Byron Center Posts Best Finals Finish for 2nd-Straight Season - This Time as Champion
March 14, 2026
YPSILANTI — A year after finishing second to a Detroit U-D Jesuit team that celebrated its first MHSAA Finals title, the roles were happily reversed for Byron Center on Saturday.
This time, it was Byron Center’s turn to bask in the glory of history, as it celebrated its first team championship at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Boys Swimming & Diving Finals at Eastern Michigan University.
The Bulldogs finished with a meet-best 338 points, 22 better than U-D Jesuit. Dexter (173), Portage Central (164) and Birmingham Groves (144) rounded out the top five.
“Swimming fast and having fun. That’s what it’s all about,” Byron Center head coach Holly Morren said. “Just focusing on ourselves. We know what we’ve done all season, and we have a group that’s been together for a long time working hard for it. Just super proud of them. Always knew they were capable of it. It’s really fun to be here experiencing it now.”
Byron Center placed first in four events, getting individual wins from senior Carter Nelson in the 500 freestyle (4:31.06) and junior Ryder Nichols in the 100 breaststroke (55.56).
The Bulldogs also captured two of the three relays. In the 400 free relay, the team of Caleb Meginley (24.79), Nichols (24.82), Jackson Schumuker (22.81) and Graeden Standforf (21.16) won in a time of 1:33.58. The 200 free relay was taken by the team of Standorf (21.87), Schumuker (21.32), Brady Beauch (21.12) and Lucas Ritsema (20.43) in a time of 1:24.74.
“That was the best swim of my life,” Nelson said about his win in the 500. “(I wanted to) go out fast, hold on, see what I could do.”
The meet’s individual standout was Birmingham Seaholm senior Elliot Rijnovean, who won two more titles to bring his career total to six before he heads off to a college career at Indiana.
Rijnovean made it three straight in the 100 butterfly, claiming the event this time in 47.97 seconds. There was a different twist to Rijnovean’s success this year, though.
He also had won the 100 backstroke at the last two Finals, but decided not to swim that event his year in favor of competing in the 50 free.
“I was trying to go for the state record in the 50 free since I already had it in the 100 back,” Rijnovean said. “It was a fun challenge that I ultimately failed at, but still enjoyed taking on. I was glad to win but a bit disappointed after I came up short of the record.”
The overall Finals record in the 50 free is 19.86 set in 2019 by Cam Peel of Spring Lake. The Division 2 meet record of 20.09 was set in 2011 by Clay Youngquist of Battle Creek Lakeview. Seeded third, Rijnovean topped this year’s field in a time of 20.31.
U-D Jesuit junior Charlie McCuiston also had a strong meet, winning the 200 freestyle in 1:38.01 and contributing to the Cubs’ first-place 400 free relay. He swam a 44.37 during the relay and was joined for that race by Jack McCuiston (46.44), Miles Lobley (49.05) and Cooper Masters (47.64) with a winning time of 3:07.50.
“I love the atmosphere here. It was a great race, great time, I’m very happy with it,” McCuiston said of his 200 free. “I definitely wanted to compete. I think I’m a very competitive person, so that was a big thing, to compete with everybody and hit those paces. That was a big goal for me, to hit those paces and go that time.”
Other individual winners on the day were Birmingham Groves senior Nathan Stebbins in the 200 individual medley in a time of 1:49.46, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central senior Lucas Witham in the 100 free in a time of 44.84, and Dexter junior Anthony Kopinski in the 100 backstroke in a time of 51.05. Battle Creek Lakeview senior Peyton Elder won the diving competition with 495.85 points.
PHOTOS (Top) Byron Center's Caleb Meginley races during Saturday's Division 2 Finals. (Middle) U-D Jesuit's Jack McCuiston charges forward in the butterfly. (Below) Forest Hills Central's Lucas Witham launches at the start of the 100 freestyle. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Marquette Boys Run Finals Streak to 7 as Kingsford Becomes Top Challenger
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
February 21, 2026
MARQUETTE — Marquette’s dominance of Upper Peninsula Swimming and Diving Finals continued Saturday.
The Sentinels won their seventh-straight championship and 33rd U.P. meet in all. The one change this year was in the runner-up position. Marquette finished ahead of Kingsford 298-200, breaking a five-year streak of second-place finishes by Houghton.
Marquette swept the girls and boys team titles for the fifth-straight season. The Sentinels may not have had quite the depth they’re used to having, but it was still enough to keep the hardware coming.
“We didn’t fill events for the first time in several years,” Marquette coach Nathan McFarren said. “That’s a big deal. You have to have two to three in each event to have that depth. We didn’t have the depth — we were small but mighty. I would say most of our events, we had two people finishing at least in the top eight. That was the difference.
“Houghton and Kingsford had some solid wins, Sault Ste. Marie. Overall, the wealth was spread out pretty well, but I think it just came down to that depth.”
Junior Beau Deiter picked up Marquette’s only individual win on the boys side. He won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:32.94.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen going into it,” he said. “Me and Lenden Ellis from the Sault, we were seeded right next to each other. We were two milliseconds apart. I did not know what was going to happen. I was behind going into the first little bit, but then I got to a pace and I just stuck with it.”
His freshman brother, Lucas, placed second in 5:34.02.
“That was a fun one,” McFarren said. “Lucas, as a freshman, he was in fourth place with 12.5 yards to go and he took over the Sault boys to get second place with his brother. That was pretty special.”
Kingsford’s Bryce Johnson won one individual U.P. title last season, and he made it two as a sophomore this year. He was the only swimmer to finish in under a minute in both the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke.
He finished the butterfly in 58.73 seconds, nearly three seconds ahead of runner-up Gavin Mills of Marquette. His 58.44 time in the backstroke was nearly five seconds ahead of Jack Pozega of Marquette in second place (1:03.28).
Johnson repeated as U.P. champion in the butterfly, going much faster than last year’s 1:03.50.
“It feels awesome, two in a row now,” he said. “I was super nervous, especially with Marquette, they’re my biggest competitor. I was behind at first, and then I caught up later in the season and I found my way to the top.”
Johnson first finished in under a minute in the backstroke in a late January meet – that was the first time anyone had done so in the U.P. since 2023, the Iron Mountain Daily News reported. That’s his best race, his coach Jim Lindstrom said, and he was also a member of Kingsford’s winning 200 medley relay (1:45.25).
Gladstone senior Tyler Soderman won both the 50 freestyle (23.03) and the 100 freestyle (50.92).
Kingsford junior Thomas Gibbons took first in both the 200 IM (2:16.29) and the 100 breaststroke (1:04.37). He won the breaststroke by just over five seconds and the IM by nearly six. Gibbons was also on the winning 200 medley relay team.
“He had two personal bests today, especially in the breaststroke,” Lindstrom said. “He brought a 1:08 down to a 1:04. He’s really doing well.”
Sault Ste. Marie’s Ryker Medrick won the 200 freestyle (1:58.08). He was also a part of the victorious 400 freestyle relay team (3:42.23).
Marquette won the 200 freestyle relay (1:38.25).
PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's Beau Deiter swims to the 500-yard freestyle championship at Saturday's Upper Peninsula Finals. Kingsford's Bryce Johnson reaches the wall first in the backstroke. (Click for more by Jarvinen Photos.)