Team Effort Earns Mercy Team Title
November 18, 2017
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
ROCHESTER – Farmington Hills Mercy certainly perfected the notion during Saturday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals that you don’t have to win events to become a swimming & diving champion.
The Marlins didn’t have an individual finish first in any event and had runner-up finishes in just two, but they still left Oakland University happier than anyone.
For the first time since 2013 and eighth time in school history, Mercy won an MHSAA Finals championship after collecting a meet-best 277 points, 29 ahead of runner-up Saline’s total of 248.
Farmington/Harrison was third with 192, Ann Arbor Skyline was fourth at 191 and Rockford rounded out the top five with 156.
“I tried to get them to believe that you can win a state meet without winning a single event,” Mercy head coach Mike Venos said. “We had the team that could do that. We knew Saline was going to run with their top-end kids. We just had to offset that with our depth.”
Depth indeed prevailed for Mercy, which had a finisher in the top 10 in 10 of the 12 events.
The best for the Marlins were a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke by senior Katie Minnich and a second-place finish by the 400 freestyle relay in the meet’s final race.
The Marlins also had two third-place finishers, two fourth-place finishers, a fifth and a sixth-place finish.
It was the first time guiding a girls team to an MHSAA title for Venos, the longtime head coach at Brother Rice who has led the Warriors to the last four championships in LP Division 1 and six overall.
Venos is in his second year as head coach at Mercy.
While his team ended a four-year title drought, Saline fell just short in an attempt to win its first title since 2014.
The Hornets saw their 200 medley relay win the title with a time of 1:43.60 and junior Maddie Luther win the 200 freestyle in 1:47.69, but Saline couldn’t win another event to further negate the depth Mercy showcased.
It was the fourth runner-up finish for Saline since 2011.
“They had more swimmers and everywhere you looked, they had somebody,” Saline head coach Todd Brunty said. “We just keep knocking on that door trying to stay relevant. Every year, we try to make sure we stay in the conversation.”
The individual star of the Finals was Farmington/Harrison junior Ashley Turak, who found herself at the top of the podium in all four events in which she competed.
Going into the day, it was a repeat scenario for Turak, who like last year was seeded second in both the 50 and 100 freestyles.
Instead of finishing second in the 50 and fourth in the 100 like she did last year, Turak was first in those events this time.
Turak won the 50 freestyle in a meet record time of 22.38, and then won the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.79.
Turak then served as the first leg of Farmington/Harrison’s team that won the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:34.67.
In the final event of the day, Turak swam the anchor leg for the 400 freestyle relay team that also finished first with a time of 3:26.35.
“The mood I had going in as a junior was that I had some college offers, so I wanted to prove to everyone I could do it,” Turak said. “I don’t know where I want to go yet.”
Turak will have the coming months to sort through what should be plenty of college offers while also being a member of Farmington Hills Harrison’s last graduating class.
Harrison is set to close its doors following the 2018-19 school year.
“I love representing my school,” Turak said. “I get great academics and it has great sports there. Our football is going to the state finals next week, so that amps me up too. It’s a great atmosphere.”
In addition to Turak’s performance in the 50 freestyle, there were other record-setting performances.
Grand Haven sophomore Kathryn Ackerman set a meet record in the 200 individual medley, winning with a time of 1:57.92.
Rockford junior Morgan Kraus set a meet record with a time of 53.73 in winning the 100 butterfly. Grand Ledge sophomore Lola Mull set a meet record in the 500 with a time of 4:47.32.
PHOTOS: (Top) A pair of Farmington Hills Mercy swimmers dominate an awards podium in helping the Mustangs win the team title Saturday. (Middle) Brighton celebrates a relay runner-up finish. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
4th-Straight Finals Title Gives Pioneer 4 Straight Seasons Winning Every Meet
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
November 18, 2023
YPSILANTI – Everyone dreams of going out on top.
Very few did so like Ann Arbor Pioneer captains Stella Chapman and Yan Yee Adler.
They finished their high school swimming careers unbeaten Saturday, as in never having been on a losing team at a high school swim meet, be it duals, conference or MHSAA Finals – a most memorable four-for-four for those seniors.
Ann Arbor Pioneer won its fourth Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship meet in a row, the most consecutive for the Pioneers since they won nine straight from 2000-2008.
“It never gets old,” Pioneer coach Stefanie Kerska said following a celebratory dive into the Jones Natatorium pool. “It was a total team effort from the young rookie swimmers to the veterans to the divers, and it's a really rewarding win for us.”
Chapman and Adler finished 1-2 in the 200-yard individual medley. Chapman broke her meet record in the 100 backstroke, improving from 53.69 seconds in 2022 to 53.54 on Saturday.
“Getting first is big,” Chapman said. “To have my best time in the IM and then (improve) on my best time, and backstroke is something I'm really, really happy with.”
Adler emphasized Pioneer’s title was a team effort.
“I think it's just our culture. We really swim for each other,” she said. “And everyone on this team knows that it's a team effort, not an individual effort and none of us would be able to do what we do if it wasn't for the people around us.”
Kerska said her swimmers deserve the credit.
“To ask a group of girls never to take their eye off the prize, (and) never drop the ball is really impressive,” she said. “It was a great team win. This is one of the first ones where, you know, we just came in (with) numbers and we were pretty relentless with the points that we were scoring. So just real rewarding for us.”
Pioneer finished comfortably in first with 301 points.
Grand Haven, which went unbeaten in its dual meet season and tied for the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red championship with Jenison, took second, edging the Wildcats by winning the final race of the day, the 400 freestyle relay.
“We needed to take at least second place in that 400 free relay for us to be second overall,” Grand Haven coach Doug Thorne said. “And the girls rose to it and won the 400, so it sealed the deal. To come here at the state meet and take second place is just beyond our wildest dreams. We're really thrilled.”
The Buccaneers were led by Rosalie Springer, who won the 100 freestyle for the second time in three years and swam the anchor leg on the 400 free relay.
Sophia Umstead won the butterfly and breaststroke for Jenison, while Grace Albrecht won the 50 freestyle and was part of the 200 freestyle relay team that set a meet record in 1:32.85.
But the day, as it has the last four years, belonged to Pioneer.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Adler said of the end of her high school career. ”I love this team and I love what we've been able to do. But I know everyone's gonna be all good. I'm very confident in the team in the future and years to come. So they're in great hands.”
(PHOTOS by High School Sports Scene.)