Marquette Dominates to Run Streak to 3
February 20, 2016
By Keith Shelton
Special for Second Half
MARQUETTE – Overwhelming favorites to begin the day, the Marquette Redmen might have surpassed even their own lofty expectations Saturday at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Swimming and Diving Finals in their home pool.
Marquette dominated to the point that they rendered the day a competition for second place, winning their third straight U.P. title with 326 points, followed by Houghton with 208 and Sault Ste. Marie with 205.
"We knew if they didn't disqualify in starts or turns, that they would dominate," Marquette coach Nate McFarren said. "We expected a lot from them this year, and they really tore it up today. It was pretty cool."
Senior Sam Williams had a day that any senior would love in his final sporting event. Williams broke three Upper Peninsula Finals records while capturing firsts in the 200-yard individual medley (1:57.11), 100 breaststroke (58.02) and as part of the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams. His 200 IM time was nearly three seconds faster than the previous record, and his 100 breaststroke time was a full two seconds faster than the previous best in that event and six seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Williams also set the U.P. Finals record for the 100 freestyle while swimming on the 400 freestyle relay, with a time of 48.39.
Of the breaststroke, an event that proves difficult for many swimmers, Williams said, "The thing a lot of people don't understand is the breaststroke is not as much about power and speed. It's about decreasing the resistance. If you can get a good body line on every stroke, you're going to be better off than most people."
Williams began swimming competitively at age 10 and had a goal even then to win a U.P. title at the high school level before going on to swim in college. According to McFarren, the second part of Williams' goal is likely to be realized as well.
"Sam was quite a bit ahead of his closest competitor today, so we focused on him getting used to swimming by himself and visualizing his race with someone swimming next to him," McFarren said. "He's a very bright individual outside of swimming. He's number one in his class. To be with him for four years and watching him grow from a freshman to a senior, it's been my honor."
Marquette also had a standout in junior Andrew Kilpela, who earned a first as part of the 200 medley relay and was second in the 100 backstroke, arguably the best event of the day.
Gladstone junior Matthew LeClaire had an outstanding performance, highlighted by his victory in the 100 backstroke (54.33), which broke the previous U.P. Finals record of 54.91. Kilpela also broke the U.P. record with his time of 54.72. Throughout the race the two rivals pulled a hair ahead of one another, and the final 25 yards were neck and neck.
"Matt works very hard, and when he comes to this meet and swims against Andrew, that just seems to fire him up," said Gladstone coach Tom Desy. "That was about as close of a race as you can get. It was back and forth, definitely the race of the meet."
LeClaire, who will continue his rivalry with Kilpela next year, said he was battling his own thoughts prior to the race.
"It was tense getting ready for the race," LeClaire said. "The kid from Marquette was seeded ahead of me, and it was in my head. I was thinking oh man, I don't want to lose this; I can't lose this. I tried to hold it down and keep going."
LeClaire also won the 100 freestyle (50.64), which Williams did not race, and was part of the Braves' 200 medley relay team, which placed second.
Marquette's depth, however, was so pronounced that most of the other schools were simply seeing red for most of the day. The Redmen even had a 1-2 finish in the 200 IM, with Matt Kurin finishing second to Williams. Ben Luke won the 100 butterfly (57.77), Matthew Nykanen placed third in the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle, and Ryan Glover was third in the 100 backstroke. The Redmen also won all three relays.
"We're lucky to have some serious depth on the boys team," said McFarren. "Some finished second or third to their own teammates. Being able to put together three relays that win isn't always heard of.
"I was really nervous about our relays today because I spread our talent out," added McFarren. "I wanted to go after it in all three relays, and I probably couldn't have done it without the help of Andrew and Sam. Having Sam lead off two relays and lead us to victory, and break that individual record in a relay, is pretty cool."
Marquette will lose Williams to graduation, but with its superior depth, will be in good position to go for a fourth straight title next season.
"Sam will be a huge loss, but we're only losing two seniors, and we had a really talented team this year, outside of Sam," McFarren said.
PHOTOS: (Top) A swimmer leads the butterfly during Saturday's Upper Peninsula Finals at Marquette. (Middle) Swimmers launch for another race. (Click for more from Jarvinen Photography.)
Marquette Boys Extend Title Streak as Close Finishes Add to Memorable Run
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
February 15, 2025
MARQUETTE — There isn’t much suspense when it comes to the team titles these days at the Upper Peninsula Swimming & Diving Finals.
Host Marquette’s depth sets it apart year after year – but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any drama.
Kingsford’s Joey Lundholm didn’t think he’d win the 100-yard freestyle, but he did.
