Central Awaits Fast Finishes, New Home
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
February 20, 2018
PORTAGE — Thursday night was an emotional one for the Portage Central boys swimming & diving team, and not only because it was Senior Night.
The Mustangs’ 114-69 win against St. Joseph was the last meet in the 44-year-old pool located at the middle school.
“They’re building a new pool at the high school,” Central coach Jim Schafer said. “It’s bittersweet after spending 33 years coaching in this pool; (there are) a lot of great memories.
“A lot of great student athletes have been part of the program. The old pools have served Portage very well, and I’m sure the new ones will serve just as well for the future of Portage Aquatics.”
The future is bright for the program – but so is the present.
The Mustangs are ranked No. 8 in the latest Lower Peninsula Division 2 state poll heading into the Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference meet Friday and Saturday at Battle Creek Lakeview.
The Mustangs have won 19 conference titles, including last year’s when they shared the crown with Kalamazoo Loy Norrix.
“There are a lot of good teams there,” Schafer said. “Mattawan gave us a really good meet last week. Norrix has a lot of good kids; so does St. Joe.
“Battle Creek Lakeview is always strong. It’s going to be a tight race between a lot of teams.”
The Mustangs, who take an 11-1 dual record into the meet, are no slouches in the pool.
After finishing eighth in LPD2 last year, they already have qualified four finalists from that team.
Oakland University will host this year’s championship meet March 9-10.
Star power
Owen Miller, the reigning LPD2 champ in the 200-yard freestyle, is just a junior and, while nostalgic for the pool where he set two varsity records, he is looking forward to the new one.
“I’m very excited for that,” he said. “We were shown the layout of the pool a while ago, but I forget what it looked like. I remember I liked it, but I’m not sure why.
“It’s going to be a much larger pool. More locker rooms.”
Miller also finished third in the 500 freestyle at the Finals last year and swam the first leg of the 400 freestyle relay with junior Sam Weber, senior Jacob Cole and Jack Rogers, who graduated last year. They placed eighth.
“Owen’s a quiet, hard-working guy,” said Schafer, who also teaches physical education, health and sports science at the high school. “As far as our team, he’s a great freestyler, but he can also swim other events as well.
“He’s one of our go-to guys that I can go to at any meet and say I need you to swim this. We’re fortunate enough that we have a handful of those kids. We have a pretty versatile lineup.”
Swimmers on the 10th-place 200 medley relay team were Rogers, who is now a freshman on the Wayne State University swim team, Weber, Cole and junior Jack Liu.
Cole also placed 11th in the 200 IM.
“Swimming is such a mental sport,” Cole said. “People don’t understand. Once you get up on the blocks, you don’t hear anything else. When he says ‘Take your mark,’ everyone has to be quiet in the building. There’s no noise.
“All that pressure that’s on you before you go in the race, it’s all gone for that moment before the buzzer’s released. It’s just like you and the water, and it feels like practice again.”
Cole’s brother Christopher also competed for the Mustangs.
“I’ve coached several brothers, which is kinda nice because you know the families,” Schafer said.
“Jacob brings good solid leadership. He works real hard and is a great all-around kid.”
With his brother holding team records in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, Jacob Cole has plenty of motivation.
“This year I’m trying to break his record in the 200 IM, so that’s my main goal,” he said. “I like to think I’m close. I’m at 1:58 and he’s at 1:55, so hopefully I can go 1:54 and beat it by a lot.
“I don’t really excel in any of the major strokes, but I’m generally pretty good at every stroke,” Cole added. “My favorite event is the 400 IM which isn’t offered in high school, so I go in the 200 IM.”
Miller holds the school record in the 500 free with a time of 4:33.22 and as part of the 400 free relay (1:26.44) with Cole, Weber and Rogers. Weber was ninth in the 500 free and 10th in the 100 backstroke at the MHSAA Finals last year.
Last year, Miller swam the first leg on the relay team, which was fine with him.
“I like it because I like to go out and try my best to get a lead, and then it takes some pressure off coming to the finish,” Miller said. “I like to cheer on my teammates as they come in.
