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.
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.)