Moment: West Ottawa Clinches in Finale
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 31, 2020
Holland West Ottawa long has had one of the most renowned high school boys swimming & diving programs in Michigan. But MHSAA Finals team championships had been elusive – the Panthers fell just shy again with a second-place finish in Lower Peninsula Division 1 in 2018.
How much difference can a few tenths of a second make? On March 9, 2019, enough to see West Ottawa win its first Finals championship since 1971.
Jamahl Hogan, Sam Smith, Derek Maas and Khadin Soto swam the relay in 3:05.84, besting Detroit Catholic Central’s time by six tenths of a second and giving West Ottawa a final eight-point edge in the team standings over the runner-up Shamrocks.
Said Soto, who anchored the relay: “I knew the meet was within a few points, and I knew we had to win that race. I knew I had to beat the guy next to me, and I knew he was really fast. Since I didn’t win the 100 breaststroke like I thought I would, I just kept telling myself that I can’t get caught up in everything else. I just need to do what my teammates need me to do. Just swim like we have been all year. For the last lap I was telling myself I can’t be the one that loses it for everyone.”
Click for Second Half’s coverage – 6 Hundredths Seal West Ottawa’s Title Win – and watch the race below with coverage from the NFHS Network.
Flashback 100: Youngquist's Times Still Among MHSAA's Fastest
March 28, 2025
As a freshman on the 2008 Battle Creek Lakeview boys swimming & diving team, Clay Youngquist made an immediate impact at his first Finals, finishing second in the 500-yard freestyle and fifth in the 200-yard freestyle – key performances that helped Lakeview secure the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 team championship.
By his junior and senior years, Youngquist wasn’t just competing in those events – he was dominating them. He set blistering times that remain untouched to this day. His 500-yard freestyle time of 4:20.71 as a junior and his 1:34.28 in the 200-yard freestyle as a senior still stand as MHSAA all-Class/Division Finals records.
The Division 2 record books are filled with Youngquist’s name. He holds the fastest times in the 50-yard freestyle (20.09), 100-yard butterfly (47.51) and 100-yard freestyle (43.73).
Following his standout high school career, Youngquist continued to shine at the University of Texas. There, he became a two-time NCAA champion, earned 11 All-America honors, captured eight Big 12 titles, and was selected for the 2014-15 USA Swimming national team.
Internationally, he claimed three gold medals at the 2010 Junior Pan Pacific Championships – in the 200-meter freestyle, the 400-meter freestyle relay, and the 400-meter medley relay – and added two golds and a silver at the 2015 World University Games.
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