ROCHESTER – East Grand Rapids captured its seventh MHSAA Finals girls swimming & diving championship over the last eight seasons Saturday by totaling 420 points at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 meet at Oakland University.

The title was East Grand Rapids’ fifth in Division 3 since 2016, with the Pioneers also having added Division 2 victories in 2017 and 2022.

Winning seven of the 12 events Saturday, including all three relays, East Grand Rapids was led by junior Kate Simon, who was victorious in both the 100 and 200-yard freestyles and was a member of the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams, earning herself the Swimmer of the Meet honor from the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association.

“It’s really cool, especially for East. We’re such a good team, and they always have a good team,” Simon said of the honor.

“It’s cool to do it under Butch, too.”

While the Pioneers had a couple of young athletes in freshman Addie Hein and sophomore Ellery Chandler play valuable roles Saturday, Simon pointed to the leadership of the Class of 2024 as a major reason why this team continued to thrive.

“I think the seniors and the captains have been really good leaders,” she began. “They’ve really brought our team together, and I think made this team such good friends.”

The “Butch” Simon referenced is legendary head coach Milton “Butch” Briggs, with Saturday’s triumph representing the latest accomplishment in a long line of success for one of the sport’s most accomplished program leaders.

Even with all of the winning the program has done under his watch, his 2023 Pioneers still found a way to make themselves special and stand out from some of his teams of years past.

“What makes this group special is we lost the first two meets of the year, and we hadn’t lost a dual meet in quite a few years,” Briggs shared. “So just to watch this group of girls come together, not only as athletes, but as friends and as people.

“We had a few of our age group coaches step up and help with the program this year, and it made us a lot more complete on depth. It was just fun to be around them; it was the best part of my day.”

Like Simon, Chandler was part of two relay teams for East Grand Rapids and tallied an individual victory in the 100 breaststroke with an All-American consolation qualifying time of 1:03.17.

Alongside Hein and Simon, Chandler is a member of the promising core the Pioneers figure to return in 2024 and she delivered a smiling, humble response when asked about her individual success.

“It feels good to have my hard work pay off and get to do it as a team,” Chandler said.

East Grand Rapids also took home first place in 1-meter diving, courtesy of senior Maria Colombo’s score of 441.4. Addy Buck, her Pioneers classmate, was right behind her in second place at 390.9.

Rounding out the top-five teams Saturday were Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood with 219 points, Bloomfield Hills Marian (214), Milan (163) and Holland Christian (145).

Freshman Camryn Siegers won the 100 backstroke for Holland Christian at 55.37 seconds, and Flat Rock senior Lauren McNamara touched the wall first in both the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley, posting times of 55.68 and 2:05.59, respectively.

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PHOTOS (Top) East Grand Rapids launches during a relay exchange Saturday at Holland Aquatic Center. (Middle) Flat Rock's Lauren McNamara swims to the championship in the 200 individual medley. (Below) EGR's Ellery Chandler surges to the win in the 100 breaststroke. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)