“I enjoy them both (relays and individual competition). I think relays are more fun in that it’s the team and you’re working together, and it’s more of an accomplishment if you place high. Individuals, you have a little more self pride that you did this all yourself.”
Ready for Finals
Some teams do something special to bond during tournament time, but don’t count the Mustangs among them.
“We’re not shaving our head, that’s for sure,” Miller said, laughing. “We’re going to veto that one if the seniors bring it up.
“They talked about bleaching our hair, but we kinda talked them down to frosted tips style, but we’ll see if we actually go through with it.”
Schafer said there is a reason for Portage Central’s success.
“We’ve got some pretty hard-working kids and there are two good age-group programs in the area, which help feed into our program,” he said.
“We’re fortunate enough to work with kids who already have a good swimming background when they come in.”
Cole gives credit to his coach.
“Schaf’s the best,” he said. “He’s an amazing coach. Whenever I come to the high school season, I’m always excited because the team camaraderie is really great. It’s just a fun time, and I think Schaf brings that out in everybody. One of the three goals is building relationships, and that’s one thing we say.
“It’s great if you’re winning, but at the end of the day were you a good sport while you were doing it? Did you make friends during the season? Was it fun? What’s the point of a sport if you’re not having fun while you’re doing it?”
Schafer has just three other seniors on the team: Caleb Calnin, Ferris Ghazal and Ethan Kloosterman.
Juniors are Harrison Fitts, Alex Galer, Christian Huitema, Josh Parsons, Veeresh Rajendran, Jace Rozankovich, Sheldon Shen and Nikhil Velagalety.
Sophomores are Jacob Crump, Connor Meyer, Logan Misejka, Saad Qureshi and Matt Walsh, and freshmen are Juan Barrera, Andrew Burhans, Ethan Earle-Glinsky, Isaac Hogue, Thenuka Jayatilaka, David Jin, Lucas Miller, Ben Miller, Emery Rahrig, Liam Roehr, Max Schramm, Frans Tanade and Jim Zesiger.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Portage Central’s Owen Miller is a reigning MHSAA Finals champion. (Middle) From top: Central coach Jim Schafer, Miller and Jacob Cole. (Below) Cole and Miller enjoy a lighter moment during a break. (Top photo by Mike Peterson, head shots by Pam Shebest and below photo by Colleen Ruggerio.)
Preview: Parade of Champions Set to Feature Several New Standouts
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 13, 2025
We’ve become accustomed to frequent favorites often finishing at the top of our three MHSAA Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals.
But changing leaderboards could be the theme of this weekend’s meets.
Although Ann Arbor Pioneer in Division 1 and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in Division 3 are returning champions and ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions, both could face stronger competition this time. A possible first-time champion appears most in play in Division 2, as top-ranked Detroit U-D Jesuit and No. 2 Byron Center are both seeking first team Finals titles.
Individually, only four 2024 champions will swim this weekend – guaranteeing plenty more opportunities for new stars to climb the podium.
Preliminaries at all three Finals sites begin at noon Friday, with Saturday championship events starting at noon as well. Both days of all three meets will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on MHSAA.tv. For information on purchasing tickets, plus psych sheets, dive orders and more, visit the Boys Swimming & Diving page – and see below for a glance at several team and individual contenders to follow.
Division 1 at Holland Aquatic Center
Reigning champion: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2024 runner-up: Saline
2025 top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 2. Northville, 3. Detroit Catholic Central.
Pioneer has won four straight Division 1 championships, last year by just 30 points ahead of rival Saline, with Detroit Catholic Central finishing third and Northville fourth and just 49 points separating those top four teams. Pioneer enters this weekend with all three relays and 10 individual entries seeded to score plus a diver competing. Northville, the runner-up in 2022, is seeking its first championship since 1973 and sending three relays and 15 entries seeded to score and a diver, and DCC is seeking its first team title and sending three relays and eight individual entries seeded to score. Pioneer and Saline shared the Southeastern Conference Red title this winter, and Saline is ranked No. 4 and also could make the big move sending all three relays and 16 individual entries seeded to score, plus three divers.