Marquette’s Isaiah Youngren rallied for two wins, an individual victory in the 100 breaststroke – which he thought he’d lost – and a team win in an exciting 200 freestyle relay.
The Sentinels came away with the team title Saturday, beating out runner-up Houghton 338-246. It was the sixth straight championship for Marquette and fifth consecutive second-place finish for the Gremlins. In all, Marquette has won 32 U.P. meets.
“We were down one of our top swimmers and had to change some things around,” Marquette coach Nathan McFarren said. “But, you know what, the whole team really rose to the occasion, knew what we had to do. Really proud of them.”
Youngren helped bring excitement to Marquette’s day.
The Sentinels were a half-second behind when he entered the pool in the 200 freestyle relay. It wasn’t unexpected. Their second leg, Chase Thomsen, had just competed in a grueling 500-yard race — ”He was cooked going into it, so I just knew I had to step up and get ready for that,” Youngren said. And they knew it would be close ahead of time, “but we didn’t think it was going to be that close,” he noted.
“That close” being 16 hundredths of a second faster than runner-up Houghton with a winning time of 1:36.09.
Shortly after joining the relay team on the podium, Youngren went to race in the 100 breaststroke, where he once again found himself playing catch up. The margin was even less there, six hundredths of a second, and he didn’t know he’d won until he looked at the scoreboard.
“I had no idea if I had won — I thought I had lost until I looked at the board and I was like, ‘What!?’” Youngren said. “I knew at the first 50 I was behind and I had to kick it into gear in the last 50. He had a really good third turn, so he got ahead there.
“As I was closing in the last 15 yards, I thought, ‘This is my final race as a senior, I got to leave it all out there.’ So I really kicked into that fifth gear and enjoyed it.”
It was his second straight win in the event at U.P. Finals, but last year’s margin of victory was measured in full seconds. Youngren had lost to Kingsford’s Thomas Gibbons earlier this year and even knew that he needed to finish in 1:06 to win this rematch. His final time: 1:06.20.
McFarren wasn’t surprised he came through.
“Isaiah is a very powerful person,” McFarren said. “If you got to see him today, you can tell he’s got a lot of the extra you need to be a top swimmer. He’s got the strokes, he’s got the technique, but he’s also got that adrenaline-rushing body that can’t help him but go fast in the big meet.
“I knew having him anchor — I didn’t know it was going to be that close in the 200 freestyle relay, but that was the guy we needed there.”
Marquette’s Trevor Crandell, a senior like Youngren, won the 50 freestyle (22.46), finishing just off the school record, and the Sentinels’ Wyatt Ansell was the diving champion (177.30 final score).
“Just all the seniors, what they’ve brought to this team, the camaraderie, the togetherness, one of my favorite teams,” McFarren said.
Lundholm had an exciting day as well. He won the 200 individual medley easily early in the meet in 2:09.74. Then he went to the 100 freestyle not expecting to win by a comfortable margin, or at all.
“It was one of the first events for a long time I didn’t know I was going to win, I didn’t really expect to win,” he said.
The senior won a lot of events this year by 10 seconds. In his last meet, he wanted to go out with a close, competitive race.
“I wanted something to get fear in your chest that you might not win it,” he said. “That’s why I went in the 100 free today.”
He sure got it.
Lundholm beat Marquette’s Crandell by less than a second for an exhilarating win with a time of 49.68 seconds.
“Incredible race,” he said. “It was the best of my life. I guarantee you I wouldn’t have gotten that time if Trevor wasn’t there and he didn’t push me. He’s a good guy.”
After missing U.P. Finals as a freshman because of sickness, Lundholm ended his career with six U.P. titles.
“I was a little sad, but I made up for it,” Lundholm said. “I haven’t lost an individual (race) yet in the U.P. Finals.”
Other individual winners were Houghton’s Collin Raasio in the 200 freestyle (1:58.28), Kingsford’s Bryce Johnson in the 100 butterfly (1:03.50), Rudyard’s Keith McDowell in the 500 freestyle (5:26.01), and Houghton’s Beau Haataja in the 100 backstroke (1:00.62)
Houghton won the 400 freestyle relay (3:34.43), and Kingsford took first in the 200 medley relay (1:48.85).
PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's Trevor Crandell celebrates his win in the 50-yard freestyle Saturday. (Middle) Marquette’s Wyatt Ansell begins one of his dives during Friday’s competition. (Below) Kingsford's Joey Lundholm swims the winning 200 individual medley. (Photos by Daryl T. Jarvinen. Click for more.)