#TBT: Pioneer Blazes Another Pool Path
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 14, 2017
Few if any Michigan high school sports have seen the bar continue to rise and records continue to fall like swimming & diving since the turn of this century.
But as winning times continue to rev faster and faster, the 2002 Ann Arbor Pioneer girls team continues to hold a lofty spot as arguably the most dominating in MHSAA history.
The 2002 Finals were the first in the Lower Peninsula organized by two divisions instead of the traditional class format, and Pioneer entered having won the last two LP Class A titles.
The Pioneers claimed that first Division 1 title with an astounding 476 points, and by 275 on the rest of the field. No LP Division 1 team has broken 400 points at a Final since, and Pioneer’s 184.5-point win in 2008 has come closest to that 2002 margin of victory.
Pioneer placed the champions in all three relays, three individual races and diving that Nov. 23 at Eastern Michigan University. The team was led by future three-time Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce, and her swims that day in the 100-yard freestyle (48.59 seconds), as part of the 200 freestyle relay (Joyce, Margaret Kelly, Leigh Cole, Suzannah Merte – 1:33.71) and in the 50 (22.04) as the lead leg in that relay still stand as the oldest all-Finals records in MHSAA history. At the time, the 100 freestyle and 200 relay times also broke national girls high school records, as did Joyce’s winning and then-MHSAA record time of 1:46.34 in the 200 freestyle.
The 2002 championship run was the 10th of 16 guided by legendary coaches Denny and Liz Hill (Liz was his assistant until becoming the co-head coach in 2007 and has been part of the staff for all 16 titles). It also was not only the team’s third straight, but ended up being part of a string of nine consecutive MHSAA Finals wins.
In addition to Joyce and the 200 freestyle relay’s wins, Pioneer won the 200 medley relay (Kelly, Ilene Lesch, Melissa Jaeger, Ally Wyatt) in 1:46.14, Jaeger won the butterfly in 56.33, the 400 freestyle relay (Cole, Jaeger, Merte, Joyce) won in 3:26.96 and Ellen Van Cleve won diving with a score of 446.10.
Joyce went on to swim at University of Georgia and then during the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics. She won four silver medals, two each as part of 400-meter freestyle and 400-meter medley relays. Jaeger, Cole and Kelly swam at University of Michigan, Lesch at Arizona State University, and Van Cleve also dove for the Wolverines.
PHOTO: Ann Arbor Pioneer celebrates the Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship; future Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce stands middle, just below the trophy.
Longtime Friends from Rival Schools Heading to Finals as Tritons Teammates
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
November 17, 2023
Traverse City Central’s Ella Cabbage and Traverse City West’s Kira Adams have competed in pools with and against each other for as long as they can remember.
They also attend schools considered each other’s biggest rival.
Yet, they will be rooting for each other at the weekend’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Girls Swimming & Diving Finals at Eastern Michigan University. Adams’ family will be cheering on Cabbage as much as they do her. Same for Cabbage’s family.
They are not rivals this weekend. The girls with a long-time friendship are teammates. West and Central are in a cooperative program for swimming along with Traverse City St. Francis. The co-op goes by the moniker Traverse City Tritons.
Adams and Cabbage, both juniors, came into the season listed among the swimmers to watch in Northern Michigan. They didn’t disappoint, leading the Tritons to their third straight Coastal Conference title.
This weekend’s Finals will provide them with a very special moment. They both plan to look for each other the second they finish their respective events. They are treasuring the opportunity to compete in the Finals together.
“One hundred percent we always do,” Adams said of the chance they will be the first person they see after competing. “We get to warm up with each other at the same time and prepare to race together as well.”
Cabbage agreed.
“I go right after Ella so we’ll be together the whole way,” Adams said. ‘We will get see other compete — It is very special.”
Adams and Cabbage hope their families capture more memories for future viewing.
‘We have videos of Kira swimming and me in the background screaming and vice versa,” Cabbage said. “I wouldn’t want to go to states with anyone else.
“Our families are really close,” Cabbage continued. “It’s really special for it being just the two of us in the Finals.”
Adams used the conference finals to meet the MHSAA Finals qualifying time in the 100-yard breaststroke. She also competed well in the 200 individual medley, backstroke and freestyle events in 2023. Cabbage had qualified in the 100 backstroke early in the season.
Cabbage and Adams were at last years’ Finals, Cabbage a member of the 200 medley relay that finished 16th and Adams an alternate for the relay.
They were really looking forward to getting on the road to the Finals this week, recalling last year’s trip featuring inclement early winter weather at Oakland University, second-year coach Megan Petroelje noted. She was the driver for last year’s qualifiers and will be again this year.
“Last year we had quite a snowstorm on our way down,” Petroelje said after noting the weather forecast for the trip to Ypsilanti. “Unfortunately, it was not the best start.
“We basically fought the weather all the way down and all the way home,” she continued. “I am excited to see two these two perform in a completely different environment than they’re used to, and I think they’re excited too.”
Petroelje is thrilled to have two individual qualifiers. It is the first time in many years the co-op produced two individual finalists. For a long time this season, Cabbage was concerned she was going to be alone.
“Kira slid in at the end, and it was awesome,” Petroelje said. “I am so thankful they get to do this together.
“It is so much more fun to train with someone and have someone to motivate you and keep you accountable,” she continued. “The fact that there are two, I am super excited about.”
Adams and Cabbage have been teammates since their beginning days of swimming with their club Traverse City Breakers. They trained as youngsters in the same pools – the Grand Traverse YMCA and the Traverse City Civic Center. Petroelje also coached the qualifiers as Breakers.
While they currently attend rival schools, the don’t think of themselves as rivals in any way shape or form.
“We’ve grown up swimming together,” Adams said. “While some people might see it as a rivalry, it’s really not for us because we’ve known each other for so long.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) From left: Traverse City Tritons Ella Cabbage, coach Megan Petroelje and Kira Adams. (Middle) Adams swims one of her races this season. (Below) Cabbage launches during a meet this fall. (Photos by Andrea Hartman.)