Elijah Almeida, Ann Arbor Pioneer sophomore: He swam the 100-yard breaststroke during his Finals debut a year ago and returns as the top seed in that race (56.99), sixth-seeded in the 100 butterfly (51.91) and likely to swim on top-seeded 200 freestyle and medley relays.
Sam Campbell, Milford junior: He’s seeded first in the 100 backstroke (49.45) and third in the 200 freestyle (1:40.64) and is expected to swim on two top-seven seeded relays.
Owen Stevens, Zeeland senior: He’s won the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle championship the last two seasons. He is seeded first in both the IM at 1:49.54 and 500 at 4:28.69 and likely to swim on two top-11 relays.
Brady Stenson, Northville junior: He finished fourth in the 500 and seventh in the 200 freestyle last season and returns as the top seed in the 200 (1:39.30) and second in the 500 (4:31.40) and is expected to swim on two top-seven relays.
Camren Turowski, Detroit Catholic Central sophomore: The top seed in the 50 (20.69) and 100 freestyles (45.25) is also expected to swim on two top-three seeded relays. He finished second in the 50 and swam on two championship and one runner-up relay in 2024.
Diego Valdes, Saline senior: Last season’s fourth-place finisher in the IM and runner-up in the butterfly also swam on two top-three relays. He returns as the top seed in the butterfly (49.97) and 11th seed in the IM and is expected to swim on two top-four seeded relays.
Ann Arbor Pioneer 200 freestyle relay: The anticipated lineup of Almeida, senior Brighton Han and juniors Edward Zhang and Henry Baumhover enter with a top-seeded time of 1:25.91, with the meet record 1:23.25 swam in 2021.
Riley Brimm, Utica Eisenhower senior: He finished 15th in Division 1 diving last season but enters this weekend after posting the highest score in any Division 1 Regional qualification meet, 452.45.
Division 2 at Oakland University
Reigning champion: Birmingham Groves
2024 runners-up: Farmington, Birmingham Seaholm
2025 top-ranked: 1. Detroit U-D Jesuit, 2. Byron Center, 3. Birmingham Seaholm.
Last year’s finish certainly was among the most incredible in MHSAA Finals history, as Groves repeated as champion with 245 points but Farmington and Seaholm tied for second both with 244. The list of favorites is a little different this time, as Jesuit is expected to move up from fourth last year and Byron Center could also make a jump after finishing eighth. The Cubs are seeking their first Finals title and finished runners-up in 2022 and 2023, and they enter this weekend with all three relays and 15 individual entries seeded to score and three divers competing. Byron Center is seeking its first top-two Finals finish and also will bring a sizable lineup of three relays and 16 individuals seeded to score, and three divers. Seaholm most recently won Division 2 in 2021 and will look to three relays and eight individuals seeded to score, with one diver competing.
Will Cicco, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek senior: The top seed in the 200 (1:39.21) and 500 freestyles (4:31.02) is likely to also swim on two top-seven seeded relays.
Patrick Mackillop, Detroit U-D Jesuit senior: Last year’s third-place finisher in the breaststroke and 12th-place finisher in the IM is seeded first in the breaststroke (55.86), 10th in the IM and expected to swim on two top-four seeded relays.
Josh Martin, Mattawan senior: He’s seeded first in the butterfly (49.03) and fifth in the 50 (21.30) and will swim on two relays after finishing third in both the butterfly and 50 last winter.
Charlie McCuiston, Detroit U-D Jesuit sophomore: He debuted last season with a third place in the 200 freestyle and eighth place in the breaststroke, and will return as the top seed in the 100 free (45.57), second seed in the 200 free (1:40:60) and likely to swim on those two top-four relays with Mackillop.
Quinn O’Neill, Birmingham Seaholm sophomore: The reigning champion in the 500 also finished seventh in the 200 free last year. He’s seeded eighth in the 500 and 11th in the 200 this time but is also expected to swim on top-seeded 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.
