Pioneer Rebounds from Runner-Up Finish to Regain Division 1 Championship
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2026
ROCHESTER — What a difference a year made for the Ann Arbor Pioneer boys swimming & diving team.
Last year, the Pioneers saw their string of Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals titles snapped at four, finishing second to Southeastern Conference Red foe Saline.
This year, the Pioneers made it back to the summit, scoring 283 points to best second-place Northville (254). Saline, with 226 points, finished third.
“From the first day of the season, this was our goal, to get back on top," Pioneer coach Stefanie Kerska said. “Northville gave us the biggest run in a long time. It was a great weekend of competition. I’m so proud of these boys. I’m so proud of these seniors."
Among the seniors was Edward Zhang, who won the individual medley and was on all three Pioneer relays.
“We were all looking to leave with a bang,”’ he said. “It feels so good. Last year, after that loss, we were all so disappointed, and we were all looking forward to this year.”
"The key was just being consistent and trying to be predictably excellent,” Kerska said, "We wanted to maintain a steady level of emotional discipline throughout the whole meet, and the guys just showed up like professionals.”
They weren’t the only seniors who did so.
Jenison’s Caleb Storey won the 100 freestyle and 50 free titles, while Northville's Brady Stenson defended his title in the 200 free. Junior Isaac Adanin of Saline repeated in the breaststroke.
Another junior, Pioneer's Charles Knoepp, won the 500 free and was on the winning Pioneer 400 free relay with seniors Zhang, Henry Baumhover and Cameron Kline.
“We were just hungry for this,” Baumhover said. “We got second last year, and it feels amazing to complete our goal.”
As for reaching the goal, Baumhover said there were no shortcuts.
"The key is just every single day in practice," he said. “It’s not one singular meet day. It’s just every single stroke, every single 50 in practice, We all work so hard, every single day.”
Northville posted its best finish since a second-place result in 2022.
“We just have a great group of seniors that came together," coach Rich Bennett said. ”They’ve been training for this since they were freshmen, and it was awesome to have them finish this way. We fell a little short. But we did really well. I’m proud of the boys.”
The Mustangs got off to a strong start, winning the first two events, before a deeper Pioneer squad began collecting the points it needed to win its fifth title in six years.
“They’re always the measuring stick,” Bennett said of Pioneer. “They’ve got a fantastic coaching staff. They have super-talented kids. They’ve been the measuring stick for a long time, and we threw everything we had at them. They have a great team, but I'm really proud of my guys as well.”
And in the end, it was Kerska who made the happy celebratory dive into the pool after the championship trophy had been awarded.
“I couldn't have wished for a better outcome," Kline said. “We swam our hearts out, and we did what we needed to do.”
While the Pioneer swimmers were fixated on Saturday's meet, Kerska admitted to looking ahead to next year before the 2026 meet was over.
“My assistant was talking to me about it during the breaststroke,” she said, smiling.
Holland West Ottawa senior Isaac Kamara-Hagemeyer won the diving competition. Grandville senior Oliver Ottenwess won the butterfly, and Milford senior Samuel Campbell finished first in the backstroke after placing second a year ago. Bloomfield Hills won the 200 freestyle relay.
PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer celebrates its Finals championship during the traditional post-victory dip in the pool at Oakland University. (Middle) Northville’s Benjamin Hu swims to a fourth-place finish in the individual medley. (Below) Swimmers launch during the start of the 200 freestyle relay. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Performance: Midland Dow's Nehemiah Mork
February 4, 2016
Nehemiah Mork
Midland Dow senior – Swimming & Diving
He's set his share of records, but for a year Mork had his eye on another he just missed breaking as a junior. It's his now. Mork set or was part of four meet records at the Tri-Cities Swimming & Diving Championships at Saginaw Valley State University on Saturday, earning the Michigan National Guard’s Performance of the Week.
The Michigan State University recruit broke his own meet record in the 50-yard freestyle (21.26) and another with his opening leg of the winning 400 relay (45.90). But the record he aimed for was in the 100 butterfly, where he knocked three-time MHSAA individual champion Wade King of Saginaw MacArthur off the board with a time of 51.13; King’s record had stood since 1982. Mork also teamed with Ben Brandstadt, Noah Behm and Jacob Krzciok to break the meet record in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:29.10.
Mork won Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals championships in the 50 and 100 freestyles last season and owns or is part of seven school records – for all three relays, plus the 50 (20.80), 100 (45.67) and 200 (1:41.6) freestyles and butterfly (50.46). A top-10 student at his school academically, Mork has an unweighted grade-point average of 3.95 and will major in mechanical engineering at MSU. He was quick to thank his coaches for investing so much time in his development; his coach, Gary Strickler, in turn explained how dedication had played a great role in creating his latest of many champions.
Coach Gary Strickler said: “The first key is he is a great student; he’s an all-A student, so that’s a significant accomplishment to also be a gifted athlete at the same time. He’s put in countless days of practice since he’s been 10, 11, 12 years old. That in itself is just an unbelievable commitment to a lifetime of swimming. As far as our team is concerned, he shows leadership. It’s different than football or basketball; (for swimming) it’s example. He’s always setting a great example, working at peak level so everyone else sees he’s working at a peak level. And that multiplies his ability to contribute to the team. … If someone sees someone doing great things, they tend to want to copy it.”
Performance Point: “Yes, the two individual events were pretty exciting and breaking Wade King’s record was pretty awesome. But my 200 free relay also beat the meet record. Everybody swam really fast. We were losing for a while, and then we came back to win it, so it was just a really exciting event for everybody.”
Raving about relays: Like many elite swimmers and runners at the high school level, Mork enjoys the opportunities to compete with teammates. “Individual (events) it’s a lot of pressure on me. I have to do so well so I can get an award. For a relay there’s a little less pressure. You have people who can help you if you do not go quite as fast as you want. It also gives you extra incentive to do super well, so your teammates get recognized and get rewards. Relays are nice because everybody gets pumped up; we are united for a goal and we just help each other get excited.”
Unseating the King: “Last year, (Wade King) held the record for the 100 fly for Tri-Cities and (Saginaw) Valley Championships. As a junior I broke his 100 fly record in the Valley Championships and just missed it in Tri-Cities. This year, I said I’ve got to get it this time. A bunch of people were coming up to me during the week saying it’s such an old record, he was such a fast swimmer. ‘Can you break it? Will you break it?’ There was that pressure, but it was very exciting also. It was a super old record, so it was time for it to come down.”
Latest of Dow’s Greats: “You might think it would be stressful to fill those shoes of Jackson Goethe and Ben Martin. They were just so fast and so good, so it’s exciting to me because I get to expand that role. So you get to take on sprint events, and you have to do as well as they did. You feel pressure, but when you accomplish those goals as being faster than they were, it feels extra good. You’re helping out your team, leading the team just as well as the people who came before you. I guess there’s a little more pressure involved, but once you accomplish those goals, it feels so much better.”
Mechanical-Minded: “I’m thinking right now I might want to go into the automotive industry. … I love math and science – those are my two best subjects. I also just love machines, everything they do, and I loving talking about the ideas.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2015-16 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our Nation's freedom, or protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
Jan. 27: Mardrekia Cook, Muskegon girls basketball - Read
Jan. 20: Sage Castillo, Hartland wrestling - Read
Jan. 13: Rob Zofchak, Dexter swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Midland Dow's Nehemiah Mork competes in a race this season and holds seven school records. (Middle) Mork surges ahead during the butterfly. (Photos courtesy of Susan Drumright.)