroker Katie Minnich.
“There is nothing better than for a state championship meet to come down to the last event like it did today,” said first-year Mercy coach Mike Venos. “I was very proud of the way our girls stepped up – not just today, but throughout the entire season.”
The meet was peppered with several LPD1 Finals record performances, including Saline senior diver Camryn McPherson’s monumental effort on the board.
The reigning D1 champion, McPherson rang up 509.50 points to out-distance runner-up Zain Smith of Skyline by nearly 34.
“I was nervous coming into today, but once it’s my turn to compete, I focus on doing well for my team and having fun,” said McPherson, an Ohio State University commit. “My favorite dive is my last one, so once I hit it, I felt pretty good.”
Taylor-made sweep
Brighton senior freestyler Taylor Seaman capped her brilliant high school career with a golden sweep of the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races.
The top seed in the 50 following Friday’s preliminaries, Seaman edged Farmington Hills Harrison’s Ashley Turak, 22.86 seconds to 23.08. Seaman then delivered a 49.64 effort in the 100 to edge runner-up Rayburn by an eyelash.
“Last year, I wasn’t able to cut my time from the conference meet to the state meet, so that was my main goal coming into this weekend,” Seaman said.
Headed to Brown University next year, Seaman revealed that a solid suggestion from her parents helped put her in a good frame of mind for Saturday’s success.
“A lot of my teammates stayed in hotels around here (following Friday’s preliminaries), but my parents thought it would be better if I slept in my own bed and went through my normal routine, since it was only a 45-minute drive (from Brighton),” Seaman said. “It was nice being able to wake up and cuddle with my dog (Murphy), eat breakfast like I always do, and then drive out here. I got to meet (U.S. Olympic Swimmer and Canton native) Allison Schmitt, too, so that was cool.”
Skyline’s strong showing was fueled by double-winner Emma Cleason, who touched first in both the 200 individual medley (2:00.86) and the 100 butterfly (54.28).
While Rayburn’s last-race heroics were huge, the Rams won with depth, Parks emphasized.
Among the winners’ sterling standouts was Sydney McDowell, a senior who will be returning to Oakland next fall to swim for the Grizzlies.
McDowell won the 100 breaststroke in addition to contributing fifth-place points in the 200 IM.
“We knew we’d be in the mix this year, but we knew it would take a total-team effort,” said McDowell, who celebrated her final high school meet by consuming a package of Nutella. “Everybody did their part today, which makes it even more special."
With his team flashing 100-watt smiles around him, Parks said he was proud to bring Rockford – and the western side of the state – a long-awaited Division 1 championship.
“Since 1975, with the exceptions of a couple of years, the Ann Arbor schools and the teams from the Oly Swim Club have pretty much dominated the state meet,” he said. “The fact we were able to break through this year is truly amazing and a reflection of how hard these girls worked.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford celebrates its Division 1 championship from atop the medal podium. (Middle) Saline diver Camryn McPherson competes Saturday on the way to a repeat title. (Below) Swimmers fill the pool at Oakland University. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.
This Time, Skyline Ends Close Race in 1st
November 21, 2015
By Butch Harmon
Second Half editor
HOLLAND – After coming in a close second at last year’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 girls swimming and diving championships at the Holland Aquatic Center, the Ann Arbor Skyline girls returned to the same pool this year and came away with some different results.
Moving back into Division 1, Skyline won the first-place trophy as it held off Saline in a tight battle that was close throughout.
Skyline totaled 290 team points for the two-day event to win its first girls swimming and diving championship. Saline, last year’s Division 1 champion, placed second with 238 points while Farmington Hills Mercy, winners of two of the previous four LPD1 titles, placed third with 217 points.
“Last year it came down to the last event,” said Skyline coach Maureen Isaac. “We’ve been runner-ups a couple of times, and it’s very frustrating. We were here last year at this pool, and to come back this year and do it here means a lot.”
Skyline’s victory took a total-team effort and was won over the two days of the event. Work that the Eagles did on Friday paid off Saturday, as Skyline set up the scoring opportunities to get the win.
“We moved some kids around on different relay teams Friday,” Isaac said. “We took some chances, and it paid off. We had a great group of girls and they are wonderful as a team. It might sound cheesy, but it’s true; they just feed off each other. ”
It also helped that Skyline had senior Katie Portz to rely on. A senior who has committed to swim collegiately at Texas A&M, Portz was named the swimmer of the meet by the coaches association for her performance. Portz won a pair of individual titles and was also part of two Skyline relay teams that captured championships.
“This is just an incredible feeling,” Portz said. “It feels so good and I’m so happy for all of my teammates. We took it to a new level as a team this year.”
Portz played a big role in helping the team do so. She took first place in the 100-yard freestyle in a new LP Division 1 meet record time of 49.34, breaking her previous record of 50.23 set two years ago.
Portz also captured the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:46.84.
“It felt great winning swimmer of the meet, but the team title means so much more,” Portz said. “Winning the team state is a great feeling. All the hard work that we put into this has paid off.”
Portz’s coach was especially happy that Skyline was able to capture the elusive MHSAA title this season for her standout senior.
“I really wanted us to do this for Katie Portz,” Isaac said. “She has been such an important part of this program both in the pool and out of the pool. It was important for us to do this before her career was done.”
In the 200 freestyle relay, Portz teamed up with sophomore Maddie McAdams, sophomore Emily Lock and senior Kaelan Oldani to take first place in a time of 1:35.67.
Skyline cemented the win as it also captured the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay. Portz anchored the team that included junior Emma Cleason, Lock and sophomore Georgia Mosher that turned in a winning time of 3:24.56.
Skyline also had two other individual champions crowned. Cleason took first place in the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:01.51, while Mosher claimed the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 4:54.65.
Saline junior diver Cam McPherson captured an individual title. She took second place last year and was sixth as a freshman.
“Last year I feel I didn’t focus as much,’ McPherson said. “This year I felt like I had a lot better focus. I thought I had some real good dives. I was also more focused to help my team as we needed all the points we could get.”
Sophomore Katie Minnich led the way for third-place Mercy as she repeated in the 100 backstroke in a time of 54.67.
“Winning it a second time is real special,” Minnich said. “I was confident that I could do it. There was pressure on me to win it again, but I like the pressure. There is always pressure and if there is not any pressure, it’s not worth doing.”
Minnich was also a member of Mercy’s 200 medley relay team that also won. She swam the first leg and was followed by junior Allison Lobbia, junior Alaina Skellett and freshman Annette Dombkowski as they turned in a winning time of 1:44.44.
Grand Blanc junior Emma Curtis was another repeat champion. Curtis repeated in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 23.07, a new personal record.
“It was a lot more exciting this year,” Curtis said. “I wanted to go 22 (seconds) and I just missed it by a few hundredths of a second. I felt a lot better this year and felt a lot less stress. I want to come back next year and win it as a senior.”
After finishing second at Finals the past three years, Zeeland senior Morgan Bullock broke through to the top step of the victory stand. She won the 100-yard butterfly in 54.42 seconds in front of her hometown fans.
“I’ve been runner-up in everything at state since my freshman year,” said Bullock, who will swim at the University of West Virginia. “This is my senior year and I’ve worked real hard for this. I just wanted to go out and do the best I could. I liked that I had a chance to win it close to home. A lot more of my teammates and friends and family members were able to see me win it.”
Rockford, the fourth-place team, was paced by junior Sydney McDowell, who won the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:03.84.
PHOTOS: (Top) Ann Arbor Skyline’s Emily Lock was among contributors to her team’s MHSAA championship. (Middle) Zeeland’s Morgan Bullock capped her high school career with her first title. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)