Elliott Rijnovean, Birmingham Seaholm junior: He won the butterfly and backstroke last season and also swam on the winning 200 medley and third-place 400 freestyle relays. He’s seeded first in the backstroke (49.35), fourth in the butterfly (50.73) and expected to swim on the same top-seeded relays with O’Neill.
Evan Tack, Detroit U-D Jesuit senior: Last year’s runner-up in the 200 freestyle and third-place finisher in the backstroke is seeded first in the IM (1:50.84) by more than five seconds and second in the butterfly (49.50). He’s also expected to swim on second-seeded 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.
Lucas Witham, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central junior: He finished fifth in the 50 and eighth in the 100 freestyle last season, and is seeded first in the 50 (20.83), second in the 100 (46.18) and will likely swim on two top-nine seeded relays.
Birmingham Seaholm 200 medley relay: The lineup of Rijnovean, O’Neill, senior Emmett Knudsen and junior Finn Murray enters with a seed time of 1:31.42, two seconds faster than the field and also faster than the meet record of 1:31.85 swam in 2022.
Farmington 200 freestyle relay: The anticipated group of seniors Jack Tomlinson, Luke Morden and Paul DeMartini and junior Joshua Luo has a top-seeded time of 1:25.13 and could approach the meet record of 1:23.72 swam in 2022.
Jack Olivier, Byron Center senior: He finished fourth in diving last season and posted this year’s highest Division 2 Regional qualifying score of 505 points.
Division 3 at Eastern Michigan University
Reigning champion: Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
2024 runners-up: East Grand Rapids
2025 top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Holland Christian, 3. East Grand Rapids.
It’s been Cranbrook first and EGR second the last two seasons, and the Cranes will pursue a third-straight title with three relays and 19 individual entries seeded to score, plus a diver in the mix. East Grand Rapids won the previous two titles before this Cranbrook run and will look to pile points with three relays and 11 individuals seeded to score, and a strong group of three divers competing. Holland Christian is another regular, most recently champion in 2018 and 2019, runner-up in 2021 and 2022 and third place a year ago. The Maroons will seek to contend with three relays and 15 individuals seeded to score, and a similarly highly-touted pair of divers.
Sam Harper, Plainwell junior: He finished fourth in the 500 freestyle last season and is seeded first in that race (4:39.61) and second in the 200 free (1:44.70).
Jack Langeland, Hamilton junior: He’s seeded first in the 200 (1:44.11) and fifth in the butterfly (52.56) and could swim on two top-three seeded relays. He finished 11th in the 200 and 12th in the butterfly last season.
Basilio Ledesma, Holland Christian senior: He finished sixth in the 50 and fourth in the butterfly in 2024 and returns as the top seed in the 100 free (47.53), fourth seed in the 50 (21.78) and expected to swim on the second-seeded 200 medley relay.
Kade Opsal, Adrian junior: He finished fifth in the 50 and 10th in the backstroke and swam on two high-placing relays last season. He’s seeded first in both the backstroke (50.20) and 50 (21.0) this weekend and will likely swim on two seventh-seeded relays.
Levi Rozema, Holland Christian senior: He’s seeded first in the breaststroke (57.64) and sixth in the IM (2:01.72) and is likely to swim on two second-seeded relays. He finished third in the breaststroke and 11th in the IM last year, also swimming on the third-place medley relay.
Liam Smith, Otsego junior: He’s won three Finals championships over his first two seasons – two in the butterfly and last year in the IM as well. He’s seeded first in the IM (1:52.44) and second in the butterfly (50.37) and will likely swim on two top-10 seeded relays.
Ethan Xu, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood sophomore: He and Smith may be racing repeatedly as he’s seeded second in the IM (1:54.99) and first in the butterfly (49.64) and may also swim on top-seeded medley and 400 freestyle relays. He finished fifth in the IM and eighth in the 500 last season.
Rowan Bishop, East Grand Rapids senior: Last season’s fourth-place diver scored 524.65 points at his Regional qualifier to set the pace for all of Division 3.
PHOTO Division 1 swimmers including Zeeland's Owen Stevens and Northville's Brady Stenson launch to begin a 500 freestyle race at last season's Finals. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)